How Slack, Kickstarter & Duolingo used Game Thinking to create a breakout hit
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This document discusses using game thinking principles to build customer engagement. It argues that traditional approaches like manipulation are no longer effective given customer choices. Instead, companies should focus on empowering customers by making their products more compelling and skill-building over time. The key principles discussed are identifying high-need superfans, creating a compelling mastery path for customers to improve skills, and developing a pleasurable learning loop that provides feedback and rewards progress. Examples are given of how companies like Slack and Kickstarter applied these principles to achieve success.
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How Slack, Kickstarter & Duolingo used Game Thinking to create a breakout hit
- 1. Rapid Innovation with Game Thinking Build your breakout hit like Slack, Kickstarter & Duolingo
- 2. The World Is Changing
- 3. Facebook use is declining
- 4. Interest in Gamification is waning
- 6. Your customers have choices
- 7. How will you engage them?
- 8. bribes? How will you engage them?
- 9. bribes? manipulation? How will you engage them?
- 10. bribes? manipulation? empowerment? How will you engage them?
- 11. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D.
- 12. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer
- 13. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer Entrepreneur
- 14. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer Entrepreneur Innovation Coach
- 15. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer Entrepreneur Innovation Coach Author
- 16. Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. Game Designer Entrepreneur Innovation Coach Author
- 17. I help startups, game studios & global brands build deep engagement fromthe ground up
- 18. I’ve worked on a diverse set of innovative worldwide hits
- 21. Multi-player rhythm action game
- 24. digital mental health app
- 25. I helped those teams create breakthrough hits Others didn’t manage to cross the chasm
- 29. X
- 30. 5 steps to product/market fit Game Thinking a roadmap for finding product/market fit
- 31. High-need Superfans 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 32. High-need Superfans Compelling Mastery Path 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 33. High-need Superfans Pleasurable Learning Loop Compelling Mastery Path 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 34. Game Thinking Quotes “You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site.” Frank Lloyd Wright Architect
- 36. Game Thinking Quotes “Build something just a few people want - even if most people don’t get it right away” Paul Buchheit Partner, Y-Combinator
- 37. Solve a real problem for a narrow niche
- 38. Game Thinking Quotes Innovation diffusion theory EVERETT ROGERS, 1961
- 39. Game Thinking Quotes Crossing the Chasm GEOFFREY MOORE, 1991 CHASM
- 40. Listening to the right people can make or break your product
- 41. This gaming platform didn't make it across the chasm
- 43. your super-fans are SPECIFIC to your project
- 45. When the game was further along, we DID test our ideas with these casual gamers. But in the early days, it was our super-fans who helped us bring the game to life. In a very real sense, those hard-core music gamers were our co-creators -- our collaborators — able to see what our crude mockups and simple artwork could become, and — crucially — give us actionable feedback on how to make it better. rhythm game nerds comfortable with Alpha
- 46. Will Wright Creator, The Sims
- 47. simulation enthusiasts who love to make things
- 48. Mary Lou Song Product Manager, eBay
- 49. enthusiastic early sellers making a living off the site
- 51. stay-at-home parents who’ve recently left the workforce
- 52. Don’t fall for the TAM myth
- 53. Game Thinking Quotes CHASMSTART NOT Capture your “beachhead” market before trying to reach the majority
- 55. Game Thinking Quotes Upgrade your user, not your product… make people better at something they want to get better at. Kathy Sierra Author, Headfirst Series Make your customers more awesome
- 56. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY What is this? Is it right for me? What’s the value proposition?
- 57. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY How do I learn the ropes? How do I start getting value?
- 58. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY What urge pulls me back? What am I getting better at?
- 59. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY What skills have I mastered? How can I leverage that?
