Tackling Gender-Based Violence Through Gamification: a Preliminary Evaluation

Gender-based violence is widely recognized as a significant societal issue, necessitating a concerted effort to raise awareness about its manifestations and consequences. Serious games have been often used to address the topic, particularly among the younger population. On the other hand, the use of gamification (i.e., integrating game elements to enhance user engagement with the subject) to raise awareness of gender-based violence remains unexplored. To address this gap, we developed a gamified platform aimed at raising awareness of gender-based violence and in particular of the role of gender stereotypes, in young adults. This paper presents the findings of our preliminary mixed-methods evaluation and a comparison between two versions of the platform: one employing cooperative gamification, and the other one based on an individual game modality. While the quantitative results indicate that the current platform may not be sufficient to have a positive effect in participants’ awareness of gender-based violence and attitudes toward bystander behavior, qualitative analyses yield crucial insights into participants’ positive evaluation of the cooperative mode. These analyses provide valuable information for future developments of the platform, and contribute to the exploration of gamification applied to sensitive topics.


INTRODUCTION
Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any form of violence that is directed towards individuals based on their gender, gender identity, or gender expression [9].It can take many forms as it can be physical, psychological, and economic; it can be perpetuated in intimate relationships, among acquaintances or strangers, when interacting in person or online.GBV is a pervasive societal issue that affects many people worldwide, especially women; therefore, the term GBV is often used as synonymous with gender-based violence against women and girls.It is widely recognized that GBV is intertwined with gender inequality and rooted in a culture that sees women as inferior and subordinate to men.Studies have repeatedly shown that GBV tolerance and bias are associated with traditional gender stereotypes and norms (e.g.beliefs about the characteristics and societal roles of men and women) and sexist ideology [18,19,25].Given its cultural roots and pervasive nature, interventions aimed at addressing GBV typically focus on raising awareness of the role of gender stereotypes and norms; they also underline the importance of the positive role that everyone can have as a bystander in preventing GBV [21,24] or limiting its negative consequences when witnessing an incident [8,23].
Recognizing the importance of addressing GBV, specific and timely educational activities become crucial to effectively combat this issue.Education plays a pivotal role in enhancing understanding, recognizing warning signs, challenging societal norms and stereotypes, and providing support for victims.Prevention efforts are also fortified through education, promoting healthy relationships, consent, gender equality, and respectful behavior (e.g., see [12,33]).Game-based solutions have emerged as effective tools for educating individuals about GBV [5,41].These interactive approaches provide immersive experiences and engage learners to facilitate a deeper understanding of the subject matter.However, the prevailing trend in existing game-based solutions leans heavily towards serious games, leaving a notable gap in the exploration of gamified solutions.While serious games have demonstrated their efficacy, gamification, with its potential advantages, remains relatively underexplored in the context of GBV education [1,36].
In the current paper, we present the findings of a study designed to offer a preliminary evaluation of the StandByMe platform.Two research questions (RQ) are at the basis of the study: RQ1 Is the platform effective in (a) raising awareness of gender-based violence and (b) promoting positive bystander behavior?RQ2 Are there any differences between the individual and cooperative versions of the platform in terms of effectiveness?To empirically address these RQs we tested the effectiveness of using (vs.not using) the gamified platform and compared the individual to the cooperative gamification modality [30].Furthermore, demographic differences and gaming habits were explored.
The present study provides valuable insights into the design and impact of gamified educational platforms addressing GBV.In addition, beyond the specific focus on GBV, the broader objective is to foster a nuanced understanding of how gamification can effectively contribute to education and awareness of sensitive topics more broadly.This research aims to lay the groundwork for designing gamified solutions to be applied to various sensitive subjects, contributing to a more informed and impactful approach in education.
The paper is organized as follows.It starts with an overview of work on gamification for sensitive topics and educational technologybased solutions addressing GBV.Then the paper describes the developed gamified platform.It continues by presenting the conducted study with the novel platform, and hence it analyzes the gathered data in relation to the aforementioned research goal.It concludes by discussing the results of the study, its limitations, and future directions.

