What I Took from Games to Build Better Consumer Apps

Written by Vin Sathyamoorthy , former Zynga Product Manager and a Reddit Product Director. Current proud Texan, and a member of the Deconstructor of Fun consulting team.   In 2018, I made a big transition from gaming (Zynga) to consumer apps (Reddit) - looking to leverage my understanding of daily habits, engagement loops and free-to-play monetization in a non-gaming setting.

Our team at Reddit built a number of products that would look familiar to gamers - Avatars, Premium subscriptions with digital currencies, and Marketplaces for trading digital goods.    Duolingo gets a lot of attention for borrowing engagement mechanics from games, but a number of apps do this, too: Superhuman, Strava, Snap, Classdojo and SNKRS, to name a few.   In this article, I’ll go over “5 superpowers” that Games Professionals should leverage when making the transition to consumer apps.

In my experience, these tools and skill sets are often taken for granted by Games folks - but can be eye-opening to folks who work in Consumer Apps. They are:  Design Sense Social Engagement Progression Systems Re-engagement Loops “Powers” versus “Superpowers”  Superpower #1: Design Sense A powerful value driver for any app is making frictionless, delightful experiences that drive conversion.   The Gen Z app noplace leverages “fun” and “power” elements to make social interactions delightful.

In Consumer Apps, this is called “Design Sense” or sometimes “Product Taste”. The idea is to take a craftsmanship-like approach to study the details and deliver great experiences that use all the tools in your belt - music, lights, animations, color, characters - to deliver deeply satisfying experiences. In Monopoly Go, this is the subtle haptic feedback when you’re rolling the dice.

  Twitch was ground-breaking in the consumer space for introducing “Cheers” and “Cheer Trains” that created fun, animated sequences when gift-giving on livestreaming.   Superpower #2: Social Engagement All apps want great Social Loops that drive user growth. Games had this social superpower because games are a great way for people to keep in touch.

  Consumer apps want great social loops that aren’t forced invite flows or hacky share sheets. They want experiences that are organic, add value to existing users AND add value to potential new users.   Strava creates Social Loops via Group Challenges to encourage new users to join, and accelerate the Core Loop.

Strava is a great example of a consumer app that leverages game mechanics for social and social-led growth. Mechanics like the recently introduced Group Challenges encourage users to work together to hold each other accountable. This is real value creation and creates growth by having friends work with other friends to improve each other’s health.