<ul>
<li>What types of applications have you used <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_checking" rel="noreferrer">model checking</a> for?</li>
<li>What model checking tool did you use?</li>
<li>How would you summarize your experience w/ the technique, specifically in evaluating its effectiveness in delivering higher quality software? </li>
</ul>

<p>In the course of my studies, I had a chance to use <a href="http://spinroot.com/spin/whatispin.html" rel="noreferrer">Spin</a>, and it aroused my curiosity as to how much actual model checking is going on and how much value are organizations getting out of it. In my work experience, I've worked on business applications, where there is (naturally) no consideration of applying formal verification to the logic. I'd really like to learn about SO folks model checking experience and thoughts on the subject. Will model checking ever become a more widely used developing practice that we should have in our toolkit?</p>

I just finished a class on model checking and the big tools we used were
Spin
and
SMV
. We ended up using them to check properties on common synchronization problems, and I found SMV just a little bit easier to use.
Although these tools were fun to use, I think they really shine when you combine them with something that dynamically enforces constraints on your program (so that it's a bit easier to verify 'useful' things about your program). We ended up taking the
Spring WebFlow framework
, which uses XML to write a state-machine like file that specifies which web pages can transition to which other ones, and using SMV to be able to perform verification on said applications (
shameless plug here
).
To answer your last question, I think model checking is definitely useful to have, but I lean more towards using unit testing as a technique that makes me feel comfortable about delivering my final product.