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Game Thinking drive product/market fit & lasting engagement
with
What is Game Thinking?
Upgrade your user, not your product… make people better at something they want to get better at.
Kathy Sierra Co-creator,, Head First Series
Make your customers more awesome
Game Thinking Quotes
To increase your chances of success, minimize time through the Build/Measure/Learn cycle
Eric Ries Author, The Lean Startup
Accelerate your Innovation Cycle
Game Thinking Quotes
Fun is just another word for learning
Raph Koster Author, A Theory of Fun
Treat your customers as Learners
Game Thinking Quotes
what is
Game Thinking?
what is
Game Thinking?
what is
Game Thinking?
what is
Game Thinking?
what is
Game Thinking?
smarter, faster innovation
Game Thinking the art and science of
engaging customers on a mastery path
Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer &
Startup Coach
I help startups, game studios & global brands build social products that drive long-term engagement
It all started when I got laid off
I launched my own
digital design
company
wrote a book about
Community Design
then one day, I got the call
we created a breakthrough hit
Rock Band Players Apparently Have Better Music Perception
which led to more breakthrough hits
design work for major brands
a VC-funded braingames startup
hard lessons about early-stage innovation
& insights into what makes a hit
evergreen hit game
leading digital health app
online toy rental service
3 Game ThinkingTechniques to accelerate innovation & build lasting engagement
Super-fans
Learning Loop
Mastery Path
Have you ever listened to the wrong customers?
Finding the right customerscan determine whether you
thrive - or fail
innovative gaming platform didn’t find an audience
digital health app found exactly the right audience
3
Test your ideas on a handful of passionate, high-need early customers
21
Super-fans
Create something that a few people love - even if most people don’t getit right away.
Paul Buchheit Partner, Y-Combinator
Geoffrey Moore Author, Crossing the Chasm
The technology adoption lifecycle (1991)
[Innovation Diffusion Theory]Now, I’m not the first one to discover this. Way back in 1961, Everett Rogers of Bell Labs published his landmark study of how innovation spreads in social systems.
Everett Rogers Scientist, Bell Labs
Innovation Diffusion Theory (1961)
Who to listen to - & who to ignore?
don’t rely on friends & family
or people in your ultimate target market
increasing value over time
How do successful innovators find & leverage SuperFans?
your super-fans are SPECIFIC to your project
rhythm action nerds who know the basics
simulation enthusiasts who love to make things
Lego-loving families who enjoy sharing photos
customers of SAAS consulting firms
if you want to cross the chasm…
find & leverage your Superfans* FIRST
* high-need high-value early customers
then expand from that base
Mastery Path
Empower your customer over time with learning & skill-building
31 2
Discovery
Onboarding
Habit-Building
Mastery
what is my customer’s end-to-end experience?how does it evolve over time?
is for Enthusiasts
Discovery
Stage 1: Discovery is for Visitors
What is this? Is it right for me?What’s the value proposition?
is for EnthusiastsStage 2: Onboarding is for Newbies
Discovery
Onboarding
How do I learn the ropes? How do I start giving & getting value?
is for EnthusiastsStage 3: Habit-building is for Regulars
Discovery
Onboarding
Habit-Building
What urge pulls me back? What am I getting better at?
is for EnthusiastsStage 4: Mastery is for Enthusiasts
Discovery
Onboarding
Habit-Building
Mastery
What skills & knowledge have I mastered? How can I leverage that?
is for Enthusiasts
Discovery
Onboarding
Habit-Building
Mastery
Mastery Path
is for EnthusiastsStage 1: Discovery is for Visitors
Social Discovery via Friends & Colleagues
is for EnthusiastsStage 1: Onboarding is for Newbies
Learn the ropes with a friendly bot
is for EnthusiastsStage 1: Habit-building is for Regulars
Customized group chat with emojis, bots & integrations
is for EnthusiastsStage 1: Mastery is for Enthusiasts
Launch a channel, program a bot, integrate your app
Have you ever built the wrong MVP?
we’ve seen the cartoons
(gotta love those cartoons)
but… what should you build first?
Robin Allenson CEO, Similar.ai
from a polished game with no engagement…
…to a rough prototype that fashion designers are begging to get their
hands on & use
Prototype & tune a simple, engagingskill-building feedback loop
Learning Loop321
Fun is just another word for learning
Raph Koster Author, A Theory of Fun
“finding the fun” = building engagement from the inside out
What’s the right MVP?
Fake landing page?
Fake landing page? X
Operant Conditioning AKA Skinner Box?
XOperant Conditioning AKA Skinner Box?
Skill-building =
making customers more awesome
In a loop, you’re learning a skill & updating your mental model. That’s what leads to player delight.
Dan Cook Author, Lost Garden blog
Game Thinking Quotes
Check Updates urge to connect with
your team
Read & Respond to Updates
No More Updates Need Attention
Customize your channel & expressions
Activity Chain
Feedback & Progress
Investment Path
Internal Trigger
Core Loop
Check Updates urge to connect with
your team
Read & Respond to Updates
No More Updates Need Attention
Customize your experience
Trigger
Activity
Engaging activity satisfies an urge or need
Internal Trigger
Core Loop
Feedback & progress promote learning & mastery
EscapeTime! urge to dive into an
escapist world
Read & Respond to Updates
No More Updates Need Attention
Customize your experience
Feedback & Progress
Core Loop
EscapeTime! urge to dive into an
escapist world
Read & Respond to Updates
No More Updates Need Attention
Customize your experience
Investment Path
Investment & triggers pull people back
Engaged Trigger
Check Notifications
Core Loop
Skill-building =
making customers more awesome
Learning Loop =
making customers more skillful
is for Enthusiasts
Discovery
Onboarding
Habit-Building
Mastery
Where should I focus when I’m building my MVP?
the smartest MVP is a Core Learning Loop
Putting it all Together
What to build? Who to listen to? At what dev stage?
Build your roadmap with Game Thinking
You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammeron the construction site
Frank Lloyd Wright Architect
X-axis: customer’s journey
Game Thinking Roadmap
Y-axis: developer’s journey
X-axis: customer’s journey
Game Thinking Roadmap
Y-axis: developer’s journey
X-axis: customer’s journey
Game Thinking Roadmap
start with a Learning Loop
How do (the best) game designers build and tune their MVP?
we imagined living out a rock star fantasy…
and started by tuning & iterating a single song
we imagined a doll house come to life…
and started with tiny world-building experiments
we imagined a cooperative dress-up game…
and piggy-backed our ideas onto existing habits
Everett Rogers Scientist, Bell Labs
Playtesting Progression who do you listen to?
at what dev stage?
Early Majority
Closed Beta
Friends & Family
Team & Department
typical
play-testing
progression
Early Majority
Closed Beta
Friends & Family
Team & Department
Super-fan Community
super-fan
play-testing
progression
What can Game Thinking do for you?
• Dramatically accelerate product discovery
• Create a high-learning MVP* for exactly the right customers
• Build an experience people come back to, again and again
• Improve your innovation outcomes
*Minimum Viable Product
The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas
Linus Pauling Nobel-winning scientist
don’t fall in love with an idea; fall in love with
solving a problem & learning from your customers
Prototype to Learn
a proven system to run smarter experiments and design for learning & mastery
Game Thinking Toolkit Clarify
Identify
Listen
Distill
Design
Prototype
Test
Validate
THANK YOU@amyjokim
amyjokim.com
gamethinkinglive.com