Examples of gamification in mobile applications. Gamification: Productivity Apps

Ivan Mikhailov, Product Director of Skadi.guide service, spoke about several interesting cases of gamification of mobile applications.

Gamification Success Cases – Users Love These Apps

Ivan Mikhailov

What is gamification?

Gamification is the introduction of game mechanics into non-game processes. Various mobile applications and services are actively trying to use this tool to improve their key indicators - involvement in the use of the product and conversion to a targeted action, for example, to purchases.

The success of gamification application depends very much on the specific product. Someone fails to benefit and interest users with gamification elements, while someone qualitatively increases their performance.

For example, when promoting one of its tariffs, MTS launched a quest game, which made it possible to increase sales of the tariff by 20%.

Successful cases

1. SKADI ski guide & adventure game

The SKADI ski guide & and adventure game mobile application is a live ski guide, a personal assistant for skiing in the mountains, which makes your vacation more fun.

In the first days of skiing, SKADI becomes literally an indispensable assistant to a person, as it allows you to confidently ride throughout the resort from the very first day. But we saw that from the 3rd day of riding, the return to the use of the application decreases. A person believes that he has studied the tracks enough, found those that he likes the most and feels less need for such a product.

To change these indicators, game elements were added to the standard functions of the application. At the resort.

His main goal is to collect as many crystals as possible, coming up with his own strategy, which is implemented using voice guidance and app navigation. In this case, you will have to fight with magical creatures on the mountain (gnomes, bears, capricorns).

Such gaming functionality allowed to increase the return to use of the application on the 3rd day by 24%.

2.Strutapp

The Strutapp app allows you to diversify your travels - you need to open the map (clear the squares) during the trip.

Together with such a service, a person can make even the most routine business trip exciting. Especially if he travels to some regions several times - on each visit, the application will encourage him to go to a new place.

3. Mango Health

Mango Health is an app that helps you take care of yourself. It helps to take medications in a timely manner and creates a habit that really positively affects the health of the user.

The creators of the application turned the routine process of reminding you to take a pill into an entertaining game - every time a person drinks a medicine on time, he gets points.

When the user collects the required number of points, he receives a gift certificate, which can be used in partner stores to purchase real goods. In this case, the person opens the next level of the game, for the passage of which you need to score points again, that is, take medication in a timely manner.

According to statistics, more than 50% of patients with chronic diseases forget to take their medications on time. More than 90% of Mango Health app users start taking their medicines regularly right after installing the service on their smartphone.

4. Duolingo

Mobile service for learning foreign languages Duolingo is one of the most famous tools that use gamification to make the routine process more fun.

After completing each subsequent level (training course), users paint their skill tree in a certain color and earn virtual currency within the application, which can be spent on in-app purchases, additional courses and language modules, and special features.

It is this approach that allows Duolingo to show excellent results - most of the users of the application use it on a regular basis (the retention rate is very high).

Conclusion

Gamification in mobile applications can make the consumption of the main functionality of the service more fun and allows you to increase the main indicators of user engagement in the use of the service.

The main thing is to skillfully use the game functionality. That is, you do not need to gamify the application just for the sake of having some kind of game inside.

The game should be aimed at motivating people to use the main functionality of the service. Those products that manage to successfully integrate gaming functionality into the application will receive a significant increase in application usage rates.

Gamification is the use of game mechanics to engage and stimulate the activity of event participants. In other words, with the help of a mobile application, we turn the event into a game. The Eventicious team is constantly looking for and developing new useful features and services for high-quality event support. Today we find out: how does gamification allow 102% of participants to be involved in activities? Let's analyze an example of an event of one of the largest Russian banks, who kindly spoke about his experience, but wished to remain anonymous.

For the active use of certain functions in the application: scheduling meetings, chatting, filling in the field of information about yourself, etc., points are awarded. Accordingly, the more actively the participant of the event uses the application, the more points he receives. Points can be awarded for any action, and you decide which ones. Thus, as an organizer, you can promote a certain type of activity at the event.

For instance:

• participation in surveys and tests;
• messages in a social network or internal chat;
• appointment of business meetings;
• assessment of speakers' reports;
• the number of questions asked;
• event registration and more.

