In this Topical Zoom episode I speak with Amy Jo Kim, world-renowned social game designer, community architect & startup coach about gamification, game thinking and mistakes startups make. She specifically talks about a reason why we see so many failed products in the market.
Many companies use “game”in their products. The word we hear a lot is “gamification”. On the other hand, there are aspects of games that can really be used to make long-term engaging products. Game Thinking is a term that our guest uses to describe this. In this episode, we speak about:
- How does Gamification differ from Game Thinking.
- Biggest mistakes companies make that leads to failed products in the market.
- Daily routine of my guest that helps her work from her home office.
- My guest’s definition of success
Who is Amy Jo Kim?
Amy Jo Kim helps entrepreneurs & innovators 10X their product/market fit with Game Thinking. Named by Fortune as one of the 10 most influential women in games, Amy Jo is a world-renowned social game designer, community architect & startup coach. Her design credits include Rock Band, The Sims, eBay, Netflix, Covet Fashion, indiegogo, nytimes.com, Ultima Online, Happify, Pley and numerous startups.
She pioneered the idea of applying game design to digital services, and is well known for her 2000 book, Community Building on the Web. She holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Washington (along with a BA in Experimental Psychology) and is an adjunct Game Design professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
What you will learn – Failed Products, Game Thinking and more!
Continued from Episode 130
- What is the difference between gamification and game thinking?
- You’ve worked with some of the biggest companies and many startups too. What are the 3 biggest mistakes you’ve seen these companies make when it comes to building engaging products?
- Let’s talk about you. You do so many different things – coach, train and consult. How does your typical day look like? Do you have a morning routine?
- How do you look at success? What is that one thing that you think, has made you successful as a product maker?
Useful Links
- Amy Jo Kim on the interwebs
- Amy Jo’s book
- Community Design For The Web (Click here to Buy on Amazon)
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Getting Started & Resources
- Tiny Book Of Triggers for actionable triggers to learn fresh new Product Management & Design skills & more. (click here to download)
- Get Started with Design Your Thinking (click here)
- Handpicked Resources (click here)
