Agile User-Centered Design of an Iot-Enabled Gamified Intervention for Energy Conservation at the Workplace

Abstract

Energy conservation in workplace environments is recognized as both important and impactful towards reducing worldwide CO2 emissions and protecting the environment. However, the focus of existing research has not primarily been on the employees' energy consumption behavior, albeit its potential impact on workplace energy efficiency. Aiming to affect employee energy behavior change towards more conscious consumption patterns, we have adopted gamification, a contemporary instrument that, when carefully utilized can lead to employee behavior change. Furthermore, we have followed an Iterative & Incremental Agile User Centered Design (UCD) approach towards designing a gamified IoT-enabled mobile app that provides energy consumption-related feedback to employees at their workplace. We present the characteristics of the designed app, as well as explain the rationale behind their choice. Usability results derived from employees in 3 workplaces at 3 different EU countries indicate that through our approach we designed a prototype gamified solution very well perceived and engaging to our target audience, scoring high in both usability, as well as user experience aspects. We further enhanced the app with additional functionality, according to the test users' feedback, towards producing the first integrated version. Initial results from testing this revised first integrated version of the app, revealed even more enhanced usability and user experience results, compared to the previous version. Overall, our derived evidence suggests that, by following an Iterative & Incremental Agile UCD approach within our field of application, we have derived a gamified app for energy-saving at the workplace that is conceived of as highly usable and provides for a positive user experience.

How Could People and Communities Contribute to the Energy Transition? Conceptual Maps to Inform, Orient, and Inspire Design Actions and Education

“…Among the identified approaches in the context of UCD, the focus primarily revolves around themes of energy efficiency and energy management in the workplaces [62,63], context-aware systems [64], smart houses [65], commercial buildings [66,67], and residential buildings [68]. Particular emphasis is placed on the domestic environment via solutions such as apps [69,70], smart meters [71], eco-feedback systems [72,73], gamification devices/solutions [74], and more general investigation on the interaction with the domestic environment [75].…”

Results and insight gained from applying the EnergyCat energy-saving serious game in UK social housing

“…Most serious games use a variation of the 'four-square' framework. This has been defined as the blueprint of the gamification movement, and enables game designers to optimize the potential for behaviour change by tapping in to the principles of motivational techniques already widely established within psychological research [4,7,31]. These include, drawing attention to the issue, in order to 'plant the seed' and begin to unfreeze habits [32]; social comparison (e.g.…”

“…By combining these elements of motivational theory within a 'playful' platform that both engages and enables the user to autonomously seek information, serious games have been shown to have substantial potential for enabling the formation of new sustainable behaviour patterns. Indeed, developments in the field of serious gaming have gained substantial momentum in recent years, and examples of serious gaming being effectively implemented in order to motivate behaviour change now abound across a wide variety of contexts, including health and well-being, education, and sustainability [3,4,7]. Within the environmental domain, Ro, Brauer, Kuntz, Shukla and Bensch [39] compared the effectiveness of the "Cool Choices" game in motivating pro-environmental behaviour change across a variety of contexts, including electric usage, transportation, and food choices.…”

“…Digital technology provides exciting opportunities for communicating about energy with householders, but may not be suitable for all target audiences. Research has highlighted the effectiveness of 'serious games' in motivating positive behaviour change across a variety of contexts including energy conservation [3,4,5,6,7]. However to date, no research (as far as we are aware) has made an attempt to explore whether these findings generalise to vulnerable population subsets, including social housing.…”

Enhancing Digital Inclusion: A Dual Approach to Assessing Hominere and Smart Break App

“…According to Kotsopoulos et al (2018), promoting people's altruistic motives for energy and monetary savings in their homes is crucial as a means of contributing to environmental protection. It is also essential to involve company employees in energy conservation efforts in the workplace, as personal monetary gains are not typically expected.…”