Technical science, gamification

Andrii V. Bryznhnychenko¹

Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics, ¹student

Time-management is a useful, but boring activity, so how do we motivate user to get more interactive and playful experience?

Gamificating mobile time-management applications

Keywords: software development, gamification, time-management, smartphone, Android.

Problem statement and its relation to practical-research tasks.

At present, many people are faced with the problem of lack of time for their own tasks. To solve this problem, time management methods and many programs utilizing these methods have been created. But there is another problem: the problem of self-motivation to perform one's tasks or the lack of interest in existing implementations. The key to solving these problems is the gamification approach. To use this approach, the time-management application must be developed using gaming technologies.

Subject analysis.

“Time management”[1] is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities through task planning. Good time management enables you to get more tasks done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. That is usually achieved by creating a dense, well-planned schedule.To do so user's activity needs to be divided into some atomic tasks, then the priority and majority for these tasks must be set. Some tasks may require complex completion, so subtasks must be created to achieve that. After that user may organize these tasks in time, according to their complexity,majority and priority.

It is necessary to plan tasks, distribute them, set goals, delegate, analyze time, monitor, organize, compile lists and prioritize. To solve these problems, many solutions have been implemented, starting with all the well-known Wunderlist and Google Calendar, ending with countless clones, branches and alternative versions. As a result, we have a huge number of similar products with small differences and performing the same role. As a result, existing applications are targeted at a user who is familiar with the concept of time management and who wants to facilitate this process as an application.

As said above, time management is useful, yet boring and somewhat hard practice, which neeeds gamification. And what exactly is gamification?

Gamification works[2] by encouraging users to engage in desired activities, by showing a path to mastery, and by taking advantage of our human psychological predisposition to engage in gaming.

Smart developers use it to increase user engagement and influence user behavior. In order to achieve this, users should be rewarded with virtual items (like points) for specific behavior (e.g. buying something, signing up, using the product, filling out their profile), and those virtual items should offer access to exclusive privileges and rewards, such as levels or prizes. This can be done by implementation of game-like mechanics[3], which are constructs of rules intended to produce an enjoyable gameplay. Think of it as basic building blocks that can be combined in interesting ways to drive a (often complex) sequence of actions in order to achieve desired results. These typically include items such as points, badges, levels, challenges, leaderboards and the possibility to level up. These come from game like dynamics such as rewards, urgency, pride, competition, and status-building.

Formulation of research objectives.

Our objective is to develop a time-management application, all base functions of which are gamificated.

The idea of a task checklist is very similar to a quest-journal, used in many role-play games. In addition, the application can use more of the role-play mechanics, such as:

1. Player's growth in the level, as he accomplishes tasks;

2. System of attributes of the player (such as strength, agility, intelligence, etc.) and their increase in level as the player performs tasks;

3. System of skills of the player (programming, playing the guitar, running, pulling), tied to the attributes of the player and growing in level as the player performs tasks;

4. A game map of the locality, with all currently available tasks;

5. The ability to add friends and communicate with them in the application;

6. Possibility of joint task execution with other players;

7. System of rewards for the player's performance of tasks;

8. The opportunity to share their achievements in social networks;

This way we implement role-play elements into our app so the user may feel real impact of his achievements to his application account and visualize one's progress.

Conclusions.

With all of the above aspects developed, we get an application in which functional time management techniques are implemented, which, however, the user can perceive as a game assistant in everyday life, projecting routine tasks into the game environment and motivating himself to engage in self-development. Social elements should be integrated into the application to give user a competitive experience and even further involve him into process.

Target platform was chosen to be mobile, as the most convenient for everyday use by the user, and also as the most accessible to the user at any time.

The operating system was chosen OS Android as one of the most common and easy to develop mobile applications.

References :

1. Time management principles: [Electronic resource] //Mindtools site article. – Access mode: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm(Date of application: 20.03.2017).

2. What is Gamification [Electronic resource] // Yukaichou article. – Access mode: http://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/what-is-gamification/ (Date of application: 21.03.2017).

3. How to Use Gamification for Better Business Results: [Electronic resource] //Gamification blog. – Access mode: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/gamification-for-better-results/ (Date of application: 21.03.2017).