Service charges users when they don’t do their study, pays them when they do

StudyPact gives students financial prizes for completing a set amount of work each week, with penalties for missed deadlines.

One way to motivate humans to do anything is to provide rewards when they achieve and punishment when they fail, which has been the basis of apps such as GymPact, the platform that uses money as a tool for stimulus for keeping fit. Reworking the model for students, StudyPact gives students financial prizes for completing a set amount of work each week, with penalties for missed deadlines.

Users can set the duration they need to study from an hour to five hours, along with the amount of money each hour they’re willing to bet they’ll complete. The amount can be as little as USD 1, or as high as USD 50 for more high stakes motivation. Users are charged for each goal that they miss, and the money goes into a pot to be distributed to those who meet their targets and get rewarded. The app works in conjunction with other study apps, such as Duolingo, udemy, iKnow and memrise, and automatically tracks how much time students spend using them to determine if they’ve succeeded.

StudyPact could help students become more productive while also earning for doing work that will help them get better grades. Are there other tasks for which this kind of motivation could be useful?