RELATED WORK 2.1 Gamification for Sensitive Topics
Gamification has emerged as a powerful tool in the realm of education, commonly incorporating elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, and narrative-driven experiences in non-playful contexts [11].These elements are designed to boost engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention [22].Points, for instance, provide immediate feedback and reward progress, reinforcing a sense of accomplishment [44].Badges serve as symbols of achievement, recognizing and celebrating learners' milestones.Leaderboards introduce an element of competition, motivating learners to strive for excellence [44].Narrative-driven experiences create immersive and memorable learning environments, making educational content more relatable and engaging [3].Gamification has been proven to be an effective approach to learning and behavioral change, leveraging users' intrinsic motivation to engage them in starting and maintaining a desired behavior [10,27].Gamification in education and learning, in particular, helps increase students' motivation and engagement with the topic, in addition to their performance [29].
In the context of sensitive topics, gamification mechanisms can be employed to address complex and crucial subjects, promoting understanding and empathy while maintaining learners' interest.While gamification can be a valuable tool in education, its application to sensitive topics, like when addressing GBV, is not without potential pitfalls [45].Gamification may trivialize sensitive subjects by reducing complex issues to simple game-like mechanics or unintentionally diminish learners' intrinsic motivation to engage deeply with the topic [10].Learners, for example, might prioritize accumulating points or earning rewards over understanding the relevance of the subject matter.Competitive elements, such as leaderboards, can exert unnecessary pressure on learners.In the context of sensitive topics, this pressure may be inappropriate, as learners should be encouraged to engage with empathy, self-reflection, and understanding, rather than focusing on outperforming their peers.
To harness the benefits of gamification in sensitive topics while mitigating these risks, careful design and alignment with the educational goals and ethical considerations are essential [47].Balancing engagement and motivation with the seriousness of the subject matter is crucial to ensure that gamification effectively educates and empowers learners in sensitive contexts.However, the existing knowledge on the use of gamification for sensitive topics remains limited, with a lack of empirical research to substantiate its impact.This paper aims to address this gap by conducting a preliminary evaluation of the use of gamification on the topic of GBV.

Technological Approaches to Tackle GBV
Several technology-based solutions have been created to address GBV.For example, Rodriguez et al. conducted a systematic review of computer science solutions targeting violence against women and children published between 2010 and 2020 [41].Their findings indicate that, while the majority of studies focused on tools for the online detection of GBV content, only some of them included playful solutions on the subject of GBV -all in the form of serious games (e.g., [2,17]).Additionally, Barrera Yañez et al. [5] identified 33 serious games available in the market that aim to raise awareness of GBV.These games were developed to educate individuals -mainly teenagers -on topics such as consent, teen dating violence, gender equality, and themes related to the LGBTQ+ community.Overall, game-based learning in raising awareness of GBV has been found as an effective strategy [14].However, the prevailing trend in existing game-based solutions addressing GBV relies heavily on serious games [5,41].Surprisingly, the utilization of gamification has been largely unexplored.Unlike serious games, educational gamification may offer distinct advantages, such as better learning experience and applicability to a wide range of educational needs [1,36].

Game Modality
The literature on game modalities in gamification, though in its early stages of development [16], suggests that various game modalities can influence the results of gameful systems.For instance, Chen and Pu [6] created three versions of a gamified fitness application: cooperative, competitive, and cooperative-competitive, and then compared their impact on players' performance.They discovered that the cooperative and cooperative-competitive versions of the application had the most significant influence on participants' fitness habits.Similarly, Morschheuser and colleagues [30], as well as Pajarito Rajales and colleagues [37], compared cooperative and competitive gamified applications against each other, corroborating Chen and Pu's findings.Despite these initial findings on the outcomes of different game modalities in gameful systems, the topic needs to be further explored in several respects.With the following study, we aim to increase knowledge in this direction and establish a foundation for a more in-depth evaluation of the topic in the future.

