Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study
BackgroundMany senior adults are at risk of mental and physical disorders due to a lack of sufficient exercise. Therefore, adherent exercise should be urgently promoted to improve senior adults’ muscle strength, preventing falls and conditions caused by physical and cognitive...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2024-04-01
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| Series: | JMIR Serious Games |
| Online Access: | https://games.jmir.org/2024/1/e36154 |
| _version_ | 1827292281601785856 |
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| author | Yu-Han Wang |
| author_facet | Yu-Han Wang |
| author_sort | Yu-Han Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundMany senior adults are at risk of mental and physical disorders due to a lack of sufficient exercise. Therefore, adherent exercise should be urgently promoted to improve senior adults’ muscle strength, preventing falls and conditions caused by physical and cognitive decline. However, off-the-shelf exercise games, so-called exergames, are mainly targeted at the younger generation or children, while senior adults are neglected, when this age group strongly needs exercise. Exergames could serve as a health intervention for promoting exercise.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate senior adults’ experience, perceptions, and acceptance of game technology to promote exercise in order to suggest game design guidelines.
MethodsIn this usability study, participants engaged in playing Nintendo Switch and Xbox Kinect games, after which semistructured interviews were conducted. Before the gameplay, the participants provided their background information, exercise habits, and use of technology products. Next, all participants completed a workshop including 3 activities (brief instructions on how to play the games: 20 minutes; playing the selected exergames: 80 minutes; semistructured interviews: 20 minutes) for 2 hours a day for 3 days each. The participants played the latest Nintendo Switch games (eg, Just Dance, Boxing, Ring Fit Adventure) and Xbox Kinect games (eg, Kinect Adventures!, Mini Games). Just Dance, Zumba, and Boxing were played in activity 1; Ring Fit Adventure and Mini Games in activity 2; and Kinect Adventures! in activity 3. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to identify the relative themes generated from the interviews.
ResultsIn total, 22 participants (mean age 70.4, SD 6.1 years) were enrolled in the workshop in May 2021. The results of the generated themes included incomprehension of game instructions, psychological perception of game technology, and game art preferences. The subthemes generated from game art preferences included favorite game genres, characters, and scenes.
ConclusionsThere is a significant need for customized game tutorials considering senior adults’ cognitive and physical aging. Furthermore, the adventure game genre is preferable to other games. Humanlike game characters are preferable, especially those with a fit and healthy body shape. Nature scenes are more enjoyable than indoor stages or rooms. Furthermore, the game intensity design and playing time should be carefully planned to meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for physical activity in older adults. Intelligent recommendation systems might be helpful to support older adults with various health conditions. The guidelines suggested in this study might be beneficial for game design, exercise training, and game technology adoption of exergames for older adults to improve health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:00:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f00a74fd77664ec9940d2ddd36d73b3e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2291-9279 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:00:17Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Serious Games |
| spelling | doaj.art-f00a74fd77664ec9940d2ddd36d73b3e2024-04-05T14:15:35ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Serious Games2291-92792024-04-0112e3615410.2196/36154Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability StudyYu-Han Wanghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7796-9560 BackgroundMany senior adults are at risk of mental and physical disorders due to a lack of sufficient exercise. Therefore, adherent exercise should be urgently promoted to improve senior adults’ muscle strength, preventing falls and conditions caused by physical and cognitive decline. However, off-the-shelf exercise games, so-called exergames, are mainly targeted at the younger generation or children, while senior adults are neglected, when this age group strongly needs exercise. Exergames could serve as a health intervention for promoting exercise. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate senior adults’ experience, perceptions, and acceptance of game technology to promote exercise in order to suggest game design guidelines. MethodsIn this usability study, participants engaged in playing Nintendo Switch and Xbox Kinect games, after which semistructured interviews were conducted. Before the gameplay, the participants provided their background information, exercise habits, and use of technology products. Next, all participants completed a workshop including 3 activities (brief instructions on how to play the games: 20 minutes; playing the selected exergames: 80 minutes; semistructured interviews: 20 minutes) for 2 hours a day for 3 days each. The participants played the latest Nintendo Switch games (eg, Just Dance, Boxing, Ring Fit Adventure) and Xbox Kinect games (eg, Kinect Adventures!, Mini Games). Just Dance, Zumba, and Boxing were played in activity 1; Ring Fit Adventure and Mini Games in activity 2; and Kinect Adventures! in activity 3. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to identify the relative themes generated from the interviews. ResultsIn total, 22 participants (mean age 70.4, SD 6.1 years) were enrolled in the workshop in May 2021. The results of the generated themes included incomprehension of game instructions, psychological perception of game technology, and game art preferences. The subthemes generated from game art preferences included favorite game genres, characters, and scenes. ConclusionsThere is a significant need for customized game tutorials considering senior adults’ cognitive and physical aging. Furthermore, the adventure game genre is preferable to other games. Humanlike game characters are preferable, especially those with a fit and healthy body shape. Nature scenes are more enjoyable than indoor stages or rooms. Furthermore, the game intensity design and playing time should be carefully planned to meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for physical activity in older adults. Intelligent recommendation systems might be helpful to support older adults with various health conditions. The guidelines suggested in this study might be beneficial for game design, exercise training, and game technology adoption of exergames for older adults to improve health.https://games.jmir.org/2024/1/e36154 |
| spellingShingle | Yu-Han Wang Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study JMIR Serious Games |
| title | Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study |
| title_full | Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study |
| title_short | Understanding Senior Adults’ Needs, Preferences, and Experiences of Commercial Exergames for Health: Usability Study |
| title_sort | understanding senior adults needs preferences and experiences of commercial exergames for health usability study |
| url | https://games.jmir.org/2024/1/e36154 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yuhanwang understandingsenioradultsneedspreferencesandexperiencesofcommercialexergamesforhealthusabilitystudy |