Game thinking: an approach to designing engaging products that synthesizes game design, lean/agile methods, design thinking, and systems thinking into a design system.

Activities and feedback work together to engage your customers and let them know they’re on the right track. Investment is what happens when you collect, earn, customize, win, or build something you don’t want to lose. Triggers are reminders to return to the system you’re invested in. Together, all these techniques pull your customers back and

Write a mastery story about what the experts experience a few weeks in. What experience/powers/rewards/role can you offer them that leverages the skills, relationships, and knowledge they’ve built up using your system? When I [make the effort to master this system], I want [earned unlocks, powers, access, status, roles] so I can [stay engaged/have

To identify existing triggers for your product, ask yourself: In which situations is my customer most likely to seek out my product? What’s happening right before—and after—those moments? What’s the context? How does my customer feel right before—and after—using my product? What pain or itch does my product alleviate? Which emotions are driving

All these terms point to the same fundamental activity: running experiments to test and tune your product idea and value proposition. That means you’ll need to choose a specific part in your customer’s journey to start prototyping and testing.

Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it. Madeleine L’Engle, Author, A Wrinkle in Time

WHEN YOU’RE BRINGING YOUR IDEA to life and building your MVP, you need to put aside your grand visions and focus in on just a few core activities.

Product-centric triggers are designed into your product experience. The most effective ones tap into the customer’s existing emotions and habits. External triggers are environmental cues that remind you to do something, such as notifications, email, shoes by the door, or sticky notes on your laptop. Engaged triggers kick in once someone is engaged

Customer-centric triggers already exist in your customer’s experience. You learn about them through discovery research. Internal triggers are emotions, urges, or cravings your customer has, such as hunger, loneliness, excitement, anticipation, curiosity, boredom, etc. Situational triggers are transitions, rituals, and events that occur regularly,