2.5.2 Elements of gamification

Games, despite their distinctions in relation to the gaming experience, have in common the very remarkable characteristics. Among these elements, it stands outs [45]:


The gamification, in the context of health, has been beneficial in several areas, being one of them its use in the development of new treatment tools for both children and adults [47].

The gamification, in the BloodHero, is the core of the differential that it presents. Every action taken on the application results in points to the user, that is, from each donation of blood, each acquired point becomes the currency of exchange for benefits and products presented within the application.

## 3. The BloodHero application

• Socializers are players interested in relating to others, characterized by having

• Explorers are interested in unraveling the game environment, and they are characterized by the knowledge of the mechanics of the game, even if they distance themselves from interacting with other players or have not completed

• Achievers are motivated by the challenges of the game, and they aim to complete all the activities of the game, especially those of greater difficulty

• Killers are the most overrated players in games, as their goals are focused on being more skilled than other players, focused on winning the best scorecards and/or powers disputes. The killer tends to publicly display his glories, not

Games, despite their distinctions in relation to the gaming experience, have in

• Points: These are the main rewards for the player's performance, as it is a numerical reward multiplied by their difficulty in relation to other tasks. They are widely used in sports games but also in point-of-use mechanics and

• Feedback: It is the statistical and quantitative disposition of the performance of the player; the efficiency in the goal achieved is passed on to the player for his

• Levels: They show experience, indicate progress, effort, engagement, and wisdom of the player with the game. Levels give status to the player, referring to his disposition to the proposal of the game; in this way, many platforms prioritize the players of higher levels, making this become the main objective

• Achievements: They are the collectable rewards of the game, usually with some visual characteristic identity and achieved when certain specific activities

are performed in the game. According to Zichermann [45], this type of reward is one of the best options for social incentive, because it is done as the goal of players who do not crave competition and cherish the social appeal of

• Rankings: The forms of competition where the points or other quantifiable element of the game are classified in an order that indicates success.

• Quiz: The question-and-answer game, as they are known, is used with an interesting method to support education. The technique of learning from error is widely used in this type of game. In addition, the quiz has the ability to incorporate other elements of play and become a memorable

common the very remarkable characteristics. Among these elements, it

incentive and consequently is converted into engagement.

the goals of prestige only by interaction between players.

Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

the game's challenges.

momentarily satisfied.

2.5.2 Elements of gamification

of the beginners.

strategy.

experience.

200

stands outs [45]:

and those of greater rewards.

role-playing experiences (RPGs).

At BloodHero, the concept of social networking and gamification comes together to produce a new tool linked to blood donation. The social network applied to BloodHero serves as a channel for publicizing the project, the history of patients who need donors, brands that link themselves to social causes, such as blood donation, and various other pieces of information related to this topic.

Gambling brings a new range of benefits to the user, among them the exchange of points for products. The adoption of rewarding the user with points for the actions taken throughout the application brings engagement and fidelity to the use of the app.

The application was proposed in order to guarantee a great commitment of the users. The bibliographic research, data observed in visits to blood centers, statistical analyzes of sites of some institutions, and mobile applications that use gamification, were the pieces of information taken into account for the production of the proposed app.

#### 3.1 Data acquisition

The visits to blood centers aimed at understanding the profile of new and veteran donors and strategies for donor acquisition. Psychologists responsible for the donor acquisition sectors in "Hemominas," the public blood center of Minas Gerais, Ana Carolina Ferreira, and the "Hemoservice," the private blood center of Belo Horizonte, Cinara Sá de Araújo, were prepared to answer doubts about the motivation of the donors, about donation incentive programs, recurrent campaigns and costs involved, and the entire process from donation to transfusion.

In the analysis of institutions, it was researched sites of 20 institutions, which include target audiences, between 16 and 30 years old, in different segments: McDonalds, Chiquinho, Hemonorte, Hemominas, Hemoservice, Hering, Lacoste, Adidas, Nike, CVC, Blue, Gamestation, Amazing Pixel, Netflix, TelecineNow, Cinemark, UCI Cinemas, Rastapé, Pink Elephant, Samsung, and Apple. The model of interaction with users and information about the corporation were transcribed.

