This study analyzes the factors that influence user engagement with usability-centric gamification. The use of gamification in healthcare and e-learning is one of the most important ways to increase user engagement. With the growth and popularity of s...
This study analyzes the factors that influence user engagement with usability-centric gamification. The use of gamification in healthcare and e-learning is one of the most important ways to increase user engagement. With the growth and popularity of social media, more and more users are engaging in social media activities. At the same time, traditional social media has been impacted by the popularity of short mobile videos. To increase user retention and engagement, traditional social media began to adopt gamification. Gamification can improve user engagement and user experience to a great extent, but the effect is not lasting. Meanwhile, most of the previous literature on the effect of gamification on user engagement focuses on subjective factors such as user motivation, user emotion, perception, and user psychological response. This study employs the concept of usability objectivity to enhance and improve the effects of gamification. Usability is commonly used to measure user engagement, and it is an objective and systematic assessment method. Also, usability is very important in the development of gamification systems; usability directly affects user engagement and user experience, as well as the achievement of individual and organizational goals. Therefore, exploring the impact of gamification on user engagement from perspectives such as usability has become an important topic. Based on this research gap, this study explores the following questions: 1.) Do gamification elements affect usability in social media? 2.) How does usability affect user engagement in social media?
This study reviews the literature on gamification elements, usability, and user engagement and proposes 9 research factors in 3 dimensions. This study identified usability as a mediator of the impact of gamification on user engagement. The study collected data from 299 Bilibili users through a web-based questionnaire. The results show that usability is a mediator between gamification and user engagement, and usability helps to improve user engagement and user experience. Also, there is a correlation between social gamification elements and usability. In addition, this study provides theoretical and practical implications, outlines the limitations of this study, and makes recommendations for future research. This study contributes to a better understanding of the meaning and composition of gamification and user engagement. It also provides strategies and guidelines for gamification designers and social media companies.