UK MNer 45+? Want to test a problem-solving game around retirement? Each tester will receive a £20 voucher!

[JustineBMumsnet]

Zodus, a behavioural science start up, is looking to test their problem-solving game and is looking for Mumsnetters who are 45+ to test the simulation game. The testing will involve playing a minimum of 5 and maximum of 10 rounds of the game (each round takes 2-3 minutes) 5 times over a 2 month period. You will not have to play all rounds in one session, you can resume at any time during the test period. In total, it will take about 2 hours of your time (over the 2 month period).

Here’s what Zodus has to say: “FutureSpace is a gamified simulation that captures decision-making in problems similar to retirement. FutureSpace invites players to set goals and then challenges achievements of these with different scenarios of news, events and opportunities. Zodus’ ambition is to help organisations design policies, products and services that work with the grain of human nature.”

If you’re selected, you will be sent a link to the game and will be asked to complete a minimum of 25 rounds over the course of a 2 month period. We will also send you detailed instructions. There will be no feedback thread on Mumsnet.

MNers who meet the minimum requirement of 5 rounds in each test will receive a £20 voucher and will also be entered into a prize draw and one person will receive a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Please sign up here if you’d like to take part.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard T&Cs apply

Good to see others of the same opinion as me. No way am I selling my personal details to that very detailed extent for £20.
You can’t even choose to not answer some questions, they are all mandatory.
I was expecting something around retirement, yet this is about flying a spaceship oddly.
Sorry MNHQ, I’ll be asking to withdraw from this.

Yup. Waaay too intrusive. And 'the game' seems like an episode of Black Mirror's USS Callister. I input some fake figures to get on to the game but fell at the first hurdle as the 'drag n drop' doesn't drag and drop.

It's a no from me, sorry!

Ive had problems as well. I logged in on my phone, and then found out after filling all the details in that it wasnt supported on phones.

I tried to log in on a PC but i couldnt remember the password, the phone had asked me if i wanted it to remember the password and i had said YES.

I tried re-registering and it let me!

Ive now logged in but havent a bl...y clue what im doing

The tip says 'press continue after each round' , i cant find 'continue' all i can find is 'reset'.

i have no idea and cant find any way of knowing how many rounds i have completed.

Why do they need our postcode, health details, income, etc? I'm not giving all that info for a £20 voucher!

Monthly incoming and outgoing too 😱

I got halfway through filling it out and had second thoughts.

(I tried on a laptop btw).

Same here, Kittens. I have abandoned it.

Also shocked at the questions asked!
I logged on with my phone but then it's not supported and won't progress.

I agree. Qs very intrusive (but I answered them like a little sheep) and I haven't been able to progress to the actual game. I'm using iPad but presume I need to be on a desktop. Wish this had been highlighted as the sign-up stage.

i tried and got a list of questions then i am supposed to play a game of sorts, but i cannot access it or understand it one bit.i also found questions strange and intrusive

I started answering the questions ... but value of my house and outstanding mortgage
Sorry , that’s no ones business apart from mine and the bank manager

I'm so glad it's not just me. I can't understand the game at all. just played it 6 times but not sure how or whether that has been logged anywhere. I don't understand how this is related to retirement.

@JustineBMumsnet Has anybody from the Mumsnet team actually logged in and had a go at this? No explanation as to why they need the huge quantities of data, and then a game that none of us understand or see the relevance of. I have no idea how the result of the game will provide any useful data to the company.

I don't understand the game one bit. it seems so random and nonsensical

What's very odd is, that I had visited the Zodus website before deciding to put myself forward for this, and so was expecting the 'retirement issues' based game to be something along same interface/format as the sample game www.zodus.co.uk/encore/, yet based on all the 'game instructions' this evening, before all the 'intrusive' questions (which I chose not to answer and so didn't actually proceed to 'play'), the user interface was not appealing at all and the instructions made it seem as if I was going to be playing some science/weird game.

Most odd indeed.

Same as above. I filled in questions (made up some answers as I had no idea and couldn't move on until I answered), and then found I couldn't actually use my iPad for the simulation. Now my account is locked as the password didn't save. Waste of time.

I was aghast at the information they 'required' to play a game, and have put either 0 or 1 in every box just to see what the so called game is (it seems more like a very personal data gathering exercise to me). The game wont work on my phone and when I tried it on my PC, it made absolutely no sense at all. What an absolute waste of my time Mumsnet. Am pretty irritated tbh, I dont want to sell my financial data to a company that isn't remotely transparent with its privacy policy.

Oh and I've asked for written confirmation that any data Zodus hold on me has been removed. Might be good for others to do the same?

Wish I'd read this before I attempted the login! Have registered (I think) on my iPad but like others can't get any further. I'll try on the desktop tomorrow. I wasn't too bothered about the nature of the questions - I do a fair few surveys and would provide such info but first impressions aren't great.

I have woke up thinking about this damn game. I can understand how it is linking in to retirement planning in it's weird way, ie having enough money and being healthy to go the distance

However I'm really worried that I am spending ages not doing well on the game and my attempts are not being recorded. I would be annoyed if I got to the end of the first testing session and discovered that my more than 10 attempts hadn't been recorded.

I also am not bothered about the data, I do trust them and mumsnet, I also do lots of surveys so I am use to entering this kind of info.

i suspect the 404 errors which we are receiving for the privacy policy and password reset are because the game is on test mode.

was expecting the 'retirement issues' based game to be something along same interface/format as the sample game www.zodus.co.uk/encore

Now that game looks as though it's linked to financial and retirement planning - I still haven't worked out how managing a spacecraft has any links to retirement!!

I was expecting something around retirement, yet this is about flying a spaceship oddly

Yes. My thought when attempting to play the game was "I haven't got time for this nonsense". Why they think this will appeal to women aged 45+ I have no idea. I have very limited experience (and interest, and patience) in playing video games and it made no sense to me at all.

I took a very "broad brushstroke" approach to filling in the data, which I agree was requested at an intrusive level.

I also can’t get the game to load on a mobile or iPad. I was trying to think of it originally said we couldn’t use it on those devices?

@KatherineMinola

"Why they think this will appeal to women aged 45+ I have no idea."

Agreed.

Have this morning gone back to the email and opened the Zodus notes (for use if help needed, apparently).

#7 of which says:

"As the captain of your ship, you set your power, allocate your crew to tasks of generation, lab & rest, select your
preferred fuel source and set up your ship in terms of shields, energy regeneration and nuclear fuel burn (which
cannot be stopped when activated)."

Says it all, really!

oops, apologies, above was meant to read @KatherinaMinola

I also am not bothered about the data, I do trust them

Can I ask, out of curiosity, on what basis you trust a company which is presumably unknown to you? The questions were the kind of things you might be asked about for loan affordability, not playing a game. Here's all I can find out about the company. Of course I'm not suggesting they are anything other than legitimate, but conversely there's no reason to implicitly trust any organisations with your data either.