Pope Lizzy, Garnett Bernice, Dibble Marguerite
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States.
Game Theory, Burlington, VT, United States.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2017 Aug 29;6(8):e161. doi: 10.2196/resprot.8113.
Involving youth in the development of a mobile game designed to increase physical activity may increase relevancy and adoption.
To share the development process used to create a gaming app aimed at incentivizing physical activity in high school students.
Five focus groups were conducted with high school students (N=50) to understand gaming behaviors. A subset of students from the focus groups chose to complete a Web-based survey (N=10). Four different versions of gaming artwork and concept design based on student input were pilot tested (N=35), and group consensus building determined the direction of the game. The 4 game versions differed in their artwork style and gaming concept with some requiring competition versus cooperation, or being more individual versus team based. Group consensus building meant that all artwork and game concept options were displayed at the front of a classroom. Students could then vote for their top artwork and concept choices by putting stickers on the top 1 or 2 artwork and concept options that they liked best. Once all votes were cast, investigators discussed the voting results with students, and brainstormed ways to incorporate popular aspects of the 3 "losing" artwork and game concepts into the winning ideas.
Focus group transcripts were analyzed for common themes. Artwork and gaming concept-voting data was tallied at the time of voting to share with students in real time. Focus groups and survey results revealed important themes for a successful gaming app: (1) competition, (2) balanced in-game rewards, (3) accessibility, and (4) aesthetic features. Consensus voting indicated the popularity of a collaborative competitive content design (35/66, 53%) and playful art (27/71, 38%).
To ensure saliency and effectiveness of game-based physical activity interventions, youth need to be included in design and implementation. Furthermore, the unique preferences and social constructs of high school students need to be considered during intervention development.
让青少年参与一款旨在增加身体活动的手机游戏的开发，可能会提高其相关性和接受度。
分享用于创建一款旨在激励高中生进行身体活动的游戏应用程序的开发过程。
与高中生（N = 50）进行了五个焦点小组讨论，以了解游戏行为。焦点小组中的一部分学生选择完成一项基于网络的调查（N = 10）。根据学生的意见，对四个不同版本的游戏美术作品和概念设计进行了试点测试（N = 35），并通过小组共识构建来确定游戏的方向。这四个游戏版本在美术风格和游戏概念上有所不同，有些需要竞争与合作，或者更侧重于个人与团队。小组共识构建意味着所有美术作品和游戏概念选项都展示在教室前面。然后，学生可以通过在他们最喜欢的前一两个美术作品和概念选项上贴上贴纸来投票选出他们最喜欢的作品和概念。所有投票完成后，研究人员与学生讨论投票结果，并集思广益，探讨如何将三个“落选”美术作品和游戏概念的受欢迎元素融入获胜的想法中。
对焦点小组的记录进行了分析，以找出共同主题。在投票时统计美术作品和游戏概念的投票数据，以便实时与学生分享。焦点小组和调查结果揭示了一款成功游戏应用程序的重要主题：（1）竞争，（2）游戏内奖励平衡，（3）可及性，（4）美学特征。共识投票表明合作竞争内容设计（35/66，53%）和有趣的美术风格（27/71，38%）很受欢迎。
为确保基于游戏的身体活动干预措施的显著性和有效性，需要让青少年参与设计和实施。此外，在干预措施开发过程中需要考虑高中生独特的偏好和社会结构。
