Dr. Ayla Schwarz is an Assistant Professor specializing in Implementation and Engagement in Digital Health at Wageningen University, part of the Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles chair group. Her research focuses on behavior change and technology, with a particular emphasis on promoting physical activity among children and adolescents. As the lead researcher of BEweegAPP+, she is currently working with JOGG, 8D, Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen and multiple municipalities to explore how policy can support effective scaling and implementation of physical activity apps.
Schwarz previously collaborated with 8D on Vital@2040, an academic partnership aimed at encouraging physical activity among youth in low-income neighborhoods. By conducting interviews with neighborhood sports coaches, including users of the physical activity app Missie Master, she identified barriers and opportunities for integrating gamification into their activities. How did she conduct the research, what were the results, and what are the next steps?
“In the early stages of my career, I primarily focused on user engagement—exploring how a physical activity app could be designed to appeal to children and adolescents,” says Schwarz. “But I quickly encountered a more fundamental issue: for any health application, it is challenging to match the appeal of entertainment games, especially with limited budgets for promotion. Without enough users, it makes little sense to keep improving such an app — and evaluating its effects becomes impossible. This shifted my focus to implementation and scaling, with a particular emphasis on the roles that neighborhood sports coaches, policymakers, and researchers can play in this process.
“Implementing gamification on a larger scale requires significantly more support for neighbourhood sports coaches.”
Insights from neighborhood sports coaches
Schwarz conducted interviews with 25 neighborhood sports coaches, including those using Missie Master, a physical activity app developed by Sportbedrijf Drachten and 8D. “I had been thinking about involving intermediaries, such as neighborhood sports coaches, in my research for a while. Since they work directly with youth and children, their insights and needs for effectively integrating gamification are incredibly valuable. During a conference hosted by Kenniscentrum Sport en Bewegen, I attended Maarten’s presentation on Missie Master and the inspiring way it is used in the Smallingerland region. However, it also became clear that scaling the app to other municipalities presented significant challenges. That’s when the idea for this research started to take off.”
A glimpse into the Missie Master app, an initiative by SportKennbedrijf Drachten and 8D.
Key takeaways
Schwarz found that, overall, neighborhood sports coaches have a positive attitude toward integrating gamification and physical activity apps into their daily routines. “Coaches believe these tools can have positive effects and, in some cases, are already using them without fully realizing it. However, successfully implementing gamification on a larger scale requires significantly more support for neighbourhood sports coaches. One major challenge is the lack of clear information about available tools, resources and funding. For a sports coach looking to adopt innovative methods to promote physical activity, navigating the options can be an overwhelming task.”
Another major obstacle to implementing and scaling gamification and physical activity apps is a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities, Schwarz explains. “Where do the responsibilities of policymakers, sports coaches, developers, and researchers start and stop? Addressing this requires systems thinking and stronger collaboration—for example, between policymakers and coaches. This is why it’s so important to approach these challenges from a transdisciplinary perspective.”
“8D played a pivotal role in bridging theory and practice.”
Follow-up research
Schwarz’ findings and recommendations served as the foundation for the follow-up project BEweegAPP+, in which she is collaborating with 8D once again. “In this new research, we are focusing on how policymakers can effectively integrate gamification and physical activity apps into policies, such as a Sports Agreement. We facilitated discussions between neighborhood sports coaches and policymakers and observed these interactions. Maarten led workshops to showcase the potential of Missie Master to both policymakers and coaches. Following this, municipalities were tasked with creating their own implementation plans, which yielded valuable data and insights. What strategies do policymakers develop? What challenges do they anticipate, and how can these be overcome?”
How did you experience working with 8D?
8D played a pivotal role in bridging theory and practice, Schwarz explains. “Making Missie Master available for research was arranged quickly, and I appreciated how open the team was about their own lessons learned. I also value how 8D empathizes with the target audience and comes up with creative solutions that truly align with their needs. This ability not only benefits the development of an app like Missie Master but also helps make research findings more accessible to a wide range of audiences. It’s great to see that 8D is actively focusing on this area.”
Further reading
1) Schwarz, A., Verkooijen K., de Vet, E., Simons, M., Perceived Barriers and Facilitators Regarding the Implementation of Gamification to Promote Physical Activity in the Neighborhood: Interview Study Among Intermediaries (JMIR Serious Games, 2024)
2) The BEweegAPP+ research project is still in development. Read more about the approach, partners and methods on the Maatschappelijk Verdienvermogen website.
Nienke Beerlage-de Jong is Assistant Professor at the University of Twente and a researcher in the field of infectious diseases and One Health, a field in which human, animal and planetary health are closely linked. She worked with 8D on a serious game about complex decision-making in zoonoses, diseases that can pass from humans to animals.
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