MeetLatAm 2015 - Santiago presentation about design decisions that lead to more memorable user experiences using FarmVille as an example.

1. Creating Memorable
Experiences:
Amitt Mahajan

2. 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

3. 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.)
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4. 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
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5. @AMITTM

6. 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
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7. 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
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8. @AMITTM

9. 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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10. Try to Hit All Emotions
• A variety of emotions cause conflict which
make your experience more interesting
• Sympathy, disappointment, and relief were
common themes
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11. 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
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12. Visual Design has Market-size
Impact
• Mismatched visual design can alienate a
segment of your market
• FarmVille’s art style was carefully chosen
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13. 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)
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14. Example Click-Zen
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15. Stay Playful
• Experiment and break conventions
• Sometimes it won’t work but it keeps the
experience interesting
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16. @AMITTM

17. Collaboration Creates Memories
• Users start to view your product as a way
of socializing
• Emergent gameplay will occur
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18. Follow the Community’s Lead
• Added user play-style specific features
• Makes community feel part of the process
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19. Run Regular Events
• Provides TV-like watercooler moments
• Weekly feature launches and events
– Farm of the Week
• Holiday events
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20. @AMITTM

21. 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
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22. 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

23. Thank You!
@amittm
Q & A
amitt.com