Gamified smartphone app engagement: Comparative analysis of Belgian and UK car drivers in the i-DREAMS project

The i-DREAMS project introduced the concept of a 'Safety Tolerance Zone', i.e., a context-aware safety envelope designed to assist drivers in main-taining self-regulated control within the boundaries of safe operations. Using an ecosystem of sensors, i-DREAMS technology continuously monitors factors de-termining driving task complexity and available coping capacity and calculates risk levels in real-time. Based on this information, both real-time and post-trip interventions are tailored to keep drivers from getting too close to the boundaries of unsafe driving. Real-time interventions are provided via in-vehicle display, while post-trip interventions are delivered via a smartphone app (and web-dash-board) with provisions for gamification. This study focuses on post-trip interven-tions, specifically user engagement with the i-DREAMS app.

Data from 49 Belgian and 51 UK car drivers over a 10-week period showed a steady decline in drivers’ engagement following the first day of app activation. However, when gamification features were activated, user interaction increased, suggesting they re-engaged users. UK drivers exhibited higher engagement than Belgians. Trips, scores and goals were the most visited features in both countries, while the leaderboard was popular among UK drivers only. Analysis showed a dose-response relationship, with intensive app users demonstrating better im-provement in driving performance than less frequent users.