What does gamification offer to healthcare research? Jon Puleston VP Innovation Rachel Medcalf Managing Director Joanna Thompson Research Director
What does gamificationoffer to healthcare research?
Jon PulestonVP Innovation
Rachel MedcalfManaging Director
Joanna Thompson Research Director
Everyone’s talking about it but is gamificationworth all the hype?
What is gamification?
• Somewhat misleading phrase – prefer to think of a process of art direction, copy writing and critical editing
• Thinking of a survey like an advertising agency thinks about an advert
• Treating it as a piece of entertainment
GAMIFICATION
COPY WRITING & ART DIRECTION
THE MATHS OF GAMIFICATION START AT -1
BORING LESS BORING INTERESTING FUN
-1 0 1 2
WORK IN THIS TERRITORY
DEBORIFICATION!
The KEY elements…
• Working on the visual experience
• Working on the language and wording
• Working on motivation factors
Working on the design
Working on the language
Placing boundaries around tasks…
If you only had 40 words to describe why you prescribed this treatment...
Giving feedback and rewards
GAMIFICATION
COPY WRITING
ART DIRECTING
VISUALISING
SURVEY
MAKING IT REWARDING
What is gamification?
Respondents have a better experience
Respondents tell us more
Results are more accurate and closer to reality
Surveys can be more time efficient
Gamification myths
WILL THE MYTHS BE…
Research objectives
“Traditional” research armN=80
Questions framed around peer review
N=64
“Gamified” research armN=125
Questions framed around a junior colleague
N=61
Physicians
Mix of closed and open
ended questions
20 minute online survey
Myth: respondents have a better experience
How enjoyabledid you find the survey?
Very - 9% Very - 17%
How visually engaging did you find the survey?
Very - 11%
Very - 47%
Significant difference
(95%)
Significant difference
(99%)
VS.TRADITIONAL GAMIFIED
“Much better than most I have done. I like
the visual element”
What did you like about it?
Appearance/visuals - 39%
Easy to complete - 13%
Different - 12% “Novelty was wearing off towards the end”
“Was a bit silly”
“Stimulating - it keeps your attention going for longer.”
GAMIFIED
Short - 31%
Simple - 23%
Thought provoking - 18%
“Easy and simple format”
What did you like about it?
“Some ratings can get tedious.”
“It was short and to the point” TRADITIONAL
Myth: respondents have a better experience
Myth: surveys can be more time efficient
Visual questions are quicker to answer but yield the same results
14% 15%
23%22%
18% 18%
15% 16%
1% 1%
6%7%
10%9%
13% 11%
Traditional Gamified
Brand I
Brand H
Brand G
Brand F
Brand E
Brand D
Brand C
Brand B
Brand A
% of patients currently receiving each treatment
Average:
87 seconds
Average:
53 seconds
Myth: respondents tell us more
Can a simple game mechanic lead to greater feedback?
1 question:If you only had 40 words to describe Product X to this patient/patient’s carer as a treatment option, how would you sum up its benefits vs. drawbacks?
2 questions: What are the advantages of Product X in a patient like this?What are the disadvantages of Product X in a patient like this?
VS.
TRADITIONAL GAMIFIED
Yes!
Average 19 words
“From clinical evidence and my own experience, it has been extremely efficacious for patients and has improved patients symptoms, kept them out of inpatient settings and helped them get back a quality of life without too many side effects.”
Average 14 words(both questions combined)
Advantage: “Improved compliance”Disadvantage: “He might not like taking a regular injection” VS.TRADITIONAL
GAMIFIED
But decoration doesn’t always lead to greater depth
The question itself needs to engage respondents to think differently – just looking pretty doesn’t encourage people to write more
Critical peer review leads to revelations around barriers
Q: What do you think physicians think about when they are choosing a Tx?
Q: What are the factors they may not admit to?
Led to the most useful insights!
More in-depth nuggets of information
GAMIFIED
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Attribute 1 Attribute 2 Attribute 3 Attribute 4 Attribute 5 Attribute 6
Me
an s
core
(1
-10
)Brand X Brand A Brand B Brand C Brand D
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Attribute 1 Attribute 2 Attribute 3 Attribute 4 Attribute 5 Attribute 6
Me
an s
core
(1
-10
)
Product ratings show clearer differentiation in the gamified version
TRADITIONAL
GAMIFIED
Myth: respondents tell us more
Myth: results are more accurate and closer to reality
Improvements to accuracy is much harder to prove!
• Physicians we spoke to post survey did say that thinking in the context of others reflected their own opinions
• Changes to how we asked the rating and ranking scales demonstrated a clear differentiation
• But does this actually reflect reality
TRADITIONAL GAMIFIED
So where do we go from here?
Respondents have a better experience
Respondents tell us more
Results are more accurate and closer to reality
Surveys can be more time efficient
Gamification myths
We face challenges in healthcare that do not exist in consumer
Limited universe of respondents
Slow processes
Ethics & compliance
considerations
We also pay our respondents
Financial motivation to complete surveys – we are not
relying on good will
Encouraging signs
Worth pursuing – we have learned a lot from one experiment but have also raised more questions – more myths to be busted
Some techniques work better than others?
Gamification is particularly beneficial in
longer surveys?
Different respondent types respond differently to
different gamification elements?
Creates better engagement in other
applications i.e. qualitative research,
workshops?
Thank you
Jon PulestonVP Innovation
Rachel MedcalfManaging Director
Joanna Thompson Research Director