Gamekins: Gamifying Software Testing in Jenkins
This addresses the issue of poor software quality due to insufficient testing for developers in continuous integration environments, but it is incremental as it applies existing gamification techniques to a specific tool.
The paper tackles the problem of low developer motivation for writing software tests by introducing Gamekins, a tool that integrates gamification into Jenkins, resulting in increased test quantity and quality through points, leaderboards, and rewards.
Developers have to write thorough tests for their software in order to find bugs and to prevent regressions. Writing tests, however, is not every developer's favourite occupation, and if a lack of motivation leads to a lack of tests, then this may have dire consequences, such as programs with poor quality or even project failures. This paper introduces Gamekins, a tool that uses gamification to motivate developers to write more and better tests. Gamekins is integrated into the Jenkins continuous integration platform where game elements are based on commits to the source code repository: Developers can earn points for completing test challenges and quests posed by Gamekins, compete with other developers or developer teams on a leaderboard, and are rewarded for their test-related achievements.