Happy Friday! I hope you’re doing well on this historic day of transition & change. I spent today helping entrepreneurs in Germany, India, & Amsterdam solve problems and make progress on their dreams. Given what was happening here in the US, it felt good to reach across boundaries and deepen my global connections.

Our power lies in our ability to join together and do great work in the face of uncertainty. That’s my north star; it keeps me going, and keeps me connected to people who lift me up. 

If you’ve read my post on Slack’s coherent & compelling journey to mastery, you may be wondering how to learn from Slack’s example and build game-like dynamics with long-term pull. Well, wonder no more! I’m going to break it down, and show you what makes Slack’s journey to mastery & core learning loop work so well for so many.

Join us Thu Jan 26 at 9 AM PST for a Game Thinking teardown of Slack. Discover how Slack’s game-like dynamics work to engage customers & keep them coming back.

Grab your seat now for this FREE online event.

This is the first in our 2017 Game Thinking Teardown series featuring Slack, Kickstarter, Snapchat, Duolingo & more. Join us and kickoff 2017 with killer design lessons about long-term engagement.

Here’s to a productive and inspired year!

Warmly,
AJK

The post Design Lessons from Slack appeared first on Amy Jo Kim.

I’ve long admired Gabe Newell & quote him regularly. This guy totally gets systems thinking and rapid experimentation within a guiding vision – the essence of Game Thinking.

“The most important thing you can do is to get into an iteration cycle where you can measure the impact of your work, have a hypothesis about how making changes will affect those variables, and ship changes regularly. It doesn’t even matter… what the content is – it’s the iteration of hypothesis, changes, and measurement that will make you better at a faster rate than anything else we have seen.”

Gabe Newell – CEO, Valve read more on Gamasutra….

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Happy New Year! We just got back from family parties in Los Angeles, followed by a snowy retreat in the beautiful Sierra National Park where we practiced the Danish art of hygge – slowing down, getting cosy, and enjoying winter with like-minded people. Our holidays were filled with sledding adventures, board games by the fire, and hiking among the giant Sequoias. Oh – and a distinct lack of Internet access.

That last quality was a BIG challenge for us (me especially) but it gave us a much-needed break from the always-on distractions of social media and email. We were forced to go outside, explore the world, and connect with the people around us – and each other. I played more games with my family this past week than I have in the last year – and got the chance to do some longer-term thinking & writing as well. A wonderful and much-needed retreat – and pontent reminder to put more hygge into our lives.

Blessedly, on this vacation everything went smoothly, with no hitches – thanks to several online services that I’ve come to rely on without even realizing it.

NextDoor is a neighborhood-focused service with verified identity – not just anyone can join, and you need to prove you actually live in the neighborhood. I use NextDoor during holidays & vacations to find someone to care for our 3 beloved cats.  This year, we found a wonderful local family with 2 cat-crazy kids who wanted to earn money over vacation. They took great care of our cats, sending me updates and leaving us a thank-you note.I LOVE giving neighborhood kids their first paid gig – and NextDoor’s verified identify system allows me to feel comfortable letting a stranger into my house.

Thumbtack is a service for hiring a freelancer or contractor that I’ve come to rely on.  It’s great for finding local help – and GENIUS when you’re traveling.

This holiday, we had a family mini-reunion in LA, complete with 4 generations of Kims. I used Thumbtack to find a local photographer who could meet us in my mother-in-laws backyard during a 1-hour window of opportunity. It worked great – the photographer was prompt & professional and the photos came out great.

During this trip, we booked a mountain lodge for snowy fun – and used TripAdvisor to research and choose our vacation digs. For longer stays we use AirBnB and HomeAway – but when I want someone else to make breakfast and worry about meals, finding a great price on a hotel that’s just right for us is a wonderful service. We also used Tripadvisor to book a quick 1-night hotel room in LA when the guest room wasn’t available – and again, it worked out great and was perfect for us.

For the drive to and from Montecito-Sequoia, we used Kayak to find a 4-wheel drive vehicle with snow tires, which weren’t that easy to find.  Now, I’m not an expert snow driver – and the car we rented was GREAT – it got us out of numerous slippery situations during our time in the mountains. I found exactly the features I needed and a great price through kayak – and frugal person that I am, I LOVE knowing that I’m getting a great deal.

I appreciate that power of verified identity, search-friendly reviews and socially-sourced recommendations — that’s what helped us zero-in on what works for our particular family and situation. In the coming years, I think we’ll see more systems with these properties – especially as big data and machine learning leverage the growing body of social knowledge that we’re all generating every day, with our digital footprints & activities.

Until then – enjoy your Winter & get your hygge on!

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For many of us (myself included) 2016 has been an unsettling year. It’s also been a time of great opportunity – and international expansion of our business.

2017 will be a time to dig deep, and find the grit and resilience to forge ahead and make a positive difference in the world, no matter the circumstances.  Always remember – we are #StrongerTogether.

Shalom – may peace be with you as we say goodbye to 2016, and hello to the coming year, filled with uncertainty and promise.

