Game-Based Digital Solutions for Diabetes Management : Discussing game-based features aimed at enhancing user-system interaction in diabetes management systems

Sammanfattning

Current digital technologies developed to reduce the burdens of diabetes treatment have been recognised as exposed to issues with the user-system interaction; these challenges encompass alert fatigue, user’s dif iculty in navigating the system and need for educational pathways. Among the factors influencing comprehension and adherence to diabetes self-management apps, recent studies have identified game-based elements as successful interventions; categorising their effectiveness in achievement-, social- and immersion-oriented.The present study seeks to investigate the role of the three categories of game-based interventions in enhancing diabetes management systems’ user interaction. Three game-based features, respectively one per category, have been conceptualised. Then, semi-structured interviews have been performed, aiming at gathering users’ experiences on the initial issues and their perception of such features; the resulting material has been processed through a thematic analysis. Findings discuss the applicability of each game-based feature category, the actuality of a human-AI network and users’ relationship with smartphones in the diabetes management systems context.