THE STANDBYME PLATFORM
The StandByMe platform (Figure 1) is a gamified educational platform designed to combat GBV and promote gender equality, mainly targeting students and young people from 16 years and older [34,42].It includes more than 20 educational activities related to three main learning objectives: (i) raise awareness on the issue of GBV and its cultural roots, such as gender stereotypes; (ii) foster empathy; (iii) support and encourage young people to take action and comprehend the communal responsibility to combat GBV.The design of these activities was informed by social-psychological literature examining tolerance and proclivity for GVB, as well as evidence-based interventions to address it (such as group malleability, perspectivetaking, psychoeducation, self-affirmation, and social norms) [34].The platform and its content emerged from a collaborative effort between social psychologists specializing in gender studies and experts in human-computer interaction and education.Furthermore, the design process was informed by educators, teachers, and students -that is potential users -needs (see [34,42] for a more detailed description of the StandByMe platform and its activities).
The StandByMe platform's gamification design drew inspiration from the Octalysis framework [7].The Octalysis framework organizes game elements into eight motivational cores based on how they influence human motivation.We selected a limited number of game elements that best suited our design goals and the motivational cores that we deemed most appropriate for the topic of the platform, and we decided which ones should have the biggest impact on the gamification design.Finally, we used the Octalysis Tool 1 to assess the equilibrium between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and prevent phenomena such as the overjustification effect, where external rewards might diminish users' inherent motivation [10,28,32].The game elements were selected with a primary focus on encouraging diverse exploratory engagements across the platform to foster a comprehensive understanding of the topic. 1 Octalysis Tool Additionally, the aim was to steer clear of potential negative emotions and reactions typically elicited by competition [43].The final selection of game elements is presented in Figure 2. In the initial version of the platform employed for this study, a subset of these elements was used.In particular, users earn experience points by completing activities of three categories, and progress along different ranks.Additionally, the platform awards badges upon the completion of specific missions, strategically designed to guide users through various activities and encourage exploration.Finally, we incorporated a narrative element as an inherent motivator, allowing story episodes to unlock when specific conditions are fulfilled.Acknowledging that the gamification design of the initial platform version is relatively basic, we aimed to evaluate the most basic form of gamification as part of this preliminary assessment.Subsequently, we plan to refine and enhance it in a later version of the platform, taking into account user feedback and impressions.

OVERVIEW OF STUDY
To conduct a preliminary evaluation of the StandByMe platform and address our RQs on the effectiveness of gamified solutions to address GBV, we conducted an experimental study.In the experimental conditions, participants performed four activities in the platform that were either individually or cooperatively gamified; in the control condition, participants did not use the platform at all.We expect greater GBV awareness and positive attitudes toward bystanders -assessed via questionnaire -after using (vs.not using) the platform.Given that previous studies [6,30,37] indicated an advantage of cooperative gamification in other domains, we expect that the effect of using the platform would be strongest in the cooperative condition.In addition, we further explored the strengths and weaknesses of the platform and the gamification design in semi-structured interviews.The study design was evaluated and approved by the ethics committee of the University of Trento (Italy).

Participants and Research Design
A total of 60 participants between 18 and 30 years old (M = 23.98,SD = 3.24) were recruited through targeted posts on various social media.Among them, 27 participants identified as male, 32 as female, and one participant chose not to disclose their gender.The study was conducted in a quiet room in the University of Trento, where participants had access to a computer.Due to the sensitive nature of the subject, all participants were provided with the contact information for local centers specializing in addressing GBV, in case they needed help.Participants were equally and randomly divided into three groups.1) Cooperative condition (N = 20): Participants in this group accessed the cooperative version of the gamified platform.In this version, participants completed the activities individually but the points, badges, ranks, and story episodes were shared among them, fostering collaboration and teamwork.2) Individual condition (N = 20): Participants in this group utilized the individual version of the gamified platform.Here, points, badges, ranks, and story episodes were assigned individually, emphasizing independent participation without shared incentives.3) Control condition (N = 20): Participants assigned to this group did not interact with the gamified platform at all and did not undertake any alternative tasks.This group served as a control, allowing researchers to test the effectiveness of the platform in raising awareness of gender-based violence and in promoting active engagement in combating it here operationalized as reacting as bystanders.The rationale for this condition is based on the hypothesis proposed by Potter and colleagues [40], who noticed that mere exposure to a GBV questionnaire can prompt participants to reflect on the topic, potentially leading to an improvement in the attitudes in a post-task questionnaire.Participants' gender and experience with digital games -measured as how often they play video games -were equally distributed among the three conditions (gender chi-squared = 2.472, p-value = 0.650; gaming habits chi-squared = 8.554, p-value = 0.381).A subset of 15 participants (20-29 years old, M = 23.36,SD = 2.95; 8 female and 7 male) took part in semi-structured interviews regarding the platform and its game modality (see Section subsubsection 5.2.3).Of these, nine were from the cooperative condition and six from the individual condition.The selection of participants for the semistructured interview was based on their voluntary expression of interest in participating.