Depending on the number of accumulated points, a single rating is formed among the participants. Rating leaders receive valuable prizes. Which ones are decided by the organizers of the events. In our practice, the spread was solid: from branded glasses of an unusual shape to a trip to Rome. It is logical that the more valuable the prize, the more motivated the participant to take action.

For the active use of certain functions in the application: scheduling meetings, chatting, filling in the field of information about yourself, and so on, points are awarded. Accordingly, the more actively the participant of the event uses the application, the more points he receives. Points can be awarded for any action, and you decide which ones.

Thus, as an organizer, you can promote a certain type of activity at the event

Simply adding gamification to an application is not enough, good informational support is needed. Event organizers solve this problem on their own by conducting a small PR campaign of the application, which tells in detail about its purpose, capabilities, what the game functionality is and how to use it, and most importantly, what prizes await.

Gamification can be made even more interesting by using the environment in the “game”.

For example, use iBeacon special beacons that recognize smartphones. They can be laid out in rooms, rooms, halls, on the street. If you reach the checkpoint, the phone sees a radio beacon and gives you points.

An iBeacon alternative to the good old QR codes. The usage scenario changes slightly: when you arrive at a checkpoint or perform a certain action, the animator scans your QR code displayed in the application. For this, virtual points are awarded. They, for example, can be spent in a bar for a special cocktail.

Technologies help organize unusual gamification scenarios: quests to find treasures on the map with riddles, secret notes, etc.

Case: corporate training event from the Corporate University of Bank N

Task From April 17 to April 21, Bank N's Corporate University launched the 4th stream of the Bank N Mini-MBA program. The purpose of the program is to provide the Bank's line managers with a set of managerial knowledge and skills necessary for the effective performance of their duties in accordance with the Bank's Strategy and corporate competency model, and to form motivation for continuous development.

Most recently, we talked about How to choose a mobile solution for an event: an overview of current solutions, and what options for technological solutions exist for working with data from event participants - in the article Customer journey map and automation of event management Solution On 1 in-person module was used a mobile application for motivating and engaging listeners in order to actively participate and get to know each other. The duration of the module was 6 days, at the same time 300 managers of Bank N from more than 60 cities from all over Russia come for training.

During the week, participants undergo face-to-face training, which includes lectures by external speakers and teachers, participate in master classes and do joint projects. The number of students in the program is quite large, and in order to effectively organize the educational process, as well as increase the level of interaction and communication, participants are divided into large study groups of up to 50 people in each cohort, as well as mini-groups for project and individual work.

When organizing the educational process at large events, it is extremely important to build communication correctly. And the most optimal in this case is just the use of a multifunctional mobile application.

The application helped to promptly make changes to the study schedule, promptly make information mailings to program participants, promptly collect feedback on various activities, actively develop networking on the program: set up work and personal meetings among 300 participants using the options for downloading the participant calendar, using gamification.

The application provided an opportunity to place information in a structured way that meets the needs of the organization of logistics on the program (list of participants, schedule of transfers, services, contacts, etc.)

The mobile application was installed by 102% of program participants. This number is explained by the fact that some users installed the application on their second devices, for example, on tablet computers. Of course, the main criterion is the very need for an in-person module, but gamification has become the driving factor for increasing its use.

Statistics on the use of the mobile application on the face-to-face module of the Bank N Mini-MBA program:

• 3741 survey participations
• 983 appointments
• 4707 chat messages
• 66,696 schedule views
• 70 feedback polls back by groups

The audience of mobile applications is becoming more and more demanding. No one will be impressed with a regular, stable, working application. In our society, standards are deeply written in all of us somewhere. Someone is vulnerable to one thing, someone to another. But we all want to be part of something big and important. We want not just to exist, but to move towards some goals, to feel our importance and experience emotions. Excellence, influence and fame are ineradicable in our consciousness, which is formed in the era of multimedia, selling us new idols every day. Gamification is a mechanism that puts pressure on all the sore spots mentioned. It is widely used in all industries as a powerful tool for managing and motivating people. The mobile development industry is no exception.

