1. Highlighting 6D Playbook
Define the Problem
The elderly experience loneliness primarily because of insufficient social interaction. This arises predominantly from families’ time constraints, compounded by the elderly’s health issues that hinder their social engagement. These health issues often prompt families to become overprotective, limiting the elderly’s activities or prompting self-isolation due to feelings of burden. Moreover, caregivers harbor concerns about the elderly’s well-being when apart from them, often experiencing guilt over their perceived loneliness or vulnerability. This can precipitate mental health challenges for caregivers, as well as impede their career advancement and personal aspirations.
Determine Goals
Game Goal: Our game aims to alleviate social isolation among the elderly by fostering intergenerational connections through outdoor challenges, creating a supportive community where they can share experiences and rediscover fulfillment. Additionally, we prioritize mental wellness by providing nostalgic activities and ensuring the elderly do not feel burdensome to caregivers. Our gaming application allows caregivers to monitor elderly well-being, reducing worries and granting peace of mind. Lastly, we promote physical health by incentivizing daily outdoor activities and encouraging increased activity levels for overall well-being.
- Reduce social isolation
- Improve mental wellness
- Reduce worries of caregivers
- Increase activeness (physical health)
Measurable Goal:
Engagement rate: Referencing from the “Live Well, Age Well” program which aims to reach over 550,000 participants over the next five years (MOH, 2023), which is around 34% of the population that is above 50 years in 5 years (Statista, 2023). One example that sets a good industry benchmark is the National Steps Challenge, according to research “82% of participants who were sedentary increased the time they spent on physical activity after joining the Challenge, 74% of whom even achieved sufficient physical activity. In February 2017, the Season Two participants clocked a daily average of more than 10,000 steps on the days they tracked their steps. Furthermore, 93% of participants successfully redeemed the first reward tier in the Challenge and 1 in 6 participants of the Challenge completed all 6 reward tiers.” (HPB, n.d.)
- 6% sign-up rate among elderlies and caregivers in Singapore by the first year
- 70% active users that log in at least 3 times a week
- Survey with the use of likert scale to measure feelings of social isolation
- Conduct interviews with caregivers and elderlies to determine their level of happiness after experiencing the game
Decide Target Behaviours and Emotions
Desired emotion
Happy – We would want the elderly to feel happy as the games remind them of their younger days. Whereas implementing puzzles, memory games, or interactive storytelling that trigger positive emotions in games would make the activities enjoyable and mentally stimulating.
Carefree – The elderly would feel carefree as they get to navigate and explore the new application which is easy to use. From the perspective of the game, we ensure that the game interface is simple, intuitive, and user-friendly. This reduces frustration and enhances the carefree aspect of the gaming experience.
Nostalgia – The elderly feel a sense of nostalgia as it brings them back down memory lane. On the gaming side, we do so by including elements that resonate with the past experiences of the elderly. This could involve incorporating historical events, music, or images from their era, fostering a sense of nostalgia.
Recognized by the community – The elderly feel recognized as they can complete quests and challenges together with their friends in the community. On the gaming side, creating features that allow users to share their achievements or experiences within the game with the community fosters a sense of recognition and connection, contributing to feelings of being valued.
At ease – The caregivers feel more at ease knowing that they can monitor the activities of the elderly that they are taking care of through the challenges and quests. The game provides caregivers with tools to track the progress and well-being of the elderly within the game. Knowing that their care efforts are contributing to positive outcomes can make caregivers feel more at ease.
Proud (of the elderly) – The caregivers feel proud of the elderly as they get to share the things they are going through and motivate one another in this space. The game fosters a community where caregivers can share experiences, advice, and support within it. This sense of community can alleviate stress and create a space for caregivers to feel proud of their role.
Desired behaviours
In the game
Complete challenges to earn in-game achievements – Players are excited to complete challenges or quests, which allows them to earn achievements.
Leaderboard/Ranking – Players would feel like competing with their peers to see who is better, making the game more fun and long-lasting.
Interact with the community – Players can interact with one another within the game through a chat function.
Rewards – Players can earn points to claim a free lunch with other seniors.
