Pervasive and Mobile Computing 8 (2012) 900–908 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Pervasive and Mobile Computing journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pmc Mobile games and design requirements to increase teenagers’ physical activity Sonia M. Arteaga a,* , Víctor M. González b , Sri Kurniawan a , Raquel A. Benavides c a Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA b Department of Computer Science, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Río Hondo No. 1, Col. Progreso Tizapán, México D.F. 01080, Mexico c School of Nursing CIDICS, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Avenida Universidad s/n, Cd. Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico article info Article history: Available online 10 August 2012 Keywords: Video games Evaluation studies Adolescents Teenagers Physical activity Mobile games Motivation abstract Participating in regular physical activity (PA) can help people maintain a healthy weight, and it reduces their risks of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Unfortunately, PA declines during early adolescence, particularly in minority populations. This paper explores design requirements for mobile PA-based games to motivate Hispanic teenagers to exercise. We found that some personality traits are significantly correlated to preference for specific motivational phrases and that personality affects game preference. Our qualitative analysis shows that different body weights affect beliefs about PA and games. Design requirements identified from this study include multi-player capabilities, socializing, appropriate challenge level, and variety. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The United States Center for Disease Control recommends 60 min a day of physical activity (PA) for teenagers and ado- lescents to maintain healthy PA levels [1]. Increasing PA in inactive or primarily sedentary teenagers can contribute to maintaining healthy weight, which can reduce the prevalence of obesity in this population. Growing obesity rates cause a bigger strain on healthcare systems’ expenses and on an individual’s health. Countries such as Mexico have declared the Metabolic Syndrome (a condition that includes obesity) among the top diseases of interest in the country [2,3]. One study reports that the combined prevalence of overweight and obese Mexican male adolescents is 35.7%, and it is 25.5% in female adolescents [4]. Obesity prevalence among adolescents is also steadily increasing in the United States [5]. Current estimates say that 18.1% of adolescents aged 12–19 are obese and 34% are overweight [1]. The percentage of US Hispanic children who are overweight or obese is 38.2% [6]. Regardless of the many benefits of participating in regular PA, participation declines precipitously during early adolescence [7], particularly in minority populations [8]. This decline in PA is not well understood [9]. Interventions to increase PA have generally been ineffective, with only a handful of reportedly successful systems for African–American and Hispanic youth [10]. Novel approaches to maintain and increase physical activity are therefore needed. Using technology to address health issues can be cost effective for healthcare systems by minimizing face-to-face interactions and thus reducing labor costs [11]. Furthermore, it is argued that using technology can reduce barriers to healthcare and can ‘‘increase the sense of privacy, comfort, and acceptance of intervention’’ [12]. As Consolvo et al. [13] found, if we can take advantage of technology that people use (or wish to use) in their daily lives, we may be able to persuade them to be more physically active through embedded motivational strategies into this technology. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 619 318 0497; fax: +1 831 459 4829. E-mail address: arteaga.sonia@gmail.com (S.M. Arteaga). 1574-1192/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pmcj.2012.08.002