Journey Design Services
Build engaging experiences & habits that stick
OUR PROMISE
Nail retention & delight your customers
Have you ever shipped a working version of your product – only to discover that that customers weren’t sticking around?
Journey Design is a proven process for driving product retention – based on our work co-designing hits like The Sims, Netflix, Tetris, Bejeweled, Rock Band, Replika & Ebay.
If you want to build an engaging experience, you’re in the right place.
You’ve got to find your own window of opportunity. This is your instruction manual.
Garry Tan
CEO, Y Combinator
This program had invaluable impact on my product thinking – AND my product
Chris Swain
Professor @ USC Iovine and Young Academy
Amy Jo has a refined, effective process for bringing new ideas to life
Blair Ethington
VP @ eBay
Amy Jo’s program & insights gave me practical, tangible design skills.
Gina Bianchini
CEO, Mighty Networks
SUCCESS STORIES
Trusted by startups, studios & leading brands
Journey Design uses techniques from the games industry, where the pace of innovation is relentless, and creating a great user experience is everything.
And guess what? The same methods that make games engaging can make your product irresistible & tip the scales towards success.
Teams at Disney, Netflix, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, NYTimes & dozens of startups use Journey Design to boost retention & validate early-stage ideas faster.
Want details? Check out our Journey Design success stories.
Game Thinking is WAY better than gamification. The more I learned, the more in love I fell with it
Jared Spool
Founder, Makers of Awesomeness
PRODUCTS
Shiseido
We helped Shiseido fix retention, refine customer targeting & boost online sales for a new product
GAMES
Covet Fashion
We helped Crowdstar (now part of EA) design a hit mobile game that’s still going strong after 10+ years.
APPS
Replika
We helped AI chatbot Replika find their core audience, and boost long-term retention.
Want results like this?
Finally, I have a method to track innovation projects & help my team build hits
George Ogbonnaya
VP @ First City Monument Bank
I got powertools to validate my idea & find product/market fit
Myriam Pauillac
Founder @ Anaphore
Game Thinking gets FAR better results for our clients than Gamification
Jaxton Cheah
Gamification Coach
THE PROCESS
How we deliver results
After working with dozens of startups, we’ve learned that fastest way to boost retention is to design a product journey based on customer needs, then validate your end-to-end Journey with lo-fi storyboards. To do this, you need to:
- identify & recruit your ideal high-need customers
- design a compelling customer journey & habit loop
- prototype your ideas with no-code end-to-end Storyboards
- test your ideas with ideal customers using those storyboards
But let’s face it — most teams don’t have the resources to do this. That’s why we created the Journey Design Sprint — a 4-Phase process for designing & validating an engaging Product Journey.
1. DISCOVERY
Focus on your ICP & what they need
The first step is to find out whether there’s a real market for your product idea, and which customer needs or pain points you should address.
2. DESIGN
Create an experience that fits their lifestyle
The next step is to design a highly engaging product journey, built on existing habits, that helps customers make consistent progress toward their goals.
3. STORYBOARDING
Prototype your end-to-end Product Journey
To prototype & tune retention, prototype your end-to-end journey with storyboards. They complement your prototypes & help you spot broken moments before your users do.
4. VALIDATION
Test your Product Journey alongside your prototypes
Once you’ve prototyped your journey, you can run playtests with your ICP & find out whether you’re on the right path. This allows you to spot the broken moments BEFORE your users do.
This program changed how we design; it delivers powerful insights fast
Kacie Hsu
Research Director @ EA
This program helped me figure out & deliver what customers truly need
Tiago Sizenando
Gamification Expert
This program saved my team months of time. Incredible value
Vinayak Joglekar
CTO @ Excellerate
Who we are
UX, game design & innovation experts 👋🏽
Amy Jo Kim
Game designer & startup coach
I’ve helped hundreds of product leaders bring ideas to life – co-designed Rock Band, The Sims, eBay, Covet Fashion, & Happify – run & sold a venture-funded startup.
Now I help innovative teams & leaders find product/market fit faster & delight customers with high-retention products & games.
Scott Kim
Educational game designer
I’m a game designer specializing in puzzles & education games. I created the puzzle modes on Tetris & Bejeweled as well as helped to create adaptive math game Mastering Math for education giant ABCmouse.com.
I’d love to help you build more entertaining & effective product & games.
WORK WITH US
Which level of service is right for you?
Build a high-retention journey for your product.
In the Journey Design Sprint, we’ll design, prototype & test your end-to-end product experience.
TIMELINE: 6-12 weeks
Get feedback & advice on your product journey
Our Journey Design Audit helps you build a high-retention journey with expert advice & feedback.
TIMELINE: 1-2 weeks
Level up your team with AI-powered design techniques
We offer public & private workshops with Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. – game designer & startup coach.
TIMELINE: 1-2 days
WANT TO work with us?
Book a Call
Interested in our Journey Design services?
Let’s chat & determine how we can help you succeed.
Send a message
Got a specific question or request?
Send us a quick message with your request and questions.
This program made me a better, more strategic product maker
Ian Brand
Product Innovation @ General Motors
This program got everyone on the same page, testing our assumptions
Allison Kelsey
Director of Product @ Geocaching
Now I can do research much earlier & set my teams up for success
Bonnie Chiurazzi
Director Market Insights, Glassdoor
HANDS-ON TRAINING FOR YOUR TEAM
Simulate your User Journey
Learn how to design engaging product experiences with the 4-step Journey Design system – then use these lessons to simulate your product experience with JourneyMaker.
ADVANCED TRAINING & IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
Master the System
In this accelerated training program, you’ll learn how to design, iterate & build an engaging product that wins your market, and get feedback & support as you build & iterate your journey.
EXPERT-LED COACHING FOR SENIOR LEADERS
Mastermind Group for Product Leaders
Want customized coaching & peer feedback? Take your product leadership skills to the next level – get the Game Thinking Edge.
World-Class Support
Get insights from our world-class VIP mentors
Cindy Alvarez
Victor Asemota
Siqi Chen
Laura Burkhauser
Brendan Greene
Celia Hodent
Chelsea Howe
Charles Hudson
Jon Lai
Mike Maples Jr.
Bob Moesta
Marc Pincus
Jesse Schell
Jared Spool
Garry Tan
Kevin Werbach
What we can do for you?
Let us know what you’re trying to achieve.
We’re excited to support your success
Want to use Jobs-To-Be-Done to build the right product? You’re in good hands with Amy Jo
Bob Moesta
Founder, ReWired Group