Exploring virtual rewards in real life: A gimmick or a motivational tool for promoting physical activity?
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
Location:
P1 OPINNÄYTTEET D 2019 Ha
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Authors
Date
2019
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Collaborative and Industrial Design
Language
en
Pages
72+7
Series
Abstract
Virtual rewards, digital badges or points, are often awarded to extrinsically reinforce desirable user behaviors. Acknowledging their motivational power for increased user engagement and enhanced playfulness, virtual reward systems are widely employed in contemporary activity tracking devices and services. While the characteristics of the current virtual reward systems vary and previous studies point to mixed outcomes around the effectiveness of virtual rewards for encouraging physical activity, there is little empirical research on the actual use and impact of virtual rewards provided from activity tracking tools in a real-life environment. To address the knowledge gaps on the use and effects of virtual rewards, I investigate the lived experiences of users with the virtual reward system of the activity tracking tool and their effects and value in the physical activity practices of individuals. To understand this both qualitatively and quantitatively, I conduct user experience research using mixed methods. Diary-based autoethnography research is preceded using three popular activity trackers, thereby having and documenting situated experiences with two different digital badge systems and one points-based system. My autoethnographic exploration is followed by an online survey with 113 existing users of activity tracking devices. The collected data is analysed through content and statistical analyses. By interpreting the findings from both studies and the reviewed literature, this thesis illustrates in great detail how virtual rewards interact with users and other system features in real-life practices. In addition, it provides a clearer picture of the effects of virtual rewards on people’s engagement in physical exercise and what makes some of them more valuable. Finally, it offers a set of considerations for the design of virtual reward systems that can lead to more user-centric, multi-layered, and meaningful virtual reward experience.Description
Supervisor
Lucero, AndrésThesis advisor
Lucero, AndrésKaryda, Maria
Keywords
activity tracker, physical activity, virtual reward, digital badge, point, autoethnography, user experience