Additionally, the analysis of web and mobile applications was carried out with eight mobile applications, related to the theme "blood donation," "Hemoliga," "DoeSempre," Blood 24/7, blood donor, "Partiu Doar Sangue," "Eu curto doar," Hemogram, and Doe Blood Mobile, with the aim of quantifying systems and verifying methods and philosophies in common.

It also analyzed 12 web and mobile game applications and some other apps that use gamification: Asked [28]; FlappyBird [29]; Fruit Ninja [30]; HayDay [31]; Pokemon GO [32]; Angry Birds [33]; PasseiDireto; Skoob [34]; Icatu Insurances, "vivendoeAprendendo" [35]; Nike [48], NikePlus [48]; Google Maps [25]; and Cartola FC [36]. It analyzed the characteristics in common of games and how they are arranged to the players.

Android OS was chosen as the target platform, for the ease of content for supporting development, as well as for the broader reach of users on the platform. Therefore, application dynamics and visual identity were designed to be developed in the Android Studio IDE, using Java and XML programming languages, following

Results from the data acquisition were relevant to the application design, although they did not escape from the expected bibliographic review; the information was taken into account in the construction of the modules and the interactive environment. Those results were applied to define the public, to model the social network, the information system for blood donation, and to the gamification system. For the design, it was based on the observation of the systems, the material

For improving the application, an initial Portuguese version was designed, called

version 1 (Figure 1), illustrated by the block diagram, which contains the

design, and the tools made available for development.

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

material design standards.

3.2 Application flowchart

Figure 2.

203

BloodHero login screen.

Figure 1. Descriptive block diagram of the app.

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

Android OS was chosen as the target platform, for the ease of content for supporting development, as well as for the broader reach of users on the platform. Therefore, application dynamics and visual identity were designed to be developed in the Android Studio IDE, using Java and XML programming languages, following material design standards.

## 3.2 Application flowchart

Results from the data acquisition were relevant to the application design, although they did not escape from the expected bibliographic review; the information was taken into account in the construction of the modules and the interactive environment. Those results were applied to define the public, to model the social network, the information system for blood donation, and to the gamification system. For the design, it was based on the observation of the systems, the material design, and the tools made available for development.

For improving the application, an initial Portuguese version was designed, called version 1 (Figure 1), illustrated by the block diagram, which contains the

Figure 2. BloodHero login screen.

Figure 1.

202

Descriptive block diagram of the app.

Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

## Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

fundamental activities of the complete idealization of the application. Once the whole project is finished, the intention is translating the app to other languages.

date of the last donation, picture/photo of the user, e-mail/telephone, nickname/ login, and password. Once the registration is performed, the user is taken to the screen where he (she) can invite/request friends to have access to all the activities of

In the profile screen (Figure 3), the information with the authorization of the Hero, relevant to the VSN dynamics, will be made available to the users who access it. He (she) will see the photo, name and surname, whether he is logged in, city, blood type, points, level, past achievements, leagues, and friends. The profile will be the main screen, from where the user will be taken to other activities, update his (her) personal information, and access credentials. When viewing another user's

As the interaction between "Heroes" and publications (called "Stories," by the app) receive points, which will be explained in the following topics, it was necessary modeling a mechanism to fit the content, in a way that publications should only contain subjects related to blood donation. From this, the production of a story can be done as follows: A story requesting a donation—Here the user can insert text and media (image and video) for personal support, the information of the user will be made available to other users who have interest in helping

This publishing form (Figure 4) has interaction buttons. The "Assist"—by checking this option, the user may have access to more information about the patient and the activity of connecting donors; the "Comment," this option leads to an interaction activity with the subject of the publication; and "Share," which causes the user to include the story in the list of his (her) friends' posts and/or to spread it in external VSNs. Additionally, when the user selects the "Assist" option, in a publication, the user is sent to the Assist activity, where the information of the patient that needs donation is made available to the Hero, as well as the button "connect donor," where he (she) can send the Hero to an activity where he (she) can indicate friends with a blood type compatible to the inter-

