The Email Game – The Key to Happy Customers At Superhuman, they make products like they are games. Most companies worry about what users want or need. But nobody needs a game to exist; there are no requirements. At Superhuman, they don’t worry about what users want or what they need; they obsess over how people feel. They practice an altogether different kind of product development. Rahul has been designing games since he was child. He started by creating paper mazes, spent his school years programming video games, and worked professionally as a game designer on RuneScape — the world’s largest free roleplaying game. You will learn: how to make products that are delightful, amazing, and magical — and which are fundamentally like games.

2. Superhuman

7. The Product-Market Fit Engine

8. Background

9. Game Design
≠
Gamification

11. Percentage of time spent drawing
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
No reward Expected reward
Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic reward:
A test of the "overjustification" hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28(1), 129-137.

12. Self-determination Theory
Intrinsic
Motivation
Inherent
drive
I do it for its
own sake
Extrinsic Motivation
Integrated
drive
Because this
is who I am
Identified
drive
Because it
matters to me
Introjected
drive
Because I said
I would
External
drive
Because you
reward me
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York: Plenum.

13. What is a game?

15. What is a game?
• A game is something you play
• A toy is something you play with
• A toy is an object you play with
• A good toy is an object that is fun to play with
• Fun is pleasant surprise

16. How do you make a good game?
1. Emotion
2. Theme
3. Surprise
4. Curiosity
5. Resonance
6. Inspiration
7. Toys
8. Flow
9. Needs
10. Judgement
11. Goals
12. Skills
13. Chance
14. Reward
15. Character
16. Physical Interface
17. Virtual Interface
18. Avatar
19. Expression
20. Pleasure
21. Interest curves
22. The Hero’s Journey

17. Emotion

20. Theme

21. Theme
1. Story
2. Aesthetics
3. Mechanics
4. Technology

28. Theme: Mechanics
100 ms
macOS
65 ms
Superhuman

29. Theme
4. Technology

30. Surprise

33. Curiosity

38. Resonance

39. fantasy ; truth

42. Love is more
important than life,
and stronger than
death.

43. I am what I do.

44. I deserve to succeed.

45. If I work hard enough,
I can achieve anything.

46. Inspiration

47. Inspiration

52. Toy

63. Never

64. Flow

65. What is flow?
1. Intense and focused concentration on the present
2. Merging of action and awareness
3. Loss of reflective self-consciousness
4. Sense of personal control
5. Distortion of temporal experience
6. Activity becomes intrinsically motivating
Nakamura, J.; Csikszentmihályi, M. (20 December 2001). "Flow Theory and Research". In C. R. Snyder Erik Wright, and Shane J. Lopez
(ed.). Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford University Press. pp. 195–206. ISBN 978-0-19-803094-2.

66. Conditions for flow
1. Knowing what to do next
2. Knowing how to do it
3. Freedom from distractions
4. Clear and immediate feedback
5. High perceived challenges and high perceived skills
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

67. FlowAnxiety
Arousal
ControlWorry
RelaxationApathy
Boredom
Skill HighLow
ChallengeHighLow

68. Conditions for flow
1. Knowing what to do next
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

73. Conditions for flow
2. Knowing how to do it
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

75. Conditions for flow
3. Freedom from distractions
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

76. Conditions for flow
4. Clear and immediate feedback
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

78. Conditions for flow
5. High perceived challenges and high perceived skills
Csikszentmihályi, M.; Abuhamdeh, S. & Nakamura, J. (2005), "Flow", in Elliot, A. (ed.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation, New
York: The Guilford Press, pp. 598–698

