Gamification, virality and retention in educational online platform. Measurable indicators and market entry strategy
This provides a practical tool for educational platform developers to assess market entry strategies, though it is incremental as it builds on existing metrics.
The paper tackles the problem of measuring growth in freemium educational platforms by proposing the K-growth factor, which combines virality and retention metrics, and finds that a factor greater than one indicates potential for successful large-scale market launch.
The paper describes gamification, virality and retention in the freemium educational online platform with 40,000 users as an example. Relationships between virality and retention parameters as measurable metrics are calculated and discussed using real examples. Virality and monetization can be both competing and complementary mechanisms for the system growth. The K-growth factor, which combines both virality and retention, is proposed as the metrics of the overall freemium system performance in terms of the user base growth. This approach can be tested using a small number of users to assess the system potential performance. If the K-growth factor is less than one, the product needs further development. If the K-growth factor it is greater than one, the system retains existing and attracts new users, thus a large scale market launch can be successful.