Rogerio Augusto Bordini

A report from the World Economic Forum (2019) stated loneliness as the third societal stressor in the world, which is on the rise particularly in the West. This psychological strain, which was recently classified as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and more dangerous than obesity (CIGNA, 2018), can also increase the risk of depression and other mental disorders, which can lead to increased severity of the condition due to negative impacts on physical, mental and social health (Cacioppo et al. 2002; Hawkley et al. 2003). Digital technology, specifically mental health apps (MHapps), has been viewed as promising solutions, however, little evidence on this topic reveals uncertainty around how technological solutions impact individual well-being. This work aims to investigate how a gamified social mobile app can reduce the social isolation and loneliness of young adults by bringing them into an online community of local users who will be able to communicate and help each other both online and in real life based on their geolocation. Furthermore, as little work has focused on digital apps to reduce loneliness, this project also proposes to describe and discuss the design process of the app Gratitude (Web and mobile), which its first version is being developed following a set of recommendations for designing high-efficacy mental health mobile apps (Chandrashekar, 2018; Bakker et al. 2016), gamification for mental health (Fleming et al. 2017) and loneliness reduction interventions (Masi et al. 2011). By considering these guidelines, the app also aims to create social opportunities and improve users' social skills through a quest-based gamified system in order to encourage conversations and develop empathy. The problem identification, the design process of low and high-fidelity prototypes and the methods to evaluate usability and the processes of peer evaluation will be presented.

Panel 2 - Design