79. FlowAnxiety
Arousal
ControlWorry
RelaxationApathy
Boredom
Skill HighLow
ChallengeHighLow

80. FlowAnxiety
Arousal
ControlWorry
RelaxationApathy
Boredom
Skill HighLow
ChallengeHighLow

81. FlowAnxiety
Arousal
ControlWorry
RelaxationApathy
Boredom
Skill HighLow
ChallengeHighLow

82. FlowAnxiety
Arousal
ControlWorry
RelaxationApathy
Boredom
Skill HighLow
ChallengeHighLow

83. Needs

84. Self-Esteem
Achievement • Mastery
Respect • Recognition
Belonging
Friendship • Family • Physical intimacy
Safety
Security • Stability
Physiological
Food • Water • Shelter • Sleep • Warmth
Self-
Actualization
Creativity •
Purpose • Meaning

85. Self-Esteem
Achievement • Mastery
Respect • Recognition
Belonging
Friendship • Family • Physical intimacy
Safety
Security • Stability
Physiological
Food • Water • Shelter • Sleep • Warmth
Self-
Actualization
Creativity •
Purpose • Meaning

86. Self-Esteem
Achievement • Mastery
Respect • Recognition
Belonging
Friendship • Family • Physical intimacy
Safety
Security • Stability
Physiological
Food • Water • Shelter • Sleep • Warmth
Self-
Actualization
Creativity •
Purpose • Meaning

87. Judgement

88. What judgement do we crave?
1. Fair
2. Useful
3. Motivating

90. Goals

91. What are good goals?
1. Concrete
2. Achievable
3. Reinforced
4. Rewarding

92. What are good goals?
1. Concrete

93. What are good goals?
2. Achievable

94. What are good goals?
3. Reinforced

95. What are good goals?
4. Rewarding

96. Skill

97. Types of Skill
1. Physical [Dexterity, Coordination]
2. Mental [Memory, Decision Making]
3. Social [Cooperation, Competition]

98. Skills required by Superhuman
1. Triage [Mental]
2. Shortcuts [Mental, Physical]
3. Typing [Physical]
4. Focus [Mental]
5. Brevity [Mental, Social]
6. Empathy [Social]
7. Persuasion [Social]
8. …

100. Chance

101. Reward

102. Reward
1. Praise
2. Points
3. Spectacle
4. Expression
5. Powers
6. Status
7. Completion

103. Character

104. rahul@superhuman.com
rahul@superhuman.com
rahul@superhuman.com
rahul@superhuman.com
rahul@superhuman.com
rahul@superhuman.com
Character

105. Physical Interface

108. Virtual Interface

111. Avatar

113. The Rules of Focus
1. There should always be precisely one focus
2. It should always be obvious where your focus is
3. You should be able to move your focus with the arrow keys
4. You should be able to move your focus anywhere
5. You should never be able to lose your focus

114. Expression

117. Pleasure

118. Types of Pleasure
1. Sensation
2. Fantasy
3. Narrative
4. Challenge
5. Fellowship
6. Discovery
7. Expression
8. Submission
"MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research". Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek.

119. Other Types of Pleasure
1. Anticipation
2. Completion
3. Schadenfreude
4. Gifting
5. Humor
6. Possibility
7. Naches
8. Thrill
9. Fiero
10.Wonder

120. Interest Curves

121. Interest Curves
Time
Interest
Hook Rising Interest
Grand Finale

123. The Hero’s Journey

124. The Hero’s Journey
The Ordinary World
(e.g. running a startup)
The Special World
(e.g. the pits of my inbox)
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting the Mentor
5. Crossing the Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach
8. The Ordeal
9. The Reward
10. The Road Back
11. The Resurrection
12. Return with Elixir

125. How do you make a good game?
1. Emotion
2. Theme
3. Surprise
4. Curiosity
5. Resonance
6. Inspiration
7. Toys
8. Flow
9. Needs
10. Judgement
11. Goals
12. Skills
13. Chance
14. Reward
15. Character
16. Physical Interface
17. Virtual Interface
18. Avatar
19. Expression
20. Pleasure
21. Interest curves
22. The Hero’s Journey

126. rahul@superhuman.com
@rahulvohra