Have you ever thought about the power of likes on Facebook? One day, he changed the way information was exchanged. This is a very strong social element. Vanity injects programs into our minds of "people like what I said", "people like what I like", "people think I'm important", which become addictions.

Whether gamification is good or bad in mobile apps, its ultimate goal is to improve monetization. So what should be considered when adding game elements to the application? Let's get a look.

1. Create a story

Without an initial story, it is sometimes (quite often) difficult to understand why certain actions have value. Imagine the situation: on a walk you come across a young guy trying to beat an oak tree with a small stick. What are your impressions? To put it mildly, it looks awkward. But just because you don't know that Peter (guy) is the last samurai defending his village from the villain (oak) invasion; and his weapon (stick) is a unique katana created 10 thousand years ago. Conclusion: try to hurt the feelings of users with a story, make them feel, support your story with images.

2. Prepare tests

There should always be a challenge in the game. Challenges make people feel the value of achievement. Without a challenge, even the most fun game will look like this:

Every test starts with goals. They must be explicitly represented in your application. Goals can be personal, pre-created, or created by the community. When creating default goals, make sure they are varied and complex enough. Otherwise, the goals don't make much sense. Just imagine that you are playing billiards. The goal is to put all the balls into the pockets. If you only have this information, you can just come and put all the balls in their places. It is not interesting! This is no challenge! Tests should be interesting! This is where the rules come into play. You are given a special stick. You need to hit the white ball with this stick in order to drive another into the hole and so on. This process may seem strange, but we know that people like this strangeness. Why do they like it? That's right - because it's fun. Make your challenges fun.

Keep a balance between tasks that are too easy, which people will get bored with, and tasks that are too difficult, which will make users angry. Let them learn from their failures. Achieving success after a few failures is more satisfying.

3. Come up with a reward

We don't do anything selflessly. There is always a reason. You are helping a friend build a house because you love being around him, expect him to help you in the future, and want to spend time in the house later. You help grandma cross the road - you feel like a better person.

Every achievement should be rewarded. Whether it's a badge, a place in the ranking - depends on your application. The main idea here is that these awards should be valuable not only because they are awards. If you add rewards to a food delivery app, turn on a loyalty program to keep customers; a wiki app, an honor rating that motivates people to write more; social app - include some ego-inducing rewards to satisfy the human desire to stand out and so on... There's a lot of room for imagination here, find what interests your audience.

Some good examples:

• eye2eye - completing goals gives real rewards to kids: Lego train, transformer, lightsaber, etc.

• untappd is a rating system for those who really care about the quality of their beer.

• Streak - personal development tracker allows you to clearly track your progress.

Positive feedback from the application for completing tasks is vital - you can think of it as a paycheck at the end of the month. What else? — unexpected rewards or awards. Just imagine that you come to the office in the morning and find a chocolate bar on the table. You didn't deserve it in any way (nothing obvious to you), but you feel better for a period of time. You may be fired in the evening of the same day, but in the morning you feel better. A lot of attention needs to be paid to protecting your system from cheaters and building a system of achievements not based on abuse. Challenges are exciting, rewards satisfy, and there are no dishonest conditions.

My friend is annoyed by people who get expensive cars, luxury apartments, private jets without any effort. To some extent, I understand it. At the time of birth, the complexity of our lives is distributed randomly. Someone plays on normal mode, while someone gets a difficult or "nightmare". Place all participants in the same conditions, please.

Give people freedom and avoid punishments that can demotivate. Don't force users to do what you want, make them think they're playing in their own sandbox, not yours.

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SECTION III. THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

UDC 37.016:811

DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

MOBILE APPS AS A TOOL FOR GAMIFICATION OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko VN.

Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov 119991, Moscow, Leninskie gory, 1, Russian Federation

Annotation. This article is devoted to the use of mobile applications as one of the means of introducing gaming activities in the process of teaching a foreign language. The paper considers the concept of "gamification" and presents various approaches to the classification of educational games. Specific mobile services that contribute to the development of students' communicative competence are also proposed and analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, it was possible to establish what technologies can be used to form the language, speech and socio-cultural components of communicative competence.

