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