Materials
5.2.1 The Platform.The following four activities were used: in the "Glossary" activity participants were tasked with associating terms with their respective definitions.In the "Red Light -Green Light" activity, participants had to evaluate social media conversations, categorizing them as either containing gender stereotypes (Red Light) or not (Green Light).In the "Sorting Memes" activity, participants were required to identify and select memes that portrayed gender stereotypes.Lastly, the "Istanbul Convention" activity involved reading Articles 12 ("General obligations") and 14 ("Education") of the Istanbul Convention treaty -a European treaty that sets legally binding standards to prevent GBV -and then sharing comments about these articles in the platform's forum [35].Overall the experience on the platform involved the basic elements of a gender-based-violence raising awareness activity [4].It provided an overview of basic terms related to gender (Glossary activity); it allowed users to reflect on how GBV manifests in everyday behaviors, setting also the norms for respectful behavior (the Red Light -Green Light activity); it offered the opportunity to reflect on the connection between gender stereotypes and social media (Sorting Memes).

5.2.2
The Questionnaire.Participants were asked their age, gender, and how often they played video games (never, once a month, once a week, more than once a week, every day; item derived from [15]).The questionnaire (alpha = 0.84) included 14 items related to i. awareness of GBV (alpha = 0.70; e.g., "Blaming those who report violence is a form of gender-based violence"), and ii.attitude towards the bystander behavior (alpha = 0.76; e.g., "I think it is important to stand up for a girl when she is accused of not being feminine enough").Participants provided ratings on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from "Disagree" (1) to "Agree" (5).The list of questions is available in the supplementary materials 2 .

5.2.3
The Interviews.Qualitative data were gathered through semistructured interviews conducted with a subset of participants from the Cooperative and Individual groups.These interviews took place following the participants' session with the StandByMe platform 2 Supplementary materials.and the completion of the questionnaire.The interviews were conducted in participants' native language and lasted between 5 and 10 minutes.The list of questions is available in the supplementary materials 2 .

Procedure
After giving their consent to participate in the study, all participants completed the questionnaire, to check for eventual differences at the baseline among the conditions.Participants in the Individual and Cooperative conditions then were introduced to the platform that they used for approximately 30 minutes.They had the flexibility to complete the activities in any order and could choose to engage with some or all of them.Participants then completed again the questionnaire on GBV awareness and attitudes toward bystanders, to assess the effectiveness of the platform Finally, users who previously agreed to participate, took part in the semi-structured interview.Participants in the Control group completed the questionnaire on GBV twice, with a 30-minute pause in between.
Participants were informed about the existence of other conditions only after the completion of the post-task questionnaire.
Two researchers were involved in data collection: one welcomed the participants and introduced them to the task, while the other prepared the computers (e.g., login into the platform and the online questionnaire).