Keywords: ICT in education, methods of teaching foreign languages, gamification of education, mobile learning, communicative competence, learning mobile application.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS AS A TOOL OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION GAMIFICATION

A. Avramenko, V. Shevchenko

Lomonosov Moscow State University

GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation

abstract. The article focuses on the issue of mobile application use as one of the means of introducing game activities into the process of language teaching. The article studies the concept of "gamification", various classifications of learning games are examined. Certain mobile applications contributing to the development of linguistic, discourse and sociocultural elements

© Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko V.N., 2017.

of learners" communicative competence are given and analyzed. The results of the analysis enable the author to state that the mobile technologies can be used with the aim of forming the language, speech and social-cultural components of communicative competence.

Key words: ICT in education, methods of language teaching, gamification, mobile learning, communicative competence, mobile application.

Mobile applications have become an integral part of modern life. Currently, they are used in all spheres of human activity: culture, communication, transport, entertainment, finance, sports, professional activities, etc., including education. The main goal of educational mobile applications is to facilitate the learning process, make it more exciting, interesting and effective for users, often through the introduction of a game moment into learning, i.e. through the gamification of education.

Gamification is the use of gaming techniques and thinking in a non-gaming context, in this case with the aim of increasing student interest and motivation in the learning process. For the first time this concept was used by the British IT expert Nick Pelling, but until 2010 the term was not very popular.

Extensive research conducted by various educational institutions around the world has revealed that the most significant factors influencing the effectiveness of gaming technologies in learning are: the level of activity and motivation of students, the degree of interactivity of the game and the involvement of students in the gaming process. The higher these indicators, the more dynamic and lively the game is and, consequently,

but the more effective its final result.

At the moment, there are a huge number of different classifications of educational games created for foreign language classes. It is important to note that each of them has both strengths and weaknesses. Let's look at some of the classifications.

M.F. Stronin distinguishes the following types of educational games: preparatory games, grammar games, lexical games, phonetic games, spelling games, creative games, auditory games, speech games [cited from: 4, p. 220, 221].

There is also a classification developed by D. Hadfield and based on the principles of actions performed by students during a particular game:

1. Information gap (information gap).

2. Connection or selection of elements (jigsaw or fitting together principle).

3. Exchange (barter principle).

According to E.N. Solovova, educational

games are divided into:

1. games like "Lotto" (bingo games);

2. games based on the use of the "information gap", differences in the assessment and perception of information (information gap, opinion gap, perception gap);

3. puzzle games on the principle of jigsaw games;

4. games using dramatization (simulations).

Based on the foregoing, it is safe to note the variety of existing classifications of educational games for learning a foreign language. When choosing one or another type of game techniques, it is necessary to pay attention to such parameters as the age of students, the academic discipline for which this or that game is chosen, the topic of the lesson, the goals for which it is directed, etc.

Taking into account the social order of society, which has led to the high popularity of the communicative approach to teaching foreign languages, let's consider gamification as a way to form the communicative competence of students, and mobile applications as a tool through which this process is implemented. With this approach, it is important to note how specific electronic services contribute to the development of all components of communicative competence, namely its language, speech and sociocultural components.

Linguistic competence is the ability to understand and produce an unlimited number of linguistically correct sentences with the help of learned linguistic signs and the rules for their connection. Below is an analysis of the didactic potential of applications aimed at developing language competence.

Duolingo is an application and website containing a wide range of exercises, games and tasks aimed at developing the lexical, grammatical and phonetic skills of students with a foreign language proficiency level.

com from A1 to C1. The technology includes the following types of tasks: translation exercises, recording one's own voice (pronouncing phrases and sentences), tests, filling in gaps, writing down phrases heard, etc. The application can be used to consolidate or repeat already studied grammar and lexical material as homework.

The Phrasal Verbs Machine (Cambridge University Press) is a mobile application for expanding the vocabulary of students, namely by memorizing phrasal verbs. The application provides visualization and graphics: to explain phrasal verbs, a real life situation is played out (animation is used), as well as various meanings of verbs and examples of their use in sentences.

