Parnassia Group

Personalization in Game Design for Healthcare: A Literature Review on its Definitions and Effects

The Personalized Design Process model serves as a framework for integrating stakeholder involvement into the development of healthcare games, categorizing the lifecycle into three distinct phases: problem definition, product design, and tailoring.

• Personalization in serious games is defined as the active involvement of stakeholders—such as end-users, family, or domain experts—during the Problem Definition, Product Design, and/or Tailoring phases of development.
• A systematic review of 2,579 studies identified only 62 that met the criteria for stakeholder-involved personalization, indicating that the field lacks a standardized, evidence-based approach.
• Studies involving stakeholders in the Product Design phase frequently exhibit low methodological quality, though they report positive outcomes such as improved health knowledge, increased social interaction, and better feasibility.