Short answer
When designing health and fitness apps for adolescents, consider using a tiered approach to gamification or engagement features, offering simpler, more direct motivational elements for those less inclined towards complex game mechanics, while also building in features that encourage mindful usage.
- Field
- Human Factors
- Source
- Children (2025)
- Method
- Quasi-experimental study
- Sample
- 240 adolescents
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Adolescents with lower prior physical activity levels are more likely to abandon gamified mobile step tracking applications. This human factors research insight is drawn from a 2025 study published in Children. Using Quasi-experimental study with 240 adolescents, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing health and fitness apps for adolescents, consider using a tiered approach to gamification or engagement features, offering simpler, more direct motivational elements for those less inclined towards complex game mechanics, while also building in features that encourage mindful usage.
Gamified Step Trackers Increase Dropout Risk for Inactive Adolescents
Adolescents with lower prior physical activity levels are more likely to abandon gamified mobile step tracking applications.
Children · 2025
Key Findings
- 01Inactive adolescents had a significantly higher dropout rate when using the Pokémon Go app.
- 02No significant differences were found in overall app assessment between active and inactive adolescents.
- 03Active adolescents showed a positive correlation between training volume and problematic mobile phone use, particularly conflicting use.
Application
Design takeaway
When designing health and fitness apps for adolescents, consider using a tiered approach to gamification or engagement features, offering simpler, more direct motivational elements for those less inclined towards complex game mechanics, while also building in features that encourage mindful usage.
How to apply
When developing a new fitness app for a broad audience, conduct user research to segment potential users by their current activity levels and preferences for engagement. Test different motivational frameworks, including both gamified and more straightforward goal-setting approaches, to see which best supports sustained use across these segments.
Project actions
- 01When researching user engagement, consider how different types of motivation (e.g., intrinsic vs. extrinsic, competitive vs. collaborative) might affect user retention.
- 02Explore how the interface and interaction design of an app can influence user behaviour, including potential negative outcomes like overuse.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Directly compares different types of mobile applications.
- +Categorizes users based on a relevant pre-existing characteristic (physical activity level).
Limitations
The specific apps studied might not represent the full spectrum of mobile tracking applications. The duration of the intervention (10 weeks) may not be long enough to observe long-term engagement patterns or the development of problematic use.
Reliability & validity
The study's use of a quasi-experimental design and statistical analysis (p-values) suggests an attempt at establishing reliability and validity. However, the subjective nature of 'app assessment' and 'problematic mobile phone use' could introduce limitations in terms of measurement validity. The randomization of app assignment within the intervention helps with internal validity.
Think critically
To what extent can gamification be considered a universally effective engagement strategy, or does its success depend heavily on the target audience's pre-existing motivations and behaviours?
Design Principles
"User engagement strategies should be adaptable to varying levels of intrinsic motivation and prior experience to ensure broad applicability and sustained use."
This finding highlights a critical consideration for designers developing health and fitness applications. The engagement strategies that appeal to active users may inadvertently alienate less active individuals, leading to higher attrition rates and undermining the app's intended purpose of promoting activity.
What This Means for Your Design
Apps that are like games might make less active teens quit more easily, but active teens might start using their phones too much for exercise.
How to use in your project
- 1.This research can inform the justification for user segmentation in your design project, explaining why different features or engagement strategies might be necessary for different user groups.
- 2.It provides a basis for discussing the potential ethical considerations of digital health interventions, such as the risk of promoting unhealthy usage patterns.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
The study by Gómez-Cuesta et al. (2025) highlights that gamified mobile applications can lead to higher dropout rates among less active adolescent users, specifically noting increased attrition with the Pokémon Go app for inactive participants. This suggests that while gamification can be a powerful engagement tool, its design must be carefully considered to avoid alienating or discouraging users with lower baseline engagement levels. Furthermore, the research indicated a potential link between high training volume and problematic mobile phone use in active adolescents, underscoring the need for designers to consider the broader behavioural impacts of their applications.
Source
Children
Adolescents’ Assessment of Several Step Tracker Mobile Applications Based on Their Previous Level of Physical Activity
journal · 2025
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about gamified step trackers increase dropout risk for inactive adolescents?
- When designing health and fitness apps for adolescents, consider using a tiered approach to gamification or engagement features, offering simpler, more direct motivational elements for those less inclined towards complex game mechanics, while also building in features that encourage mindful usage. Evidence: Children (2025).
- Why does "Gamified Step Trackers Increase Dropout Risk for Inactive Adolescents" matter for design?
- This finding highlights a critical consideration for designers developing health and fitness applications. The engagement strategies that appeal to active users may inadvertently alienate less active individuals, leading to higher attrition rates and undermining the app's intended purpose of promoting activity.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When designing health and fitness apps for adolescents, consider using a tiered approach to gamification or engagement features, offering simpler, more direct motivational elements for those less inclined towards complex game mechanics, while also building in features that encourage mindful usage.
- What were the main findings?
- Inactive adolescents had a significantly higher dropout rate when using the Pokémon Go app.. No significant differences were found in overall app assessment between active and inactive adolescents.. Active adolescents showed a positive correlation between training volume and problematic mobile phone use, particularly conflicting use.
- What research method was used?
- Quasi-experimental study with 240 adolescents.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2025 journal from Children.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When developing a new fitness app for a broad audience, conduct user research to segment potential users by their current activity levels and preferences for engagement. Test different motivational frameworks, including both gamified and more straightforward goal-setting approaches, to see which best supports sustained use across these segments.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focused on a specific age group (adolescents) and a limited set of applications, potentially limiting generalizability to other demographics or a wider range of digital health tools. The definition of 'problematic mobile phone use' and its measurement could also be a factor.