The post Shalom appeared first on Amy Jo Kim.

In my work as a game designer and coach, I help brilliant entrepreneurs from all around the world innovate smarter and faster with Game Thinking. Today, I’m shining a spotlight on these amazing people – and sharing with you the one key quality that sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the crowd.

My clients are a constant source of inspiration and learning. Their feedback has transformed my Game Thinking toolkit into a proven, solid system. I’m deeply gratified by their success using this system to design lasting engagement and accelerate product/market fit.

One striking quality shared by ALL my successful clients is a willingness to be wrong, learn quickly, and keep going.  I see this on the front lines – up close and personal – and lemme tell you – not everyone can absorb challenging customer feedback quickly and ego-free. It’s a crucial and under-valued skill that separates the breakthroughs from the also-rans.

One resilient entrepreneur whose rocked the Game Thinking toolkit is Robin Yang. Robin and her team had built an award-winning prototype for a musical hardware toy. She used Game Thinking to test and validate their idea. As she mobilized and interviewed her passionate early customers, she discovered that her simple prototype would need substantial development and financing to delight these customers – plus she’d need to add manufacturing expertise to her team.

Although it was tough to absorb, Robin listened hard – and after some soul-searching, decided to double-down on her core expertise and pursue game-like software products rather than building a hardware business. Robin is now a certified Game Thinking coach, and the lead Product Manager at CodeCombat, an education startup building coding skills through games.

Another smart, resilient entrepreneur I love working with is Dr. Candis Best – an educator turned startup CEO who’s building a mentoring network to increase graduation rates for low-income community college students. Candis used Game Thinking to re-design her existing product around the habits and needs of her early customers.

Although she’d invested months of engineering into her existing infrastructure, Candis was willing to test her assumptions, listen to her customers, and re-focus her efforts on a high-value, low-friction mobile app that her target audience would actually use. Candis is currently developing her app, and running a pilot study in partnership with New York City College.

And then there’s Megan Mahdavi — a savvy social entrepreneur who’s pioneering a new model of SAAS data services that leverage young talent in developing countries.  While working a full-time job, Megan used Game Thinking to validate her idea and mobilize her early customers. When she got negative feedback from her core audience, Megan was initially disheartend – but she quickly realized that she needed to re-target her efforts on a different cohort and develop her core service offering.

Megan is now CEO of Sunreach, a fast-growing data services company. She’s realizing her dream by training smart young people in Haiti and Palestine to become Salesforce engineers – and growing a truly global company.

Want more? Join us online Wed Dec 14 at 9 AM PT for a FREE live Webinar featuring these entrepreneurs and their stories.

CLICK HERE to grab your seat

The post How 3 smart entrepreneurs found product/market fit with Game Thinking appeared first on Amy Jo Kim.

Today – on Thanksgiving 2016 – I’m feeling grateful for my family, my health, and my ability to learn and grow. I had an enlightening conversation today with a relative on the “other side” politically – it wasn’t easy, but I survived – and learned something in the process. I think he did as well (at least I hope so).  And then my awesome 20-something nephew Zac wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. and reminded me to “keep an open mind and an open heart.” YES.

I’m doing my best to listen, learn and stay open. Sending you light, love and gratitude on this day – enjoy what’s right around you. Shalom.

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4 PM Nov 8th, 2016  This is an eerie moment in a tumultuous election cycle. The ceaseless news stories – each more outrageous than the last – have finally ground to a halt.  My Twitter feed is overflowing with happy, relived smiles of people who’ve voted. PantsSuit Nation is alive with deeply moving stories about women finding their voice, often in difficult circumstances.

We’re on the edge of our seats, waiting for the results to come in – hoping for the best.  In this quiet moment, I’m feeling profoundly grateful for the progress we’ve made so far — and excited that my pre-teen daughter — who’s never known a president other than Obama – might grow up seeing that women are – of course! – powerful leaders who can solve problems, find solutions and build bridges. Not perfect angels – not “window dressing” – just smart, effective and capable people who get recognized for their gifts. #HOPE

9 AM Nov 9th: I was wrong — sadly, badly, bigly wrong. It was heartbreaking to watch the light go out of my daughter’s eyes this morning when I told her the election news. #HOPE has been replaced by fear & anger. We are not as far along as a country as I’d wished for.  Onward into uncertainty…

10 AM Nov 9th: It’s now clear that Clinton won the popular vote but lost the electoral college. Just like Gore vs Bush in 2000.  This makes me feel less alone. My people are still out there – they haven’t disappeared – but it’s clearer than ever that we are deeply divided as a country. I’m still taking it all in, and wrestling to understand what this means. And most of all – I’m re-focusing my efforts today on the areas where I actually have the power to make change and create happiness.

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If you’re creating games, products, apps or services and embrace a lean/agile mindset. you already know that developing and play-testing your idea with potential customers is pivotal to your success.

But here’s the thing: it’s not always clear exactly WHO you should be testing your ideas on, as you’re bringing your product to life. Which customers should you solicit feedback from early-on? What about validating ideas – who should you pay attention to when there’s conflicting feedback? And as you get closer to launch, how should your play-testing strategy change?

