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Leveling Up Youth Wellbeing through Gamified Apps
- Kelsey Villacorte
- Jun 24, 2024
- 2 min read
By Kelsey Villacorte
As a Lead UX researcher at the Games and Interactive Technology Lab at CGU, I led a team of 6 researchers in developing a program to promote emotional wellbeing for middle school students using gamified wellness apps. We worked with 3 different external stakeholders to evaluate the efficacy and impact of these wellness resources.
Project Overview
Project Objective
This project involves the implementation of specific features of gamified digital applications, Finch and Kinder World, to encourage prosocial behaviors, improve self-efficacy, and boost self esteem.
Background
Following our feature analysis of 5 different gamified wellness apps, a local K-8 school, Alverno Heights Academy, reached out to the the GIT Lab with concerns they had about their students' well-being. They were dedicated to providing resources to support their students and we saw an opportunity for collaboration and to observe these wellness apps in action. We partnered with two of the apps identified in our initial analysis, Finch and Kinder World, to develop a comprehensive Wellness Game Testing Program. It was a gratifying moment to see how our initial evaluation evolved into a larger, meaningful project.
Impact
The Wellness Game Testing program had a positive and significant impact on students' prosocial behavior. The insights guided the school in designing effective wellness initiatives and resulted in feature recommendations for Finch and Kinder World which informed their roadmap decisions.
Team
Stakeholders
Alverno Heights Academy
"Alverno Heights Academy is an independent, Catholic, TK-8th school for girls and boys.. We are dedicated to preparing our students to function in a society as informed, knowledgeable persons, who have the requisite skills to make and implement mature decisions about complex problems."
Finch
"Meet your new self care best friend! Finch is a self care pet app that helps you feel prepared and positive, one day at a time. Take care of your pet by taking care of yourself! Choose from a wide variety of daily self care exercises personalized for you.
Finch makes self care finally feel rewarding, lightweight, and fun. Complete quick self care exercises to grow your pet, earn rewards, and improve mental health!"
Kinder World
"Take care of your plants and yourself in a comforting, relaxing and lush atmosphere of your own design, completing daily acts of self-love that make the world a kinder place.
Players will nurture their plants in-game by nurturing themselves in the real world, completing evidence-based wellbeing exercises like emotional naming and expressing gratitude. Every plant in Kinder World is procedurally generated, so your growth is completely unique to you!"
Timeline
Methodology
Program Duration
The Wellness Game Testing Program spanned over 8 weeks (August 2023 - January 2024).
Participant Demographics
Participants were middle school students aged 12-13 years old
Frequency
Students played with their assigned apps 10-15 minutes 3x/week
Surveys
We distributed pre-test, post-test, and weekly surveys with validated questionnaire items to assess prosocial behavior, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Student attitudes toward the apps were also gathered.
Objective: Compare prosocial behavior, self-esteem, and self efficacy scores before and after the program. The post-test survey included additional questions to gather student feedback about apps.
Objective: Provide structure to the program and assess student experience with apps over time.
Objective: Assess identifiers of well-being over time and gather feedback about student experience during the week.
Focus Groups
At the halfway point of the program, the GIT Lab visited the students again to as questions regarding general experiences with the apps, likes, dislikes, questions, comments, and improvement recommendations.
Students responded to questions on sticky notes then came back together as a group to discuss their experiences and hear from other students.
In-Depth Interviews
We conducted three 30-minute interviews with school staff to gain perspectives, feedback, and insights about the program from an administrative point of view.
Overall Findings
During an 8 week program, students using mobile wellness apps had improved outcomes.
The wellness program had a positive effect on identifiers of well-being:
5.64% increase in prosocial behavior
8.96% increase in self-esteem
1.96% increase in self-efficacy
"I like being able to feel understood or being able to communicate in school without disrupting my learning or the class." - 8th Grade student in the Finch group
Students appreciate the effect that the apps have on their feelings or internal state of being.
Students frequently described their experiences as relaxing and a break from school.
Top Wellness Features from Finch and Kinder World
(From left to right: Breathing exercises (Finch), Goals (Finch), Emotional Naming (Kinder World))
"I do like the use during school because sometimes you are having a bad day but once you use the app, it makes your day better" - 8th Grade student in the Kinder World group
Students like activities and experiences that connect them with others and provide opportunities for self-expression
Students frequently chose social and customization features as their favorite feature.
Social and Customization features in Kinder World
(from left to right: letters, user's room, customizable plant pot)
"I like the encouraging messages I get from the mail." - 7th grader in Kinder World group
Social and Customization features in Finch
(from left to right: Tree Town, customizing the birb's living space, Mr. Prickle's shop)
“Customizing, even in the app like a little bird character, allows your personality to shine through in a way. So getting to customize your character and getting a micropet and putting your own stuff. It's just fun because you have control of it.” - 8th grade student in Finch group
Researchers in Action
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