Gamification means applying some of the same principles that are common in gaming (ie. point scoring, competition with others, earning of badges, leveling…) to other areas of activities – usually to encourage more participation and engagement.

On this premise, on September 2016, the Runister app was born.

The idea is simple: the app would track your runs and for each run you would accumulate points that translate into a payout. In its initial incarnation, Runister was a monthly subscription app ($1.99/month) with a complex system of points, levels and other gaming feature. Although many runners loved it – there were still some aspects that were too complicated for many others.

That’s when Alba and Matej – the brains behind Runister – decided to make the app free, simplify its rewards system and change business model.

Enter Runister 2.0

The Runister 2.0 was launched on the 20th of June as a free app.

Is a mix of fitness & market research. Runister users are running and also replying the questions that the team adds to the system. The app is a “regular” fitness tracker with two points that makes it unique in the market:

1. It connects runners with brands through in-app surveys
2. It boosts the practice of healthy activities by rewarding users with money

The way it achieves this is by asking runners to answer a few questions after each run. Runister then aggregates (therefore making it anonymous) the data and sells the results to brands that are interested.

We strongly believe that by combining the big data of the runners together with the direct surveys might give a great competitive advantage to any brand. Always respecting the privacy and using aggregated data so at any point nobody can identify our users.

Says Alba Vazquez, one of the two founders.

This approach can create value for both brands and the users:

Brands get answers from real runners that can help them come out with better products, better messaging and actually solve problems they might not know existed. Runners get rewarded with money (that they can choose to give to charity if they want) and have the chance to express their voice.

The video below will show a little more about Runister. You can download the app for iPhone on the itunes store.