Publications will have a list of comments related to the stories, but each hero may comment only once in each story. Comments will have the "Like" button,

The groups, named by the app as "Leagues" (Figure 5), will bring Heroes with similar interests together. The goal is to get users to interact using their common interests for blood donation. The Hero can join in many Leagues, as he (she) wants; however, it will be allowed to be created only one League per Hero. The user who creates the league will be the Leader of the group. In the league registration activity, the following information should be provided: league title, description, representative image/photo, and classification—closed (when the Hero participation in the league requires the leader's invitation), open (when any hero can participate the

BloodHero. The application will identify the user as a "Hero."

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

profile, the option to request friendship will be available.

which indicates approval of the message by other users.

(Figure 4).

ested patient.

Figure 4.

205

A story for requesting blood donation in BloodHero.

Based on the interviews in the blood centers, and the forms of public research, obtained from the bibliographical references, the answers showed that the ideal target audience (those who are interested both in social causes, VSNs, and games) are young people of the Z and Y generation, specifically people between the ages of 16 and 30, regardless of their ability to perform blood donation. To do this, the application should promote direct interaction between users.

The user's first contact with BloodHero will be through the Log in task, shown in Figure 2. From that screen, the registered user will include log in information and password to access the application, for those who are not registered yet, the screen will offer the option of registering himself (herself).

For registering and joining the application, the user will have to provide the following information: name and surname, genre, city, blood type, date of birth,

Figure 3. Profile on BloodHero.

#### BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

fundamental activities of the complete idealization of the application. Once the whole project is finished, the intention is translating the app to other languages. Based on the interviews in the blood centers, and the forms of public research, obtained from the bibliographical references, the answers showed that the ideal target audience (those who are interested both in social causes, VSNs, and games) are young people of the Z and Y generation, specifically people between the ages of 16 and 30, regardless of their ability to perform blood donation. To do this, the

The user's first contact with BloodHero will be through the Log in task, shown in Figure 2. From that screen, the registered user will include log in information and password to access the application, for those who are not registered yet, the screen

For registering and joining the application, the user will have to provide the following information: name and surname, genre, city, blood type, date of birth,

application should promote direct interaction between users.

Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

will offer the option of registering himself (herself).

Figure 3.

204

Profile on BloodHero.

date of the last donation, picture/photo of the user, e-mail/telephone, nickname/ login, and password. Once the registration is performed, the user is taken to the screen where he (she) can invite/request friends to have access to all the activities of BloodHero. The application will identify the user as a "Hero."

In the profile screen (Figure 3), the information with the authorization of the Hero, relevant to the VSN dynamics, will be made available to the users who access it. He (she) will see the photo, name and surname, whether he is logged in, city, blood type, points, level, past achievements, leagues, and friends. The profile will be the main screen, from where the user will be taken to other activities, update his (her) personal information, and access credentials. When viewing another user's profile, the option to request friendship will be available.

As the interaction between "Heroes" and publications (called "Stories," by the app) receive points, which will be explained in the following topics, it was necessary modeling a mechanism to fit the content, in a way that publications should only contain subjects related to blood donation. From this, the production of a story can be done as follows: A story requesting a donation—Here the user can insert text and media (image and video) for personal support, the information of the user will be made available to other users who have interest in helping (Figure 4).

This publishing form (Figure 4) has interaction buttons. The "Assist"—by checking this option, the user may have access to more information about the patient and the activity of connecting donors; the "Comment," this option leads to an interaction activity with the subject of the publication; and "Share," which causes the user to include the story in the list of his (her) friends' posts and/or to spread it in external VSNs. Additionally, when the user selects the "Assist" option, in a publication, the user is sent to the Assist activity, where the information of the patient that needs donation is made available to the Hero, as well as the button "connect donor," where he (she) can send the Hero to an activity where he (she) can indicate friends with a blood type compatible to the interested patient.