Qualitative Results: the Interviews
Two researchers conducted a thematic analysis and independently analyzed data from the interviews (N = 15).First, each author identified a set of codes, which were later compared in order to identify more general themes (see Figure 3).In the following, we delve into the emerging themes and their relevance to the research questions.Having missions and stories that you unlock with friends might help you to be more enticed" P24 -individual condition; "Perhaps in the cooperative mode, the fact that you have other people can stimulate you to do even better because there is the social aspect that makes you activate to achieve a better result" P21 -individual condition).Some users emphasized the potential educational benefits of peer-to-peer interaction during activities ("The influence of others can be positive in bringing to light things that the individual alone might not have seen, observed, or thought of." P27 -individual condition; "If one person can't understand intuitively, the other, perhaps due to experience or being more skilled with computers, can grasp it better and offer help if needed" P13 -cooperative condition).Collaborating with a peer was recognized as a potentially significant benefit for the target population, facilitating mutual support in comprehending the platform, acquiring information technology skills, and engendering discussion concerning the topics encountered in the activities.While some participants would prefer a direct interaction with the other users during the activities, other participants suggested having individual activities that can then be further discussed with their peers ("An individual unfolding to confront the issues with themselves for a second and then a discussion within the group [...] I think in school there is always little time to do things [...] so maybe it's better to do them all first, then activity and then discussion and so on" P28 -individual condition).

Constructive Feedback.
The interviews underscored the significance of offering constructive feedback at the end of each activity.Constructive feedback, in this context, entails an evaluation that not only states whether the response is correct or incorrect but also provides a brief explanation to help the recipient understand the reasoning behind the correctness or incorrectness of the response ("If the game tells me: 'this is wrong, ' I would like to understand why it's wrong, so having a brief explanation of the answers after the activity would be helpful" P25 -individual condition).The connection between constructive feedback and learning lies in its capacity to foster deeper comprehension and retention of the material.It guides individuals in rectifying misconceptions, reinforcing accurate knowledge, and enhancing metacognitive awareness.

Real-world Relevance.
From the interviews, it becomes evident that the role of real-world relevance in engaging users during activities is significant ("It would be cool to read about women or men who are or were involved in gaining rights [...] Personally, I don't know the history or who's behind it, and learning about it would be important" P28 -individual condition; "Sorting Memes really got me hooked because they're memes that kinda capture what's up in today's world" P32 -cooperative condition).Basing activities on factual events, recounting stories of actual activism, and employing forms of communication that align closely with adolescents' experiences (e.g., memes, chat screenshots) may pique students' curiosity and enhance their engagement.
6.1.4Playfulness, Interactivity, and Game Elements.Evident from the interviews is the appreciation for the interactivity that underlies the perceived playfulness of the platform.Some users valued the inclusion of games as a means of conveying educational messages, acknowledging their potential to engage adolescents.Some of them have conveyed that the inclusion of certain game elements served as a powerful motivational lever for them to explore the platform and complete the activities ("The story was pretty cool, and having, like, rewards or some points to unlock the next part was nice too.I think it kind of encouraged me to check out the whole thing.If there hadn't been that forum part to finish the story, maybe I wouldn't have written and looked at others' responses, but it motivated me to do so" P27 -individual condition).Despite participants expressing positive comments towards the gamification design, when they were asked what they liked more about the platform (semi-structured interview) they usually indicated the activities and its ease of use as the main points.This suggests that the game elements do not excessively capture users' attention over its goal.
6.1.5Thought-provoking Content.The findings emphasize that educational materials and activities that stimulate critical thinking play a pivotal role in fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter and enhancing participants' engagement.Therefore, thought-provoking content is not only essential for capturing students' attention but also for promoting active involvement and reflection, with the hope of ultimately broadening one's perspective and challenging one's beliefs.
6.1.6Findability and Discoverability Issues.Several participants encountered challenges when attempting to find content or discovering the material we intended them to access.These challenges are rooted in the findability and discoverability aspects of the platform.Low findability can hinder the realization of users' goals, resulting in user frustration and diminished engagement.Low discoverability, on the other hand, reduces the likelihood of users encountering elements intentionally designed for engagement.These concealed elements may fail to manifest their motivational potential and, consequently, undermine the platform's effectiveness in delivering its intended content ("I had a bit of trouble moving from the other sections to the homepage and figuring out where the games were" P22 -individual condition).Both issues often originate from the information architecture, as well as graphical interface elements like an imbalanced visual hierarchy, missing labels, or the misplacement of call-to-action buttons.Finally, two participants found the free exploration of the activities a bit confusing ("The only thing is that when I went in, I didn't really know, I wasn't clear on the progression of the various activities, and the fact that I had all the sections that I could explore randomly, it was a little confusing to me" P40 -individual condition).Although only a small number of participants brought attention to the issue, it might be beneficial to structure the activities more and offer participants the opportunity to follow defined learning paths.
6.1.7Social Anxiety.From the analysis of the interviews, concerns regarding being judged for one's opinions emerge, along with a desire for anonymity or the presence of the 'right person' when expressing one's ideas ("In cooperative mode, someone might kinda fear being judged" P40 -individual condition; "In a context like that, it can be tough if you don't have the right person by your side" P16 -cooperative condition).This highlights the potential anxiety associated with discussing such a delicate controversial topic in a conversation, which may undermine students' engagement and the effectiveness of the intervention.
6.1.8Misalignment of Activity Difficulty and Students' Skills.Some participants perceived the activities on the platform as too easy and lacking in intellectual stimulation.These participants expressed a sense of boredom and disengagement ("I'd suggest mixing up the activities based on the target's age because, to me, some things were a bit obvious, so a bit boring" P14 -cooperative condition).This misalignment between their skill levels and the task difficulty left them feeling unchallenged and disinterested in the learning process.These observations emphasize the need for educational activities to strike an appropriate balance in difficulty, aligning with participants' skill levels and age, to sustain their motivation throughout the entire experience.

