Department of Computer Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Games Health J. 2020 Feb;9(1):24-30. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2019.0082. Epub 2019 Sep 18.
Currently, exergames are used by different age groups for both recreational and training/rehabilitation purposes. However, little is known about how to design exergames so that they are motivating for specific age groups and health outcomes. In this article, we compare motivational factors between healthy young and older adults by analyzing their assessments of the same balance training exergame. We performed a laboratory-based assessment of a custom-made balance training exergame with 12 healthy young and 10 healthy older adults. Their answers to a semistructured text input questionnaire were analyzed qualitatively. Both age groups were motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. We found that the young adults tended to be motivated by the game challenge and the in-game reward system (scores). In contrast, the older adults were more motivated by the perceived health effects (both physical and cognitive) and the joy of playing, with less regard for the in-game rewards. The differences in motivational factors that were identified between young and older adults have several design implications. For older adults less effort can be put on designing the in-game reward system and more on showing the player the potential health effects of their play. Furthermore, the competition aspect can be downplayed and more focus placed on simply making the gaming experience itself as joyful as possible.
目前，不同年龄段的人都将健身游戏用于娱乐和训练/康复目的。然而，对于如何设计健身游戏，使其对特定年龄段和健康结果具有激励作用，人们知之甚少。在本文中，我们通过分析他们对相同平衡训练健身游戏的评估，比较了健康的年轻成年人和老年人之间的激励因素。我们对一款定制的平衡训练健身游戏进行了基于实验室的评估，共有 12 名健康的年轻成年人和 10 名健康的老年成年人参与。我们对他们在半结构化文本输入问卷中的回答进行了定性分析。两个年龄段的人都受到内在和外在激励因素的共同激励。我们发现，年轻成年人往往受到游戏挑战和游戏内奖励系统（分数）的激励。相比之下，老年人更多地受到感知到的健康影响（身体和认知两方面）和游戏的乐趣的激励，而对游戏内奖励的重视程度较低。在年轻和老年成年人之间确定的激励因素差异有几个设计含义。对于老年人，在设计游戏内奖励系统方面可以少下功夫，而更多地展示玩家玩游戏的潜在健康影响。此外，可以淡化竞争方面，更多地关注使游戏体验本身尽可能愉快。