Publications will have a list of comments related to the stories, but each hero may comment only once in each story. Comments will have the "Like" button, which indicates approval of the message by other users.

The groups, named by the app as "Leagues" (Figure 5), will bring Heroes with similar interests together. The goal is to get users to interact using their common interests for blood donation. The Hero can join in many Leagues, as he (she) wants; however, it will be allowed to be created only one League per Hero. The user who creates the league will be the Leader of the group. In the league registration activity, the following information should be provided: league title, description, representative image/photo, and classification—closed (when the Hero participation in the league requires the leader's invitation), open (when any hero can participate the

Figure 4. A story for requesting blood donation in BloodHero.

Figure 5. Representation of a "League" in BloodHero.

league), and open to requests (when league participation can be requested from the leader). Once created, the user is requested to send participation invitation to other Heroes, in a way that any registered user can be invited.

In the case of blood centers, the click will show the name, address, contact infor-

The information reached by the "I Want to Donate" activity, made available in the application, will guide the donor to the donation preparation. Information about how the donation process is carried out will be provided, how important it is, what care the donor should take before donating, what situations will impede the donation, the physiological process of blood replacement, blood types, the ABO system and the RH factor, and the Ministry of Health regulations related to the donation.

The mechanics behind the game, at BloodHero, were based on the statistical analyses of mobile electronic games and sites of institutions using gamification. Mechanics were modeled for points, levels, feedback and achievements, and quiz

mation, e-mail, and telephone number.

Maps and information about blood centers and blood collection sites.

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

3.4 BloodHero gamification

Figure 6.

207

and competitions, among Leagues.

## 3.3 BloodHero in donation support

The application will also keep information about blood donation. The purpose is to facilitate the Hero's access to the cause. The application will show maps, all the information, and rules necessary for the practice of the blood donation.

In the map screen (Figure 6), markers will indicate all the blood centers in the city and possible campaigns for donation, present and future. Clicking on each of the markers, individual information of each blood center or event will be shown.

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

In the case of blood centers, the click will show the name, address, contact information, e-mail, and telephone number.

The information reached by the "I Want to Donate" activity, made available in the application, will guide the donor to the donation preparation. Information about how the donation process is carried out will be provided, how important it is, what care the donor should take before donating, what situations will impede the donation, the physiological process of blood replacement, blood types, the ABO system and the RH factor, and the Ministry of Health regulations related to the donation.

## 3.4 BloodHero gamification

The mechanics behind the game, at BloodHero, were based on the statistical analyses of mobile electronic games and sites of institutions using gamification. Mechanics were modeled for points, levels, feedback and achievements, and quiz and competitions, among Leagues.

league), and open to requests (when league participation can be requested from the leader). Once created, the user is requested to send participation invitation to other

The application will also keep information about blood donation. The purpose is to facilitate the Hero's access to the cause. The application will show maps, all the

In the map screen (Figure 6), markers will indicate all the blood centers in the city and possible campaigns for donation, present and future. Clicking on each of the markers, individual information of each blood center or event will be shown.

information, and rules necessary for the practice of the blood donation.

Heroes, in a way that any registered user can be invited.

Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

3.3 BloodHero in donation support

Representation of a "League" in BloodHero.

Figure 5.

206


Table 2.

Table of quotation and rules of points.

#### 3.4.1 Rules for points

The rules for accumulating points are based on the Hero's interactions with the application, on promotions to attract new users, and attitudes in favor of blood donation. The rules for punctuation are divided into the tables: quotation of points and publication rules.

The basic quotation of the points follows the rules described in Table 2.

#### 3.4.2 Rules and mechanics for quiz

The game of questions and answers aims at maintaining a frequency of access of the hero to the application, but also promoting learning about blood donation, and is named "Quiz."

BloodHero will provide at least one question per week. Questions will be about the process, importance, curiosities, and facts about blood donation. Each question will be objective and will have four alternatives, from where only one will be true. If the hero hits the question, he (she) will receive the correct points, and more information about the question will be provided in case of errors, although the points will not be counted. The correct alternative will be evidenced, and the information about the subject will be made available.

