1. Theory-guided, Evidence-based Exergame Design:
Augmented Fantasy Sports as Case Study
Arlen Moller, Ph.D.
Illinois Institute of Technology
hx refactored conference
Brooklyn, NY
May 14th, 2014

2. Proliferation of AVGs
Explosive growth of active video games (AVGs)
• Console based games
• Wearable trackers
• Mobile Apps Business has
been good!

3. Tests of efficacy have yielded some
disappointing findings…
Console based games
e.g. Nintendo Wii & Xbox Kinect
• Below min. threshold intensity (Scheer et al., 2013)
• Activity doesn’t generalize (Baranowski et al., 2012)

4. Mobile apps
Conroy et al. (May, 2014) analyzed the 167 most popular fitness apps
Only 50% of the apps offered 1 or more evidence based strategies —
- mostly feedback on performance, goal-setting, & social support
Conroy’s conclusion: "We're drowning in data points without really
capitalizing on them to change behavior more effectively."
Disappointing efficacy findings…

5. Self-determination theory
• 44+ years of empirical research, 1000+ studies
• Focused on human motivation –
Specifically, sustainability & enjoyment
• Edward Deci, Richard Ryan, 100s of others
www.selfdeterminationtheory.org

6. Self-determination theory
Autonomous
Mo*va*on
characterized
by
the
experience
of
voli*on,
and
endorsement
of
one’s
ac*ons.
Controlled
Mo*va*on
characterized
by
the
experience
of
feeling
coerced
or
manipulated.
All
Human
Mo*va*on
(Force
+
Direc*on)

7. Self-determination theory
Autonomous
Mo*va*on
-­‐
enjoyment
(intrinsic)
-­‐
meaningful
/
value
(integrated)
Controlled
Mo*va*on
–
-­‐ Chasing
rewards
(external)
-­‐ Avoiding
punishments
-­‐ Chasing
others’
approval
-­‐ Avoiding
shame
(introjected)
All
Human
Mo*va*on
**More sustainable; healthier**

8. How can we increase autonomous
motivation for an activity / technology?
By supporting 3 basic psychological needs:
1. Autonomy
2. Competence
3. Relatedness
- Feeling a sense of choice & endorsement
of what you’re doing
- Feeling a sense of increasing mastery /
growth when being challenged
- Feeling a sense of connection with others;
supporting & being supported

9. Psychological need satisfaction
in tech-enabled virtual environments
• Both persistence and enjoyment of video game play was
predicted by psychological need satisfaction, regardless of
specific content, complexity, or genre of games
(Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006)
• 51% of the variance in video game enjoyment
was predicted by psychological need satisfaction
(Tamborini et al., 2009)

10. Key Question for HxR crowd:
What would supporting psychological need satisfaction look like in
terms of designing technologies to foster healthier behavior?
Specifically, active video games (AVGs)

11. There
are
no
cookie
cuLer
solu*ons…
but
we
can
s*ll
talk
about
generic
strategies
for
suppor*ng
psych.
needs
Key Question for HxR crowd:
What would supporting psychological need satisfaction look like in terms
of designing technologies to foster healthier behavior?
Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness
Autonomous
motivation

12. (I) Strategies for supporting AUTONOMY
with technology
• Building opportunities for choices, customization
- opportunities vs. obligations
- shallow vs. meaningful choices

13. (I) Strategies for supporting AUTONOMY
with technology
• Providing rationale helps people own it
• Providing opportunities for user feedback, value it
• Tie in core aspects of user’s identity – thematically or
with identity reflecting avatars

14. (2) Competence & health technology
• Building opportunities for people to feel optimally
challenged, and praised/recognize achievements
- individually calibrating challenge (up and down)
- meaningful feedback / reinforcement
- virtual badges, points, etc.

15. (3) Relatedness & health tech
• Building opportunities for feeling connected to another
being:
– Real-world friend / coach
– Virtual-world friend / coach
– A.I. friend / coach
– Pets too!
• About both giving & receiving care
• Social-support among most robust ingredients; hi or low tech

16. Augmented Fantasy Sports:
As a Case Study
• Traditional (sedentary) versions of online fantasy
sports are staggeringly popular
• >34 million players in North American alone
• 19% of adult males in the U.S. played in 2010
• They have proven effective at sustaining engagement
for long periods of time. Why?
– Might they support psychological need satisfaction?

17. Traditional Fantasy Sports:
As psych need satisfying
Autonomy –
need
abundance of opportunities for choosing to custome rosters
linked to a powerful aspect of many people’s identify, i.e.,
affiliation with their regional sports team
competition with skilled peers is among the best methods
of foster optimal challenge
perf. feedback is provided daily/weekly/season-levels
Competence –
need

18. Traditional Fantasy Sports:
As psych need satisfying
Relatedness –
need sat.
Typically, league participants play with people they know,
often year-after-year
Many report that interaction on message boards is among
the most enjoyable aspects of the game

19. Our “Augmented” Fantasy Sports System
• Combining traditionally sedentary online fantasy sports
with wearable activity tracking technology

20. Augmented Fantasy Sports:
As psych need satisfying
Autonomy – Let league members vote on physical activity goal setting
rules, e.g., maintain vs. increase, rate, consequences, etc.
Individually-calibrated physical activity goals based on
baseline-activity
Employed handicapping to foster competition between
league members of diff. fitness levels
Competence –
Relatedness – Physical activity data were posted twice weekly to message
boards, inciting discussion; limited impact of activity of game

21. Pilot testing aug fantasy sports
Summer 2013, 9 participants (M = 34 years) over 13 weeks
Key findings:
(1) Physical activity increased significantly
- Mean steps/day increased significantly from the 1-week baseline
period (M=8,678) compared to the 12-week assessment (M=11,364),
t(8)=2.63, p < .05.
a >30% increase in PA

22. Pilot testing
Key findings:
(2) Participants rated augmented fantasy sports as
significantly more enjoyable than traditional, t(8) =
4.43, p < .01

23. Self-Determination Theory
as flexible framework
Take
Home
Message
The SDT-derived principle of supporting psychological need satisfaction
should be applied flexibly to suit the particular health technology you’re
working with… and can complement user-centered design.

24. Thanks for your attention
Let’s discuss!
Arlen Moller, Ph.D.
Illinois Institute of Technology
amoller@iit.edu
@arlenmoller
More on aug. fantasy sports project:
http://t.co/NVJjCJCniI
Seeking dev & design partners!

26. Game Plan
• Challenges facing designers of active video games
(AVGs)
• A brief overview of self-determination theory
– Psychological need satisfaction & intrinsic motivation
– Broadly, how can this inform health & wellness tech design
• Finally, a case study to help illustrate