Quizlet is a service that can be used on both PC and mobile devices. Using this technology, you can learn a new vocabulary using the following tasks: Flashcards - flashcards will be useful for learning new words, memorizing them and further working them out; Learn - a task to consolidate the vocabulary (Russian translation / definition is given, it is necessary to enter the English version); Spell - a task for practicing spelling. The student needs to listen to the pronunciation of the word (as an additional hint, the Russian equivalent / definition of the word is also shown) and enter it in the box; Test - this task includes several exercises at once: translation of a word, matching of a word with its translation / definition, multiple choice

and determining whether the provided translation is correct. Such a task is suitable for a control check of the assimilation of new words. Match is a game where you have to match a word with its translation to make it disappear. The faster all the words disappear from the field, the better; Gravity is a game in which you have to save the Earth from asteroids by typing the correct translation of the words written on them.

Practice English Grammar is an application that, despite the name, is designed to train not only grammar skills, but also lexical ones. The service contains the following types of exercises: flashcards, test tasks, games (like Tetris), determining the correctness of a statement (true/false), filling in the gaps.

Learn English Grammar (British Council) is an application that includes a wide range of grammar topics and provides the ability to use exercises in various formats: multiple choice tests, making sentences from the presented words, classifying words according to their grammatical categories, listening to audio recordings with a further answer to the question etc.

Merriam Webster Dictionary contains not only a dictionary, but also games for learning and practicing English words and expressions: games to find synonyms, to determine the correct origin of words, to choose the names of things from different areas (areas change every week; for example, this week the topic - flowers) and words naming various musical phenomena.

Pear Deck is a unique service that allows a teacher to

during the presentation, ask questions of various types (yes / no, agree / disagree, with a choice of answers, with a short answer, with a detailed answer, with an answer in the form of a picture, etc.), while students can see the slides and questions to them not only on the big screen, but also on the screen of your phone or tablet, for this you need to enter a code that will be displayed on the screen of the computer used by the teacher. Thus, you can instantly find out how well students have learned this or that language material, and, if necessary, comment on the results.

Words, Sounds: Pronunciation App by Macmillan - this mobile application is aimed at developing students' listening and pronunciation skills. A table is provided with all the vowels and consonants of the English language, when you click on any of them, they are played. After studying the table, you can practice or go straight to the test. The principles of construction of training and test tasks are the same: the first task is to write down the word by transcription; the second task is to write down the transcription of the word; the third task is to write down the transcription of the word according to its pronunciation.

LearnEnglish Kids: Phonics Stories by British Council is a game for kids that consists of video stories and songs with subtitles to help students learn new words, develop listening and oral comprehension skills, and remember how to use grammatical constructions in speech.

Phrasalstein is a game built on the same principle as The Phrasal

Verbs Machine, and pursuing the same goal - the study of phrasal verbs.

Lingualeo is one of the most popular services for learning English, including interactive learning tasks on video, audio recordings, written texts, multiple choice exercises, tests, etc., the purpose of which is the comprehensive and harmonious development of the student's language personality.

The Anki application is based on the flashcard method, which is designed to expand and deepen the knowledge of the vocabulary of a foreign language.

Speech competence - possession of methods for the formation and formulation of thoughts through language and the ability to use such methods in the process of perception and generation of speech. The formation of speech competence is facilitated by such communication services as Learn English with SpeakingPal, Seesaw, etc.

Learn English with SpeakingPal - the application includes speech recognition technology, which analyzes the user's pronunciation and evaluates its correctness. Moreover, video dialogues are used, so that the student has the impression that he is participating in live communication.

Seesaw allows the student to create their own audio and video recordings with which they can practice their speaking skills. In addition, the teacher can give such exercises as homework, and then check the correctness of its implementation.

VoiceThread provides the ability to create presentations and voice them with your own voice.

Such a task is well suited as a homework, but it is important that students, when recording a voice, do not read a pre-prepared text, but try to train spontaneous speech. PodOmatic is an application for recording your own podcasts, which again contributes to the development of skills in formulating thoughts in a foreign language and the ability to use them in the process of generating speech.

