BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Human Factors and Digital Health
This article is part of the Research TopicDesigning for Engagement in Digital Health for Chronic and Long-Term CareView all 15 articles
From Engagement to Empowerment: Integrating Gamification and Living Lab Methodology in Child-Centered Health Innovation
Provisionally accepted
- Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
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This paper presents the design, development, and field testing of Save the World, a gamified healthcare application aimed at promoting health awareness and environmental literacy among children aged 8–10 years. Developed within the Horizon Europe SynAir-G project, the application combines game-based mechanics with an iterative Living Lab (LL) methodology to foster engagement, inclusivity, and real-world learning. The app was co-created with children, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, and developers through a multistakeholder, co-creative process involving workshops in Sweden and Denmark. Drawing on LL principles; such as stakeholder engagement, real-life experimentation, and continuous feedback; this research enhanced the contextual relevance and usability of game features while addressing ethical considerations and diverse user needs. Field-testing results show that the integration of gamification and LL methodologies significantly improved user engagement, educational value, and technical performance. The study demonstrates how LL and gamification can reinforce one another in creating meaningful, child-centered digital innovations, aligning with broader European goals around sustainability, digital inclusion, and participatory design.
Keywords: Gamification, Living Lab, healthcare, Participatory Design, Child Care
Received: 13 Aug 2025; Accepted: 11 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Habibipour. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Abdolrasoul Habibipour, abdolrasoul.habibipour@ltu.se
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