A Rapid Assessment App for Disaster Responders: Gamified Design for Effective Use and Continuous Engagement

The use of a purported mobile rapid assessment (RA) app by first-line disaster responders is expected to improve disaster-related data collection process to be more effective and efficient. However, the use of the existing RA app in a disaster agency in South-East Asia country showed a steady sizeable decline as users gradually abandoned and/or utilized the app unfaithfully. Hence, an improvement in the app is necessary to achieve continuous engagement with and effective utilization by its users. We fill the gap by partnering with the agency and conducting an action design research by adopting a gamification approach to upgrade the app. We adopt gamification design principles into disaster response context and leverage psychological theories to justify our gamification design choices. While our ADR study is in progress, the new gamification design and principles in our unique context may later contribute to the IS literature of disaster response and gamification.