While playing Pokemon Go, children can take screenshots of their phones with monsters on them, and then prepare a presentation or report with them, talking about their adventures in a foreign language, showing the locations of the caught Pokemon, thus training their speech skills through the language of interest to them. topic.

Finally, sociocultural competence is the ability to operate a system of sociocultural knowledge and skills in the implementation of communication in a dialogue of cultures, i.e. at the intercultural level. The following services are suitable for the development of sociocultural competence.

Story maker (British Council), Storybird - services for creating your own stories in digital storytelling format, with the help of which both the teacher and students can make their own presentations related to the history and culture of the country of the language being studied.

Memrise is not just an app for learning foreign languages, it provides a wide range of topics for study: science and humanities, memory training, art, entertainment, tests, games, etc., therefore, using this technology, you can introduce

children with a variety of topics, expanding both their horizons and language knowledge.

The principle of working with Pear Deck has already been described earlier, however, this service has a wide range of capabilities, so it can also be used for the presentation of socio-cultural material with further verification of its understanding.

ESLvideo is a video service that uses a test system to determine how well children have learned the information illustrated in the video. With the selection of suitable material, such an approach can be implemented for children to acquire knowledge about the culture, countries and people of the language being studied.

The Lingualeo technology already mentioned above also includes material useful for the development of sociocultural competence: video and audio recordings, texts, songs, games, etc.

Kahoot! - an interactive test system that will help the teacher evaluate the speed and quality of the

learning material by students, and will also introduce a moment of competition and play into the learning process. Testing is carried out in class in teams or individually, an important role in the assessment is played by the correctness and speed of the answer.

Prezi is a technology for creating interactive presentations that can be used by the teacher himself to present material, or offered to children to prepare a presentation as homework.

So, we can conclude that with the teacher carefully developing a learning strategy and choosing the most appropriate means in accordance with the goals, needs and age of students, modern mobile applications as a tool for gamification provide ample opportunities for achieving high results in learning a foreign language within the framework of a communicative approach. to learning, as they allow you to smoothly and harmoniously introduce the elements of the game into the educational process, as well as increase the motivation of students.

LITERATURE

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2. Dareeva O.A., Dashieva S.A. Sociocultural competence as a component of communicative competence // Bulletin of the Buryat State University. 2009. No. 15. S. 154-159.

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6. Titova S.V. Control and assessment in the language classroom using mobile applications. Bulletin of the Moscow University. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. 2017. No. 1. S. 24-35.

7. Pappas C. How Gamification Reshapes Learning [electronic resource]. URL: https://elearningindustry.com/how-gamification-reshapes-learning#introduction (accessed 09/11/2017).

1. Azimov E.G., Shchukin A.N. Novyi slovar" metodicheskih terminov i ponyatii (teoriya i praktika obucheniya yazykam) . Moscow, 2009. 448 p.

2. Dareeva O.A., Dashieva S.A. . In: Vestnik Buryatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 15, pp. 154-159.

3. Zhazheva D.D., Zhazheva S.A. . In: Vestnik Adygeiskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 3: Peda-gogika i psikhologiya, no. 4, pp. 99-108.

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5. Titova S.V. . In: Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2016, no. 7-8 (159-160), pp. 7-14.

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Avramenko Anna Petrovna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Department of Theory of Teaching Foreign Languages, Lomonosov Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov; e-mail: [email protected]

Shevchenko Valeria Nikolaevna - student of the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and Regional Studies of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; e-mail: [email protected]

Anna P. Avramenko - PhD in Pedagogical sciences, associate professor, associate professor at the Department of Theory of Teaching Foreign Languages, Lomonosov Moscow State University; e-mail: [email protected]

Valeriya N. Shevchenko - student at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​And Area Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University; e-mail: [email protected]

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Avramenko A.P., Shevchenko V.N. Mobile applications as a tool for the gamification of language education // Bulletin of the Moscow State Regional University. Series: Pedagogy. 2017. No. 4 S. 64-71. DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

Avramenko A., Shevchenko V. Mobile applications as a tool of language education gamification. In: Bulletin of the Moscow Region State University. Series: Pedagogy. 2017 no. 4, rr. 64-71. DOI: 10.18384/2310-7219-2017-4-64-71

Gamification is the motivation and precise actions aimed at the engagement of your company's consumers. What exactly motivates people? The answer to this question is a real challenge for engagement-obsessed marketers who have seen the results - incredible ROI numbers. According to The Huffington Post, after Autodesk's process gamification, product test usage increased by 40% and conversion by 15%.

