Medical App for Little Patients

Better understand your own treatment process through gamification with LOUISA

Focus on young patients

In everyday paediatric treatment, medical information is usually communicated to parents, with the sick children themselves often being inadequately involved. Complex procedures and technical terms, coupled with a lack of child-friendly explanations, mean young patients have only a limited understanding of their illness and the treatment process. This can increase fears and uncertainties, reduce self-efficacy and have a negative impact on motivation, adherence to therapy and long-term treatment success.

The LOUISA project was launched by the Center for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Essen University Hospital and the Essen University Medicine Foundation. The project aims to improve transparency between treatment teams, patients and their families, reduce fear and uncertainty, and increase children's autonomy and compliance.

Universitätsklinik Essen

University Hospital Essen – one of Germany’s leading centers for pediatric and adolescent medicine.

UX Research

UI Design

UX Design

Prototyping

The result

Centigrade's goal was the development of this gamification concept, the character design of the buddy and the screen design of the app.

All requirements pointed towards a patient portal app closely integrated with the Hospital Information System (HIS). A development partnership was established between the Essen University Hospital and the Cologne-based IT company m.Doc to support and motivate children and adolescents through a gamification approach, which featured a 'buddy' with a disability as the child's ally. Centigrade’s objective was to develop this gamification concept, the character design of the buddy, and the app's screen design.

A Friend, a Good Friend

User research with patients revealed that a mentor-like character could be an effective way to encourage children and adolescents to use the app. We aimed to create a figure that provides guidance while also depending on the patients' help in return. Additionally, it was crucial that the children found the character visually appealing. Therefore, we developed several concepts and involved them early in the design process, allowing them to actively participate and share in the decision-making.

The Game Loop — Journey to the Magical Village

By making daily entries in their medical diary, patients unlock points that they can use to help their little buddy on his own journey full of challenges. Within the game loop, the character is on a quest to recover his lost magical abilities. To do so, he travels through various realms, meets new friends, and gradually regains his magic with the children’s help. His journey begins, just like that of the patients, in the hospital.

Individual Theming

We designed a unique environment for each area, ensuring that the theme evolves as the journey progresses. At each stage, our buddy recovers a new ability that allows him to travel to the next realm. This sense of progression, combined with the 'helper role' the users adopt, is designed to playfully motivate them to complete their daily medical diary entries.

A Magical Journey

The little character’s journey from the hospital back to his magical home village is tailored to the duration of the patient's hospital stay. Patients receive daily reminders for their diary entries and can also access medication schedules, child-friendly information, explanatory videos about their treatment process, and much more.