Concentric Rings of Play-testing

Most product creators start out by testing their ideas, sketches and prototypes with a small, trusted circle of people – e.g. the team and department that’s building the product – to bring the basics to life and get early feedback. Next, they’ll open it up to a broader circle – such as friends and family, or a limited closed Beta test. After that, they’ll  focus on connecting with their ideal customers – their Early Majority – as they launch and expand their product.

These Concentric Rings of play-testing are common in product and game development – and many products are launched this way.  But there’s something missing in this progression – something that’s common to the most successful innovators – the ones that produce breakthrough hits like eBay, Ultima Online, the Sims,  Rock Band, Happify, Covet Fashion and Slack.

This missing ingredient can be your secret weapon – a powerful resource that informs your design and super-charges your product development. IF you manage it right.

Build & Leverage a Superfan Community

The secret ingredient behind so many innovative hits is a Super-fan Community – a small group of vetted, high-need early customers who provide ongoing input, and help bring the product to life. Smart product creators engage these people early in development – and continue to leverage their input and energy throughout development.

Your super-fans are NOT your “target market”- they’re a higher-need and further-ahead slice. Think of them as a proxy for where your “early majority” might be in a few months or years.

We know from Innovation Diffusion Theory — and it’s well-known descendent. Crossing the Chasm – that innovators NEED to find and delight their early-adopter market before trying to win over the early majority. The startup graveyard is littered with companies who’s tried to skip over that step – and failed.

Successful innovators understand that they need to work with their Super-fans early in development — and then shift towards understanding the mainstream players later, during launch and expansion. They add “super-fans” to their Concentric Rings play-tesitng plan, as shown here — and then leverage that resource to super-charge their path to product/market fit.

Key Ingredients for your Superfan Community

To harness the power of your early passionate customers to build a better product, try inviting them into a small, focused group where you talk with them, learn from them — and listen to them talking with each other.  If you want to build a high-value super-fan community that will enhance your product development, you’ll need three key ingredients:

1. vetted super-fans – AKA high-value, high-need early customers
2. group gathering place – using a tool that your super-fans are comfortable with
3. lightweight community management – based on the Lead/Listen/Learn framework

Intrigued? Come to our FREE Webinar this Tuesday October 25 at 9 AM PST
Build your Super-fan Community: 5 Key Questions that reveal your ideal customers.

During this training, you’ll learn how to find the right super-fans, select a convenient group gathering place, and run a lively and focused community that keeps your super-fans engaged – AND provides ongoing high-value feedback to your development team.

To learn more and signup for this FREE Webinar, CLICK HERE. Hope to see you at the event!

The post What’s the missing ingredient in your lean product strategy? appeared first on Amy Jo Kim.

This past Spring, I taught an online Masterclass in Game Thinking. Among dozens of students, one shining star was Vinayek Joglekar – the co-founder of Synerzip, a global tech outsourcing company. Vinayek is a smart serial entrepreneur — and he used our design system to validate and test an innovative new Synerzip project, with GREAT results.

Now it’s full-circle time. Tomorrow — on Wednesday, October 19 at 11 AM – I’m delighted to partner with Vinayek’s company Synerzip and offer an introduction to #GameThinking. If you wanna learn 3 powerful techniques that can 10X your product discovery – you’re welcome to join us for this short, informative webinar.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & SIGNUP

Vinayek was able to save months of time, and learn powerful new techniques that he’ll continue to use to innovate faster and smarter. If you want to learn more about his experience with Getting2Alpha – and get a preview of what you’ll learn in the Webinar – check out this “sneak peek” of his Case Study interview.

The post [Webinar] Build a faster MVP with Game Thinking appeared first on Amy Jo Kim.

I just got back from 2 weeks of overseas travel – doing Game Thinking workshops in Budapest & Singapore. It was inspiring to meet so many smart, creative entrepreneurs and product leaders – and SO gratifying to empower them with our Game Thinking Toolkit. Look at those smiling – and exhausted – post-workshop faces!  I work ’em hard – and they love it

If you’re curious about how Game Thinking can help you innovate faster and smarter – check out this handy overview we just put together of our design coaching services. We work virtually (and successfully) with clients worldwide to super-charge product/market fit, and offer both private & group programs.  CLICK HERE to learn more about our coaching services

Aaaaand… we’re bringing Game Thinking to San Francisco!  In early 2017, I’ll be hosting a LIVE 2-day Game Thinking Masterclass, in partnership with Gaming Business Review. This is a great opportunity to master the basics of Game Thinking, and apply our powerful toolkit to your project with hands-on guidance. We’ll enhance your learning with powerful online materials, and numerous case studies from happy clients – people who’ve built games, apps, services and tools with Game Thinking. I hope you’ll join us – it’s going to be a high-impact, high-learning event. Stay tuned for dates & details. 

We’ll be offering exclusive early-bird discounted rates to our subscribers – so if you want IN on this, signup below to get weekly Game Thinking tips plus special deals on programs & events. 

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