Take a cue from the Mario brothers!

Gamification can be compared to the first level of Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers. You are motivated to play because it's fun and you earn points all the way. Everything is going great and you get the final reward by jumping on the flagpole. The victorious eight-bit music sounds and the next level opens. Game mechanics encourage you to play, and rewards motivate you to keep playing until you reach the next level.

We immediately warn you that connecting the gameplay does not guarantee the success of the company. Gartner's Brian Burke recently released a report predicting 80% of gamified companies will fail in the next 2-3 years. Damn big numbers. How to get into the 20% of the successful minority? Let's take a look at the experts.

In this post, we take a look at companies that have achieved success using gamification in one of the leading areas - mobile applications. According to Digby, 64% of smartphone owners use their devices to shop online. There is simply no better place to interact with your product.

Let’s take a look at the companies that are currently engaging users with gamified apps:

1. #Nwplyng

New music app for i-phone. Listen to music - notify your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and get rewards and badges. In addition to badges, which are called "records" here, there are special "Artist Records" that stand out for sharing obscure tracks that lead to new scores and more music.

2. Starbucks

Starbucks is simple and cute. The more coffee you buy, the more reward stars fall into your virtual cup. The visual aspect of achieving the goal - a filling mug, motivates users to achieve more and more results.

3.Viggle

With this application you will be rewarded for watching TV! Sounds too easy, right? In fact, even better. Earn points by tagging your favorite shows among watched, play quizzes, participate in live broadcasts and share show content from Facebook or Twitter.

4. fuel good

This app in a playful way is designed for drivers and motivates them to reduce their CO2 emissions. FuelGood tracks your progress and provides fuel efficient advice. You can get your own records, compare results for the optimal passage of a certain distance, and observe how fuel consumption decreases.

5. Mobile

Application-game for "mystery shoppers". Mystery shoppers participate in games they call "missions" and score points. You are given less than 5 minutes per game, in which you can score points to receive, for example, free coffee.

6. Nike+

The popular fitness app keeps track of users' physical activity and rewards them with points called "NikeFuel". In a competitive form, the application allows you to achieve your own sports goals and share the results with friends. The more NikeFuel, the more awards, trophies and surprise gifts.

7. Recycle Bank

Recyclebank gives users points for "green behavior" like buying organic products, walking to work or drinking less water. Participants are also rewarded for completing online quizzes on eco-topics and for posting eco-tips on social media. Saving the environment with gamification is much more fun!

8. RedRobin

Red Robin (burger chain) gamifies its loyalty program. Tons of ways to play and earn points. Pseudo board games, onion ring throw games, check-ins and social media shares are also rewarded.

Now from me personally, no longer a translation, I write immediately in the original language:

Gamification really won't help everyone. But it can improve a lot. Boring and routine will make it more fun and varied. The same Mobee and Viggle are just working tools for marketing and market research. But they allow you to "play work" rather than "work", which is much more interesting.

As for loyalty programs - a special conversation. The example of Red Robin is very revealing in terms of players. They are not just players waiting for the next achievement and quitting the game after a couple of months, they are 100% consumers. It is important. You can wave examples from the life of gamifiers in which one person bought a product for a large amount and received an achievement, which the next day was interrupted by another buyer with an even larger amount. Yes, this is also a kind of achievement of those who invented the game. But. Do you think the competition between these two buyers will last forever? If…

I believe that the future of gamification is in company loyalty programs. Directed specifically at the consumption of services and goods. How many people would play the Nike+ app if it wasn't for the name Nike? There are many such applications, but consumers choose branded ones precisely because they are loyal to this brand. They feel like they belong to one of the best sneaker brands. So, my opinion is unequivocal: in 20% there will be those who will be able to distinguish between "players-consumers" from "players-just like that."