- 60. Create an experience that gets better as customers become more skilled
- 61. Pleasurable Learning Loop skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY Repeatable pleasurable activity Skill-building feedback Progress & investment Cues & Triggers
- 62. Game Thinking Quotes In a loop, you’re learning a skill and updating your mental model. That’s what leads to player delight. Daniel Cook co-founder, Spry Fox Games
- 67. Skill-building = making customers more awesome
- 68. Skill-building = making customers more awesome
- 69. Start Here How to build engagement from the ground up
- 72. Slack started as an internal tool for people building a multiplayer cooperative game
- 73. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 74. Game Thinking Quotes Discovery is for Visitors Social discovery via friends and colleagues
- 75. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop
- 76. Game Thinking Quotes Onboarding is for Newbies Learn the ropes with a friendly bot
- 77. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop
- 78. Game Thinking Quotes Habit-building is for Regulars Customized group chat with emojis, bots, and integrations
- 79. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery Path skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop
- 80. Game Thinking Quotes Mastery is for Enthusiasts Launch a channel, program a bot, integrate your app
- 81. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY Pleasurable Learning Loop Repeatable pleasurable activity Skill-building feedback Progress & investment Cues & Triggers
- 82. Game Thinking Quotes TRIGGER ACTIVITY Read & respond to updates All updates read Customize your channel FOMO - check updates
- 83. Game Thinking Quotes Read & respond to updates All updates read Customize your channel FOMO - check updates SIMPLE FEEDBACK
- 84. Game Thinking Quotes Read & respond to updates All updates read Customize your channel FOMO - check updates SIMPLE FEEDBACK
- 85. Game Thinking Quotes TRIGGER Read & respond to updates All updates read Customize your channel FOMO - check updates PROGRESS
- 88. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 89. Game Thinking Quotes Social Discovery via friends & followers
- 90. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 91. Game Thinking Quotes Exploratory Onboarding with layers of engagement
- 92. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 93. Game Thinking Quotes Engaged Habits Rooting for your project to succeed
- 94. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 95. Game Thinking Quotes Heading toward Mastery Launch your own project
- 96. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY Pleasurable Learning Loop Repeatable pleasurable activity Skill-building feedback Progress & investment Cues & Triggers
- 98. Game Thinking Quotes Explore Campaigns Donate Share Respond to update FEEDBACK
- 99. Game Thinking Quotes TRIGGER Explore Campaigns Donate Share Respond to update Investment
- 100. Game Thinking Quotes Build something that gets better As your customers become more skilled MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY
- 102. High-need Superfans
- 103. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 104. Game Thinking Quotes Discovery Value Prop
- 105. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 106. Game Thinking Quotes Onboarding Q&A
- 107. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 108. Game Thinking Quotes Short, game-like activities
- 109. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers Learning Loop Mastery Path
- 110. Game Thinking Quotes Unlock content & status markers
- 111. Game Thinking Quotes skill-building feedback repeatable, pleasurable activity progress & investment cues & triggers cues & triggers internal situational external engaged MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY Pleasurable Learning Loop Repeatable pleasurable activity Skill-building feedback Progress & investment Cues & Triggers
- 112. Game Thinking Quotes TRIGGER ACTIVITY Complete Mini-game Earn Rewards Unlock Content Get daily update
- 114. Game Thinking Quotes TRIGGER Investment Complete Mini-game Earn Rewards Unlock Content Get daily update
- 115. Skill-building = making customers more awesome
- 116. Learning Loop = making customers more skillful Repeatable pleasurable activity Skill-building feedback Progress & investment Cues & Triggers
- 117. Mastery path = Experience gets better as customers become more skilled MASTERY HABIT-BUILDING ONBOARDING DISCOVERY
- 118. This approach works for entrepreneurs worldwide
- 119. Pune
- 120. Amsterdam
- 121. Tel Aviv
- 122. Paris
- 123. Silicon Valley
- 124. The World Is Changing
- 125. smart product leaders empower customers instead of manipulating them We can do it!
- 126. Game Thinking Helps YOU empower your customers
- 127. High-need Superfans 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 128. High-need Superfans Compelling Mastery Path 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 129. High-need Superfans Pleasurable Learning Loop Compelling Mastery Path 3 Pillars of Game Thinking
- 130. Ask Yourself
- 131. “Who are my first 50 customers?”
- 132. “What do they want to get better at?
- 133. “How can my product empower them?”
- 134. Increase your odds of success with Game Thinking
- 135. take our quiz & get your FREE CHEATSHEET gamethinking.io/quiz
- 136. TAKE THE QUIZ gamethinking.io/quiz FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @amyjokim GET IN TOUCH amyjokim@gmail.com THANK YOU