1. SOCIAL GAMING AND
MARKET RESEARCH
Survey Analytics
Enterprise Research Platform
Zynga
Connecting The World Through Games
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

2. Survey Analytics
Listening Systems

3. We help companies Listen...

4. Survey Analytics - Our Story
Bootstrapped
Profitable (Not as much as SurveyMonkey)
Software Developers
Stumbled into the Research Business
Young (Except for Andrew Jeavons)

5. Zynga - Our Story
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

6. Facebook
Developers
www.appdata.com
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

7. If Facebook & Zynga were
countries
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

8. If Facebook & Zynga were
countries
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

9. Why should you listen to us?
Kevin works for Zynga?
40 question surveys as a
research tool suck?
Can gaming be used for
research?
Ratings Scale Vs. Choice!

10. The 35 Minute Survey
It does not WORK
Time is MONEY
140 Characters have
changed the way we
interact
10-7-140 (TPS Reports Don’t Work Either)

11. Client-Vendor Collaboration

12. Why Zynga is excited about SA
Easy to use
Available anywhere
Randomization, branching,
piping
Real-time reporting
Max Diff Scaling
Facebook Integration
Note: Zynga uses a variety of research tools
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

13. Voice of the Player
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

14. Zynga Product Research
Usability
Surveys
Playtesting
Anonymous behavioral
aggregation
A/B Experimentation
Focus Groups
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

15. My Research Philosophy
Online, Mobile or App
Reduce interruption
Use comparison
Label all options
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

16. Max-Diff Scaling

17. Max-Diff Scaling
Population Level Vs.
Individual Level analysis

18. Max-Diff Scaling
There are K features to be
tested in total
Each user gets to see N
features at a time
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

19. Zynga Research - Learnings
Prioritize ideas &
fixes
Large Sample
Low User Investment
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

20. Go where the users are
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

21. Research has to be Easy
Yet Powerful
Keys
Rapid - Create
surveys quickly
Smart - Branching,
Randomization etc.
TimeSlicing

22. Gaming as a Service
Goals
Rules and obstacles
Feedback systems
Voluntary participation

23. Game-ification of Research
What’s the most usable
design for the checkout
process at a retail website?
1-click ordering
What’s the most usable
design for Tetris?
1-click solution? (Challenge Is Key)
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

24. Market Research ++
Measuring complicated emotions
Matching to business needs
Its not always about the fastest…
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

25. CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

26. Market Research --
Focus groups
Demographics & personality
Difficult judgments
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

27. http:/www.zynga.com/
jobs/
Marketing
Advertising Revenue Associate
Brand Manager
Director Consumer Communications
Director, Marketing Infrastructure &
Analysis
Director, Online Marketing
Email Marketing Manager
Public Relations Coordinator
Reporting Analyst
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

28. Instant Feedback
Engage users by providing
instant visual feedback
Points, Scores, Badges
They WORK!

29. Share some data
with users

30. Great Experiences are
Social
Use social metrics: NPS
Measure in environment
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

31. Vivek & Kevin’s
Voting Beats Rating
(rant...)
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

32. Netflix : 1MM Problem
Crowdsource the Prediction Algorithm
5Pt Rating Scale -- 4.6 Vs. 4.2
Discrete choice would have been better?
CONNECTING THE WORLD
THROUGH GAMES

33. IdeaScale, Digg & Marijuana

34. Reduce Cognitive Stress
KISS Principle:
Keep it Simple
Choice Over Rating
TURF, Conjoint, Max
Diff, CHAID

35. Conclusion
Hofmeyr (2007):
“In sum: we are heuristic decision makers. We may sometimes
feel that we’re agonising over a decision. But mostly we decide
fast and effectively; with minimal use of energy and little
reference to multiple attributes....”
Researchers needs to think about
Engagement

36. Questions / Comments
vivek.bhaskaran@surveyanalytics.com
kkeeker@zynga.com