Quantitative Results
We used R v 4.3.1 to analyze participants' awareness of GBV and attitudes toward bystander behavior.Given that data were not distributed normally, we opted for non-parametric tests.Through two one-way rank-transformed ANOVAs (one between factor condition, three levels: cooperative, individual, control) we verified eventual differences in participants' awareness of GBV and attitude towards the bystander behavior at the baseline (T1) (see Table 1).The ANOVA tests did not yield a significant effect for any of the scores (bystander subscale F 2,57 = 1.837, p-value = 0.169; awareness subscale F 2,57 = 0.660, p-value = 0.521), indicating that participants in the three groups did not differ from each other at T1. Then we conducted a second set of one-way ANOVAs (one between factor condition, three levels: cooperative, individual, control) on the T2 (post) scores in the two subscales, to verify whether the responses to the questionnaire differed after using the platform (see Table 1).The ANOVA yielded a significant effect for the awareness subscale, while no significant effect was found for the bystander behavior subscale (bystander F 2,57 = 2.579, p-value = 0.085; awareness F 2,57 = 4.330, p-value = 0.018).Tukey post-hoc tests revealed that participants in the individual condition scored significantly higher than participants in the control condition in the awareness subscale (t = -2.942,p-value = 0.013), while no significant differences were found between the cooperative and the individual conditions (t = -1.413,p-value = 0.341).As the three conditions did not differ at T1, the effect found at T2 -greater GBV awareness for participants in the individual condition -can be attributed to the use of the platform.Note however that when a difference score (post -pre) was entered in the ANOVAs (one between factor condition, three levels: individual, cooperative, control), no effect reached the conventional value of statistical significance (bystander subscale F 2,56 = 0.558, p-value 0.576; awareness subscale F 2,56 = 0.705, p-value = 0.499).
Entering gender as a factor did not alter the findings for the awareness subscale, as the only significant effect is the main effect for the factor condition at T2 (T1: condition F53,2 = 0.383, p-value = 0.684; gender F 1,53 = 1.626, p-value = 0.208; condition:gender F 2,53 = 0.586, p-value = 0.560; T2: condition F 2,53 = 4.332, p-value 0.0181; gender F 1,53 = 2.281, p-value = 0.137, condition:gender F53,2 = 2.084, p-value = 0.135).This does not apply for the bystander subscale, in which the rank-transformed ANOVA highlighted an effect of the factor gender at T2 (T1: condition F 2,53 = 0.383, p-value = 0.684; gender F 1,53 = 1.626, p-value = 0.208; condition:gender F 2,53 = 0.586, We performed correlation tests to explore the relationship between the pre-post increment and age, other than between the pre-post increment and gaming habits.For the following analyses, all participants were included (N = 60).The pre-post increment was calculated by subtracting the pre score to the post score for each participant.A Spearman correlation was used to correlate participants' age and their score increment (in the overall score, awareness subscale, and bystander behavior subscale).The test showed that there is no significant relationship between the two variables (overall S = 37145, p-value = 0.808; bystander subscale S = 35904, p-value = 0.986; awareness subscale S = 41909, p-value = 0.209).Spearman correlation was also used to study the relationship between users' gaming habits and score increment (in the overall score, awareness subscale, and bystander behavior subscale).A first test revealed that there is no correlation between the score increments and participants' gaming habits related to digital games (overall S = 9895.8,p-value = 0.660; bystander subscale S = 10012, p-value = 0.710; awareness subscale S = 9702.9,p-value = 0.582).A similar result can be found in relation to participants' gaming habits with non-digital games (e.g., board games, overall S = 11854, p-value = 0.491; bystander subscale S = 10926, p-value = 0.879; awareness subscale S = 10547, p-value = 0.948).

