Gamified mobile blood donation applications

Unpaid blood donation is a selfless act of citizenship and the usage of gamification elements in blood donation apps can enhance the donors’ experience, especially among youth. This paper analyses the functionalities and explores gamification elements of the existing blood donation apps in the mobile market. A search in Google Play, Apple Apps store, Blackberry App World, and Windows Mobile App store was performed to select 10 gamified BD apps with three duplicates out of 801 pinpointed. The results show that the majority of the blood donation apps selected do not support multiple languages and that the predominant authentication methods are traditional and social logins. Moreover, all the apps were intended for more than one purpose among helping users to find donors and blood centres, track their records and check their eligibility to donate. Most apps installed include notification features and built-in geolocation services to instantly inform the users of donation need in nearby locations. Badges and redeemable points were the most recurrent gamification elements in the blood donation apps selected. There is a need for better incentives in order to not only retain the potential donors but also to recruit non-willing ones. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.