Abstract

The Experience Sampling Method is used to capture high-quality in situ data from study participants. This method has become popular in studies involving smartphones, where it is often adapted to motivate participation through the use of gamification techniques. However, no work to date has evaluated whether gamification actually affects the quality and quantity of data collected through Experience Sampling. Our study systematically investigates the effect of gamification on the quantity and quality of experience sampling responses on smartphones. In a field study, we combine event contingent and interval contingent triggers to ask participants to describe their location. Subsequently, participants rate the quality of these entries by playing a game with a purpose. Our results indicate that participants using the gamified version of our ESM software provided significantly higher quality responses, slightly increased their response rate, and provided significantly more data on their own accord. Our findings suggest that gamifying experience sampling can improve data collection and quality in mobile settings.