DISCUSSION
Sixty (60) participants took part in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the StandByMe gamified platform to raise awareness against gender-based violence.The overall assessment indicated that the platform was of good quality, both when used collaboratively and individually.Despite this positive evaluation, certain common issues were identified during the participants' use of the tool (e.g., findability issues).Most participants found the platform to be userfriendly and considered the tool to be enjoyable yet informative, fostering reflections on GBV and encouraging discussions among peers.Participants valued the platform's connection to real-world scenarios, such as the Sorting Memes and Red Light -Green Light activities, and expressed a desire for more content, including the introduction of relevant people fighting against gender-based violence.Regarding the gamification aspect, participants appreciated the integration of game elements, although their responses indicated that the playful elements did not overly overshadow the main activities.Participants positively commended the narrative aspect, which has gained recognition over the past year as an effective alternative to the PBL triad and a compelling game element for intrinsically motivating users in the long term [38,39].Lastly, some participants expressed a preference for a more structured organization of the activities.This, along with the significance of the narrative component, suggests that implementing learning paths where the narrative serves as a cohesive link between all the activities might be more effective than having separate sections for the narrative and the activities.

Reflections on the Effectiveness of the Platform (RQ1)
To address the initial research question regarding the platform's effectiveness in (a) raising awareness of gender-based violence and (b) promoting positive bystander behavior, we examined the questionnaire scores on GBV.Results at T2 showed greater GBV awareness in the individual gamification modality, compared to the control condition.No difference emerged in the attitudes toward bystanders when considering the difference score.These mixed findings suggest that 30 minutes of activities are not sufficient to yield a change, at least detectable from our questionnaire.This might also be due to our research design.Drawing on insights from Potter et al. [40], engaging with the questionnaire might have prompted participants to think about GBV, overshadowing the potential effect of the platform.This reasoning seems to be also supported by a participant who stated how "the introduction was a little bit with the questionnaire that confronted some scenarios that were a little bit more serious, and it makes you understand the seriousness of the thing [...]" (P27 -individual condition).While the participants in this study engaged with the platform for only 30 minutes, it is plausible that more extended exposure to the platform could yield a more positive impact on its effectiveness.In this regard, from the interview, it clearly emerged that participants deemed the platform effective, instructive, and successfully mixing the gamification elements with the seriousness of the topic.Furthermore, some of the users reported having a good knowledge of the topic, which led us to consider the possibility of a ceiling effect [46] in participants' responses.

