WEBINAR The 3 Most Common Mistakes Smart Entrepreneurs Make Building their MVP

Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. co-founder, Shufflebrain

Is this you? Are you eager to:

• accelerate your early design process?

• find exactly the right early customers?

• build a compelling, stripped-down MVP?

Welcome

I’m glad you’re here

What You Will Learn Today

The 3 most common MVP mistakes

smart entrepreneurs make —

and how to avoid them

As a

child

I loved

to play

As a

child

I loved

to play

But I

didn’t

love to

compete

one night

on a beach

in Greece

my creativity

was re-ignited

I found another way to play

I developed my coop design skills

then one day, I got THE CALL

we created a breakthrough hit

which led to more breakthrough hits

and insights into Game Thinking

Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D.• Social Game Designer

• Entrepreneur

• Startup Coach

Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D.• Social Game Designer

• Entrepreneur

• Startup Coach

3 common

MVP mistakes - & how to avoid ‘em

Listening to the wrong feedback1

Early conversations can be really important. We thought we knew what the answers would be - and we were WRONG.

Jesse Schell CEO, Schell Games

building

next-generation

brain games

My Startup Journey

building a

next-generation

collaboration tool

Bob’s Startup Journey

building a

fashion game

with real brands

Covet Fashion Journey

Fashion Browser stay up-to-date on fashion trends

Co-Creator

shop & dress with a buddy

Armchair Stylist

tell other people how to dress

RESULTS3 key

activity patterns

Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore, 1991

Everett Rogers, 1961

Innovation Diffusion Theory

To cross the chasm…

Find & delight

a few passionate

early customers

the fans out there are entertaining us, the developers, with their creations!

Will Wright designer, The Sims

Find & leverage your Super Fans

Slack came to life as a collaboration tool for a distributed team building a co-op game

solve a real problem for a small group

Early adopters will put up with cost and ridicule for innovations that meet real needs.

Erika Hall Author, Just Enough Research

TIP: get early feedback from the right people

Waiting too long to prototype2

If you’ve created a game design document longer than five pages, you’re already on the wrong track.

Erin Hoffman Lead Designer, GlassLabs

DANGER

falling in love with your idea

if you can’t

prototype your

idea, you cripple

your learning

prototyping is the fast path to learning

discover what DOESN’T work

as early as possible

building a

next-generation

collaboration tool

Bob’s Startup Journey

building a

geo-centric

deals app

Bryan’s Startup Journey

building an

enterprise

SAAS product

Megan’s Startup Journey

Slack’s Startup Journey

3 years of

development as

an internal tool

Your idea is worth nothing if you can’t actually build it and test it and take it to the next step.

Katherine Isbister Game Design Professor, UCSC & NYU

TIP: prototype your idea uncomfortably early

Building the wrong MVP3

In a loop, you’re learnng a skill & updating your mental model. That’s what leads to player delight.

Dan Cook co-founder, Spry Fox

DANGER

a beautiful,

innovative,

awaard-winning

social brain game

My Journey

building

a connected

car app

Sam’s Journey

building

a collaboration tool

from the ground up

Slack’s Journey

is for Enthusiasts

Discovery

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

What is your end-to-end Customer Experience?

is for Enthusiasts

Discovery

Discovery is for VisitorsIs this right for me? What’s the value proposition?

is for EnthusiastsOnboarding is for Newbies

Discovery

Onboarding

How do I learn the ropes? When do I start getting value?

is for EnthusiastsHabit-building is for Regulars

Discovery

Onboarding

Habit-Building

What pulls me back? What am I getting better at?

is for EnthusiastsMastery is for Enthusiasts

Discovery

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

Can I leverage the skills & knowledge I’ve built?

is for Enthusiasts

Discovery

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

end-to-end customer experience

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

a conversational, extensible environment — built to enable UGC & player creativity

Slack evolves to match your skill level

Slack didn’t start with all these features

FIRST: build & test your Core Loop

Fake landing page?

Fake landing page? X

Operant Conditioning AKA Skinner Box?

Operant Conditioning AKA Skinner Box? X

Skill-building =

making customers more awesome

Skill-building =

making customers more awesome

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

Find the fun in your Core Loop FIRST

Wanna build long-term engagement?

Finding the fun in a co-op music game

PartyTime! urge for a fun social activity

Play a Song Together

Get your Score, Accolades, $$

get better, play harder songs & bigger venues

Core Loop

Feedback & Progress

Investment Path

Activity

Internal Trigger

Beat the Song

Engaged Trigger

Skill-building =

making customers more awesome

Core Loop =

making customers more skillful

It’s okay to test things that don’t look very good but have the right play mechanics. If my game’s really ugly and it’s still fun, I’m in good shape.

Jesse Schell CEO, Schell Games

TIP: build & iterate your Core Loop

How to avoid common MVP mistakes

Customer Insights Funnel

gather Actionable Insights on your ideas from the right early customers

is for Enthusiasts

Discovery

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

Think through your end-to-end customer experience

Customer Narrative

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

Create & Iterate your Core Loop

Skill-building Core Loop

Bring your ideas to life with Game Thinking

Game Thinking Roadmap

Amy Jo helped us create our MVP in record time. An invaluable investment that’s still paying off.

Ranan Lachman CEO, Pley

How can YOU benefit from Game Thinking?

Accelerate & focus your design process +

Identify & leverage the right early customers +

Build a stripped-down yet compelling MVP

Start Date: Jan 11 2016

MVP Design Club high-impact VIP coaching for product teams

getting2alpha.com/club30% discount for attendees who sign up by Fri 1/8/2016

let’s stay in touch @amyjokim

amyjokim.com

getting2alpha.com