3.4.4 Rules for league competition

among them.

Table 3. Table of level titles.

Leagues will have points that will be calculated from the sum of points of each player, given by Eq. (2). The app uses the calculation to get the overall score of users belonging to the Leagues and uses that score to show the competition of the best

Level Title Points required Newbie Hero/Newbie Heroin 0 Unknown Hero/Unknown Heroin 11 Started Hero/Started Heroin 122 Adept Hero/Adept Heroin 453 Benevolent Hero/Benevolent Heroin 1124 Courageous Hero/Courageous Heroin 2255 Brave Hero/Brave Heroin 3966 Fearless Hero/Fearless Heroin 6377 Strong Hero/Strong Heroin 9608 Super Strong Hero/Super Strong Heroin 13,779 Incredible Hero/Incredible Heroin 19,010 Super Incredible Hero/Super Incredible Heroin 25,421 Bright Hero/Bright Heroin 33,132 Scintillating Hero/Scintillating Heroin 42,263 Great Hero/Great Heroin 52,934 Excellent Hero/Excellent Heroin 65,265 Super Excellent Hero/Super Excellent Heroin 79,376 Majestic Hero/Majestic Heroin 95,387 Powerful Hero/Powerful Heroin 113,418 Super Powerful Hero/Super Powerful Heroin 133,589

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

Number of league users

Player points N (2)

N¼0

where the overall score of the league is given by the sum of the scores of all the

The League ranking (Figure 7) will be available on BloodHero, which can be filtered by location (neighborhood, city, state, country, and continent) or by

To satisfy the conquering players, BloodHero will feature several collectibles [49]. Achievements will be the rewards for activity in supporting the application dynamics. They will be gradually delivered, while the user increases his (her) interaction

players who joined it. For example, if League A has 10 players, each one with

League Points ¼ ∑

100 points, the league will have 1000 points.

keywords in each League.

3.4.5 Rules for achievements

209

#### 3.4.3 Calculation and title for levels

The levels will be calculated by the application and each one of them will have a title, shown in Table 3. The profile will be made available for viewing and will show the Hero's experience and involvement with blood donation. They will have a limit of 20, where the points needed to reach each the level are expressed by Eq. (1), adapted from the game strategy equation [49].

$$\text{Required Points} = \left(20 \ast \left(\text{level} - 1\right)^3\right) - \left(10 \ast \left(\text{level} - 1\right)^2\right) + \left(1 \ast \left(\text{level} - 1\right)\right) \tag{1}$$

where the coefficient "20" represents the maximum level reached by each player, the coefficient "10" describes half of the maximum possible level reached by each player, and the coefficient "1" characterizes the player's initial level. The term (level 1) was used to make the initial score equals to zero, when starting the game.

#### BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140


#### Table 3. Table of level titles.

3.4.1 Rules for points

Table of quotation and rules of points.

Indicate a Donor

Table 2.

and publication rules.

is named "Quiz."

208

3.4.2 Rules and mechanics for quiz

3.4.3 Calculation and title for levels

information about the subject will be made available.

adapted from the game strategy equation [49].

Required Points <sup>¼</sup> <sup>20</sup> <sup>∗</sup> ð Þ level � <sup>1</sup> <sup>3</sup>

The rules for accumulating points are based on the Hero's interactions with the application, on promotions to attract new users, and attitudes in favor of blood donation. The rules for punctuation are divided into the tables: quotation of points

Action Rule Points Frequency Registration Record all the information required by the application +400 Unique To assist Check the "Assist" option on a story +5 By history

Quiz Hit the right alternative +200 For each correct

Indicate compatible donor to a publication (request) +100 By compatible

Participate in the game of questions +10 By participation

+1 By "like"

donor indicated

alternative

Comment Comments on stories, since that they are well evaluated

Interactive Multimedia - Multimedia Production and Digital Storytelling

by other Heroes

The game of questions and answers aims at maintaining a frequency of access of the hero to the application, but also promoting learning about blood donation, and

