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Who Am I?
• Serial Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
• Founder/CTO of MyMiniLife (FarmVille tech)– Acquired by Zynga in 2009
• Created and launched FarmVille with Zynga– Lead development team from 2009-2010
• Founder/CEO of Toro– SaaS growth hacking products
– Acquired by Google in 2015
@AMITTM
Why Focus on the User?
• Higher engagement & retention
• Greater word of mouth distribution (NPS)
• Delighted users have a higher chance of becoming paying customers
• Foundation of some very successful companies (Amazon, Google, Uber, etc.)
@AMITTM
A Brief History of FarmVille
• Launched the game in June 2009
• 1M daily active users after 4 days
• Peak of 32M daily active users
• Grossed over $1B in revenue
@AMITTM
Takeaways
• Go beyond the function of your product and delight your users
• Even small moments of joy can create emotional connections to your product
• Social experiences can leave a lasting impression
• All of the above applies to products outside of games
@AMITTM
Blow Past User Expectations
• Create a product that’s not just functional
but that the user enjoys using
• Sweat small details
– FarmVille action queueing
• Anticipate user needs ahead of time
@AMITTM
Create Moments of Joy
• Random, small delights
– Zappos was known for randomly providing
free shipping
• Mysteries work really well
– What’s in the gift boxes?
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Try to Hit All Emotions
• A variety of emotions cause conflict which make your experience more interesting
• Sympathy, disappointment, and relief were common themes
@AMITTM
Find a Voice
• All of our dialog was written in a “Farmer”-slang voice; including our blog posts
• Each animal had a different personality, adding to the relaxed attitude of the game
@AMITTM
Visual Design has Market-size
Impact
• Mismatched visual design can alienate a
segment of your market
• FarmVille’s art style was carefully chosen
@AMITTM
Be Mindful of User Context
• Build your product to fit the user’s lifestyle
• In FarmVille, most users play Monday
morning at work
– Short 5-minute sessions fit this type of user
• Make it easy to get in the flow (click-zen)
@AMITTM
Stay Playful
• Experiment and break conventions
• Sometimes it won’t work but it keeps the
experience interesting
@AMITTM
Collaboration Creates Memories
• Users start to view your product as a way
of socializing
• Emergent gameplay will occur
@AMITTM
Follow the Community’s Lead
• Added user play-style specific features
• Makes community feel part of the process
@AMITTM
Run Regular Events
• Provides TV-like watercooler moments
• Weekly feature launches and events
– Farm of the Week
• Holiday events
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Don’t Let Tech Get in the Way
• Tech issues kill retention and engagement
• Pay attention to load-times & performance
• Optimize for the user with the worst setup
@AMITTM
Conclusion
• Aim to not just provide a functional product but one that’s a delight to use; moments of joy can help
• Find a voice that defines your product
• Lasting impact can be found by facilitating social experiences and involving your community
• Keep content fresh and interesting through periodic events and experimentation
@AMITTM
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