Aplicativo de caminhadas fundamentado em técnicas de gamificação

Abstract

Gamification is a strategy that can be used to promote user motivation and engagement, enabling behavior change by applying game mechanics in non-playful contexts. Considering the adverse effects that lack of mobility and physical activity has on human well-being, such as chronic diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes, this work proposed the development of a gamified walking application, with the aim of encouraging the practice of walking by including relevant game elements from the literature. The following steps were followed to develop the application: research similar software, with the aim of identifying common elements of walking applications and identifying game elements, to create a different combination and integration from those already existing; research game elements that provide motivation; think about how to integrate each game element; finally, create the screens, navigation, and logic. The application was developed using Android Studio with the Kotlin programming language and Firebase services for the backend. For the results, a questionnaire was carried out that presented positive results: the overall experience of the app was evaluated as positive or very positive by all participants; the ease of use was considered easy or very easy to use; the gamification system was considered motivating by all participants, increasing the motivation to walk and increasing the number of walks reported by 75% of users; the most appreciated elements were the leaderboard, the level with progress bar, challenges with badges and performance graphs.