BloodHero will provide at least one question per week. Questions will be about the process, importance, curiosities, and facts about blood donation. Each question will be objective and will have four alternatives, from where only one will be true. If the hero hits the question, he (she) will receive the correct points, and more information about the question will be provided in case of errors, although the points will not be counted. The correct alternative will be evidenced, and the

The levels will be calculated by the application and each one of them will have a title, shown in Table 3. The profile will be made available for viewing and will show the Hero's experience and involvement with blood donation. They will have a limit of 20, where the points needed to reach each the level are expressed by Eq. (1),

where the coefficient "20" represents the maximum level reached by each player, the coefficient "10" describes half of the maximum possible level reached by each player, and the coefficient "1" characterizes the player's initial level. The term (level 1) was used to make the initial score equals to zero, when starting the game.

� <sup>10</sup> <sup>∗</sup> ð Þ level � <sup>1</sup> <sup>2</sup> <sup>þ</sup> ð Þ <sup>1</sup> <sup>∗</sup> ð Þ level � <sup>1</sup>

(1)

The basic quotation of the points follows the rules described in Table 2.

## 3.4.4 Rules for league competition

Leagues will have points that will be calculated from the sum of points of each player, given by Eq. (2). The app uses the calculation to get the overall score of users belonging to the Leagues and uses that score to show the competition of the best among them.

$$\text{Leage Points} = \sum\_{\text{N=0}}^{\text{Number of legue users}} \text{Player points N} \tag{2}$$

where the overall score of the league is given by the sum of the scores of all the players who joined it. For example, if League A has 10 players, each one with 100 points, the league will have 1000 points.

The League ranking (Figure 7) will be available on BloodHero, which can be filtered by location (neighborhood, city, state, country, and continent) or by keywords in each League.

#### 3.4.5 Rules for achievements

To satisfy the conquering players, BloodHero will feature several collectibles [49]. Achievements will be the rewards for activity in supporting the application dynamics. They will be gradually delivered, while the user increases his (her) interaction

indicatives by depicting the individual effort. The goals for achieving them are predefined by the application (Figure 8).

Once the required codes are reached, achievements are added to the user's list of

Brazil has a deficit of 2.5 million donations a year, that is, people who are able to donate, because of the lack of information, lack of custom, fear, or other factors, do not donate. Adding the value and benefits of gamification to blood donation, the increasing amount of blood donations and, consequently, increase blood stocks is

About 50% of the Brazilian population is able to donate blood; however, there is a lack of connection between people who can donate and the act of donating blood. Bringing new technologies to stimulate new donations and reduce this lack of donor

This application will not totally change this reality, but it can increase donor/ donor numbers, saving more lives and proving that the health area is always open to receive new technologies and developments, aimed at improving the quality of life

The expectations with this project are to increase blood donations, to engage the population with this social cause, and show that new technologies can be applied in

Another expectation is concluding the development to launch the BloodHero

The authors thank LabSIM and LabSIS labs, at the Federal University of Rio

, Thiago Messias<sup>1</sup>

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

, José Feijó<sup>1</sup>

, Anthony Diniz2

connection is essential to modify the current Brazilian scenario.

collectibles. They have a representative image, a title, and a brief description.

4. Conclusions and expectations

BloodHero: The Power of Gamification in Social Habit DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84140

expected.

of the population.

the health area [47].

Acknowledgements

Author details

Daniela Domingos<sup>1</sup>

and Heliana Soares<sup>1</sup>

211

application, which is in the prototype stage.

Grande do Norte, for their support in this research.

, Luis Felipe Lima<sup>1</sup>

1 Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil

2 Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

\*Address all correspondence to: helianabs@gmail.com

\*

provided the original work is properly cited.

Figure 7. League ranking.

Figure 8. BloodHero application achievement examples.

Once the required codes are reached, achievements are added to the user's list of collectibles. They have a representative image, a title, and a brief description.
