JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Chatbots have been increasingly considered for applications in the health and social care fields. Currently, it remains unclear how a chatbot could engage users coping with complex health needs, such as parents of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), who often need frequent and ongoing support. One approach to enhancing user engagement is the use of game elements in non-game contexts, known as gamification. To be effective, gamification needs to be tailored to users.

Objective:

We sought to identify which gamification elements would be the most useful in a chatbot that focuses on supporting families of children and youths with NDDs.

Methods:

We performed a narrative literature review of gamification elements and their current implementation. We then used a qualitative approach, which included a series of focus groups and interviews with caregivers of individuals with NDDs (N = 21) to identify potential gamification elements that could be well-suited for a chatbot focused on NDDs. Transcripts were analyzed for emerging themes.

Results:

From our 21 participants, we identified 3 main themes: 1) parents of individuals with NDDs were familiar and had positive experiences with gamification; 2) specific gamification element (goal setting) was considered an important feature for a chatbot for NDDs, whereas others (customization, rewards, and unlockable content) received more mixed opinions; and 3) although social networking was viewed positively, it is a complex feature to implement due to the pertaining issue of medical fact-checking.

Conclusions:

We show for the first time that prospective users (parents of individuals with NDDs) support the use of gamification in a chatbot for NDDs. Our study illustrates the importance of adopting a user-centred design when deciding which gamification elements to include, as some commonly used elements were perceived negatively by this specific group of users.