Driven to drive? Investigating the effect of gamification on learner driver behavior, perceived motivation and user experience

Driving can be dangerous, especially for young and inexperienced drivers. To help address the issue of inexperience, a gamified logbook smartphone application was designed and developed for learner drivers in Queensland, Australia. The application aims to make it easy for learner drivers to record their mandatory practice sessions while the added gamification aims to encourage learners to undertake a wider range of practice. Previous research reported on a lab-based study of a gamified version and a non-gamified version of this application. This paper presents an updated design of the application and investigates the effect of the application when tested in the field. Results are provided from a within-groups field study undertaken with 25 learner drivers over a four-week period, during which the effect of the gamification on behavior change, perceived motivation and user experience was studied. Although results suggest that the gamified logbook was perceived as more enjoyable and motivating than the non-gamified version, no significant change in behavior was found. This encourages discussion on the effectiveness of gamification to encourage behavior change and the feasibility of using gamification in this particular context.