How To Design a Fun Product
Who doesn’t like fun products?
Using them feels like a game.
It’s rewarding, satisfying, and addictive.
Imagine people describing your product with these same words.
Unfortunately, most people believe their product shouldn’t be fun.
Because…
“…this is not a game, it’s a serious business.”
- it’s inappropriate
- we don’t want to be a laughing stock
- it will get in the way of doing “real work”
- I can’t imagine [insert boring product] being fun
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can make any product feel fun without compromising your authority while delivering even more value for your customers.
Here’s how.
1. Deliver the feeling of impact
Make sure when customers are using your product that their actions have an impact.
Their effort has visible and/or auditory consequences. Consequences should be proportional to the effort. Introduce randomness to keep them guessing.
Examples: Progress bars, likes, number of followers, sound effects, client testimonials, scoreboards.
2. Make it a part of a challenge
State the end goal and add a few simple rules. Acknowledge the difficulty up front, and provide feedback on how well your customer is doing.
Examples: 30-day writing challenge, 10K run, vegan for a month, fill out the survey, get a gift card.
3. Layer a story or theme
Come up with a story or a theme your customer dreams about being a part of. Make sure you give them the hero role and the bragging rights.
Examples: Nerd fitness, Business of Purpose, Comic-Con, Fortune 500, Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Using these 3 levers your product can turn into serious fun.
Use in moderation. Double down on one theme and let the other two follow.