Summary
You’ve probably heard a bit about “gamification”: how you can transform obligatory tasks into “fun” motivational ramps using techniques from games. Most of this is wrong! Behavioral science gets us a bit closer, but this session will focus on deep game design techniques that the video game world uses to generate lasting, rather than superficial, motivation. We’ll also dive into creative collaboration techniques used in game development to wrangle talent, the better to create awesome products.
Key Insights
-
•
Online games differ significantly from boxed AAA games by evolving through extended beta periods with real players, enabling live product iteration.
-
•
Game development teams are relatively small and cross-functional, typically under 200 people even for AAA products, fostering close collaboration.
-
•
Player communities in online games are hyperconnected and highly engaged, demanding strict consistency and rapid developer response to maintain immersion.
-
•
Game worlds and organizations behave as complex ecosystems with reinforcing and balancing feedback loops affecting stability and growth.
-
•
Donella Meadows’ concept of leverage points helps designers understand which system changes produce minor versus radical effects on the ecosystem.
-
•
Emergence arises from independent individual actions creating a larger collective behavior, such as schools of fish or organizational culture.
-
•
Failures of empathy between developers and players or among players themselves can cause online worlds to collapse rapidly.
-
•
High turnover or leadership changes risk destabilizing complex systems by disrupting important social and operational loops.
-
•
Design leaders must embrace vulnerability and emotional openness to build trust and cohesion in hyperconnected, highly inspected environments.
-
•
Storytelling and universal mythic themes provide a powerful medium to communicate organizational values and unify culture across diversity.
Notable Quotes
"Being delightful is the only thing that a video game does. It has no other purpose."
"We often say keep the big picture in mind and the devil’s in the details—system design bridges these two opposing needs."
"Ecosystems have reinforcing loops that can be out of control, like algae in a fish tank, and balancing loops that maintain equilibrium."
"Changing low leverage points in a system produces fine tuning, but shifting high leverage points can cause radical disruption."
"When organizations have regime change, shifting high leverage points can cause catastrophic effects, sometimes destructive and unintended."
"Emergence is a property where individual independent actions create a collective behavior like a school of fish moving together."
"Our players are hyperconnected and talking on Discord in real time, which spreads information lightning fast."
"Failures of empathy between developers and community can collapse online worlds just as quickly as technical failures."
"In a hyperconnected world, design leadership is under constant personal inspection, making kindness and empathy really hard."
"You can ask yourself what your organization’s fairy tale is—what universal myth you tell to tie people together."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Good design is good business."
Doug PowellClosing Keynote: Design at Scale
November 8, 2018
"Middle schoolers might ask you tough questions about release forms and how their data will be used."
Mila Kuznetsova Lucy DentonHow Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices
March 9, 2022
"In Toronto it’s now illegal to transmit a Wi-Fi signal in designated public spaces, with penalties for violations—a policy driven by people wanting to unplug from digital life."
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"You can’t really advocate for UX or move an organization forward without interacting with your team and business colleagues."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Think of AI as an additional team member pushing your creative thinking and expanding your idea range."
Alnie FigueroaThe Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft
September 10, 2025
"Every board member can interpret an NPS score differently depending on their role and responsibilities."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"Every workaround is a mini story of somebody overcoming an obstacle."
Emily EagleCan't Rewind: Radio and Retail
June 3, 2019
"Keep a pulse on your team morale because re-platforming journeys can either enrich or burn out your people."
Malini RaoLessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey
June 9, 2021
"I learned to be relentless about prioritization and to hone in on specific details and use cases."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023