Real World
More interactive and outgoing with others – After playing the game, seniors are more willing to open up and share with those around them. If possible, they would be more open to leaving their house (if not limited by physical restrictions) and making friends with others.
Excitement to use the application – After trying the game, players would feel like going back to play the game, because they made new friends through the game, or the game itself being fun and enjoyable.
Inviting their friends to play the game – Hopefully after playing the game, players find it so enjoyable that they will want to introduce it to their friends so that they can have fun together.
Describe and Profile Players
- Socialites – They possess a strong desire for social connection and community because they find joy and fulfillment in engaging with others, sharing experiences, and building meaningful relationships. Hence they seek opportunities for virtual social interaction. They thrive in environments that facilitate communication, group activities, and the chance to connect with peers. Building a sense of community within the game is crucial for enjoyment.
- Explorer – They love to build on their curiosity and are open to new experiences. They are interested and motivated by discovering and learning through exploration. They enjoy new interfaces, opportunities to learn new tasks, and challenges that tap into curiosity and provide a sense of challenge.
- Achiever – They have a goal-oriented mindset and a strong desire for personal accomplishment. They take pride in their achievements are motivated by challenges and seek to improve themselves. They have clear goals and objectives and appreciate challenges that allow them to showcase their skills – badges, and leadership boards. These accomplishments provide a sense of accomplishment and acknowledge their efforts.
Design Gamification Strategy
Story Line
Navigate through Singapore’s MRT map and complete challenges to earn points and badges that are in the form of postage stamps! The more challenges players complete, the more their progress bar, which can also be known as the friendship meter, will fill up.
What character best describes you?
As they enter the game, players are to do a Personality Quiz to categorize players and entice them to find out what type of person they are based on their coffee preferences, a shared craze among all Singaporeans. After discovering their character, players will then be assigned a fitting theme to kickstart the game.
- Kopi Kapitan: Life of the coffee shop, loves socializing
- Teh Tranquil-Tea: Finds solace in the quiet moments with their drink, loves introspecting
- Kopi-O Kool: Diverse and ever-evolving preferences, loves trying new stuff
- Kaya Koordinator: Always ready for coffee meet-ups, loves group activities
- Nestlé Nestler: Laid-back and prefers the convenience and warmth found in a cup of instant coffee, loves the comfort of familiar faces
- Kopi Konnoisseur: Creative soul who appreciates the art of coffee, loves innovative experiences
Game Challenges
The challenges are split into different themes: Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Traveling, Fitness, Arts & Craft. The challenges vary widely based on the prompts which include sharing a picture of their favorite food, sharing about their travel stories and experiences, signing up for a group walk together, etc.
Achievements and Rewards
Upon completing the challenges, players can earn achievements and rewards. Achievements come in the form of postage stamps which will be displayed in the game, providing a sense of accomplishment each time they complete an MRT line. The points earned through completing the challenges can be used to claim rewards such as discount vouchers, serving as a form of motivation. Moreover, top players can be invited to an exclusive luncheon—an experience money cannot buy—allowing them to celebrate their efforts and mingle with like-minded individuals.
Diagnose and Analyse Content
- What did we get right?
- Concept of the game – Elderlies mentioned that they are usually bored at home and want to try various things to keep themselves engaged and break out of their mundane daily routines, but they are unsure of where or how to start.
- Simplicity of the game – Elderlies found it easy to understand and navigate through the game interface, even those who are not very tech-savvy.
- What did we get wrong?
- Concept of rewards – Elderlies seem to be more motivated to play the game when the rewards are tangible, such as Shopee vouchers.
- Suggestions for improvement?
- Customisation options such as language and text size to make it more inclusive.
2. Our Learnings
Upon further research and reflection on the issue of the escalating aging population in Singapore, we have come to realize that many of these elderly people face similar problems as mentioned in the article. The issues not only affect the elderly themselves but also those around them so the issue is much bigger than we think. We felt quite disheartened as there is not enough attention given, and many lack the necessary knowledge of what they can do to help even if they were aware.
1. Play the game first.
2. Use the Template game for your own initiatives.
Credits: Joseph Wong, Lim Kit Yuen, Vadlamudi Saisindhu, Lee Yun Hui, Marcus Tan, Elaine Tan, Elena Deon, Lucien Dunand