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Gamification of teeth brushing

playbrush.io

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Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#11

Post by AndrewKemendo »

I both love this and hate it at the same time.

As a father of three I recognize how hard it is to get kids to do the stuff they are supposed to and that is good for them without hovering over them or just forcing them to do it. Anything that makes good habits easier is a win in my book.

At the same time, if we gamify everything that takes willpower, even the good for us stuff, then we slowly chip away at the ability to be internally motivated when there is no immediate benefit/reward.

I also recognize that minimizing ego depletion [1] across the spectrum throughout the day could make it easier to make better decisions - a big thing for kids behavior actually.

My guess is that this is a net gain overall, but I am concerned slightly that hacking motivation/willpower might have some drawbacks that we don't see yet.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#12

Post by AndrewKemendo »

thejrk wrote: post #10

Getting kids to brush better can be fun and this product seems to hit that point very well. However, from my experience as a parent of an 8yo, phones and tablets around a basin of water for too long spells disaster. I don't want a product that would require me to hover over my kid while he's brushing his teeth.

Galaxy S5 has changed this equation for us.

My daughter knocked mine into a full bathtub with the only result being a funny sounding speaker for an afternoon. My wife dropped hers in the toilet, while holding our youngest, without issue. It has saved us quite a few times over the year - definitely worth it.

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#13

Post by tomwrenn »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

I both love this and hate it at the same time. As a father of three I recognize how hard it is to get kids to do the stuff they are supposed to and that is good for them without hovering over them or just forcing them to do it. Anything that makes good habits easier is a win in my book. At the same time, if we gamify everything that takes willpower, even the good for us stuff, then we slowly chip away at the ability…

Oh I think we see it already xp.

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#15

Post by chatwinra »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

I both love this and hate it at the same time. As a father of three I recognize how hard it is to get kids to do the stuff they are supposed to and that is good for them without hovering over them or just forcing them to do it. Anything that makes good habits easier is a win in my book. At the same time, if we gamify everything that takes willpower, even the good for us stuff, then we slowly chip away at the ability…

Good point. re: drawbacks- what about creating a reliance on the game itself? If the game is removed, will the kid stop brushing their teeth?

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#16

Post by AndrewKemendo »

chatwinra wrote: post #15
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

I both love this and hate it at the same time. As a father of three I recognize how hard it is to get kids to do the stuff they are supposed to and that is good for them without hovering over them or just forcing them to do it. Anything that makes good habits easier is a win in my book. At the same time, if we gamify everything that takes willpower, even the good for us stuff, then we slowly chip away at the ability…

Good point. re: drawbacks- what about creating a reliance on the game itself? If the game is removed, will the kid stop brushing their teeth?

Well, this is the point. If we do things because we have added in a "game" feature, then will we stop doing those things if/when the game is removed from it?

Gamifying good behavior is just the latest form of "Nudge theory" which applies positive feedback or design elements to guide users toward a specific action. I think in an of itself is not a bad thing but has had some criticisms [1].

[1] www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2011/11/does_nudge_policy_work_a_critique_of_sunstein_and_thaler_.html

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#19

Post by RankingMember »

huskyr wrote: post #2

I've got an electric toothbrush that already has a really simple form of 'gamification'. You're supposed to brush each of the four 'quadrants' of your teeth for 30 seconds, after 30 seconds the brush starts to buzz a little bit, reminding you to switch quadrants. It sounds pretty stupid, but i was surprised how well it actually works. When i'm brushing my teeth with an 'ordinary' brush i tend to miss the automatic bu…

I'd like to see some actual data to back up the idea that 30 seconds a side is enough, as everyone's mouth and eating habits are different. I appreciate how nice it is to be able to say "brushing takes 2 minutes...ALWAYS", but that just seems too simple to actually be the case. I'd like to see a study done to compare mouth cleanliness of those who use a brush with the 30 second per quadrant buzzing and those without.

Re: Gamification of teeth brushing

#20

Post by hybridtupel »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #11

I both love this and hate it at the same time. As a father of three I recognize how hard it is to get kids to do the stuff they are supposed to and that is good for them without hovering over them or just forcing them to do it. Anything that makes good habits easier is a win in my book. At the same time, if we gamify everything that takes willpower, even the good for us stuff, then we slowly chip away at the ability…

My thoughts go in the same direction. But in my opinion gamification is more problematic than you described it. There are just too many tasks we have to do regardless of getting rewarded or not.

The other problem is, the more we gamify our world, the higher the reward must be to keep us happy or challenged. Then "offline" activities like meeting friends are not exiting and rewarding any more.

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