Reflections on Game Modality (RQ2)
As mentioned in the previous section, there was no significant difference between the individual and cooperative groups based on the GBV questionnaire both at T1 and at T2.Nevertheless, notable insights emerged from the semi-structured interviews.Participants, whether in individual or cooperative conditions, regarded cooperation as a positive element within the platform.While some users explicitly mentioned how the cooperative structure of the gameful system can be useful to enhance motivation (e.g., having missions and episodes to unlock with your friends, or getting organized with other users to reach the goals), others expressed a desire to the opportunity to collaborate during activities.Collaborative learning has been proven to be a valuable method to motivate learners and improve their performance, as well as leave positive emotions for users [20,31].The results are only partially in line with previous studies on game modality in gamification [6,30,37] as the implementation of the cooperative modality was deemed positive in the semi-structured interviews, but did not yield significantly better results on a quantitative level.

Exploration of Demographic Differences
We investigated whether variables such as gender, age, and gaming habits influenced the platform's effectiveness.The correlations between the pre-post score differences and these three factors did not indicate any significant associations.Furthermore, the inclusion of gender as a factor in the analysis highlighted a significant difference between females' and males' scores at T2 in the bystander subscale.As highlighted in [26] different demographics happened to display different appreciation towards the game elements included in gameful systems, and it is fundamental to investigate this aspect.While further investigation is needed to understand this difference, the results overall suggest that the platform has the potential to impact a broad demographic.

CONCLUSIONS
To sum up, in the current paper, we presented a first user experience evaluation of the StandByMe gamified platform.We analyzed the effectiveness of the same platform using both qualitative and quantitative measures.Furthermore, we tried to understand the differences between a cooperative and an individual version of the tool.While the quantitative data do not support our research hypothesis, the qualitative evaluation of participants' semi-structured interviews.Participants, in fact, deemed the platform useful, informative, and engaging.Furthermore, both participants in the individual and cooperative versions of the platform stated their preference for the cooperative design.It is possible that some of the limitations of the platform (e.g., the limited number of activities), of the experimental design (e.g., limited use of the platform, pre-post design), and participants' characteristics (high knowledge of the topic) affected the quantitative results.Other than building on the existing research about game modality in gamification, the current study helps the understanding of the application of gamification in sensitive topics.In particular, the overall qualitative results show that users positively evaluated ("useful", and "informative") the use of a gamified platform to deal with such a sensitive theme.

Limitations
While providing valuable insights on the application of gamification in the education of sensitive topics, both the study and the platform present some limitations.Specifically, the brief duration of participants' engagement with the platform can be a concern.
On one hand, a brief utilization of the gameful system may prove insufficient to achieve significant differences in pre-post measures on participants' awareness of gender-based violence and attitudes toward bystander behavior.Conversely, the novelty effect could influence participants' perception of the gameful system, potentially leading them to overly positive judgments about the platform, as noted in previous studies [13].Furthermore, there is the possibility that the activities used are not particularly effective in raising awareness of GBV and promoting positive bystander behavior, and therefore a prolonged exposition to the platform would not be more effective.Other limitations, stemming from the characteristics of the platform, were highlighted by the participants and represent an interesting cue for making the platform more compelling in its future versions.Participants mentioned problems related to the discoverability of features and challenges with navigating the forum, the desire to receive more information about significant people and events relevant to the topic, and a lack of balance between their knowledge and the difficulty of the activities.These issues will be considered for future improvements to the platform.

Future Directions
In the future, we aim to address issues identified during users' interaction with the platform, in addition to exploring insights from participants that emerged during the semi-structured interviews.Firstly, we plan to increase the variety of activities and structure them into learning paths.These paths will facilitate a more explicit connection between the narrative component and available activities.Additionally, we intend to test the platform with a larger number of participants and extend the duration of platform usage as in the repeated exposition of a longitudinal study.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Activities included in the platform.

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: Final selection of game elements based on the Octalysis framework [7].

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: Themes identified through the thematic analysis.

6. 1 . 1
Game Modality and Peer Learning.Most participants reported how the activities represent a moment of reflection and could benefit from cooperation.While some participants mostly appreciated the possibility of discussing the sensitive topic with their peers, others focused more on the motivation rising from being in a group ("I don't know then in daily life whether individually I would use it, I mean I think already the fact of the group helps you and incentivizes you.[...]

Table 1 :
Participants' scores in the gender-based violence questionnaire subscales bystander and awareness.