Product Breakthrough Services

We help startups, game studios & global brands
design breakthrough products

Turn your innovative idea into success

If you’re in the early stages of product design & development, we can boost your chances of success. We’ll help you make meaningful breakthroughs and accelerate your innovation progress by target these questions:

1 is my product really what customers want

DISCOVERY

Who are my core customers?

Find out whether there’s a real market for your product (idea) and which needs or problems it should address.

We’ll help you find a small group of ideal, high-need customers who will give you clarity on your product and your market.

DESIGN

How will my product fit into my customer’s life?

Understand how your product will fit within people’s daily lives and what it’s going to help them achieve.

We’ll help you design the core product experience and map out your customer’s journey.

STORYBOARDING

How can I get customers to keep using my product?

Identify the important elements that will keep customers engaged over time.

We’ll help you prototype and visualize your 30-day customer experience.

VALIDATION

How can I test my idea before building it?

Learn from your ideal customers and find out whether you’re on the right path.

We’ll help you set up and run insightful tests with the right people.

We’ve helped dozens of innovative teams answer these questions in record time…and we can help you too.

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

This program had invaluable impact on my product thinking – AND my product

Chris Swain

Professor @ USC Iovine and Young Academy

How we deliver product breakthroughs

You don’t have to build working software or high-fidelity designs to get reliable customer feedback.

There’s a better way.

It’s called the Product Breakthrough Method.

The Product Breakthrough Method delivers actionable customer insights about your product in weeks with minimal sunk cost in code or design. We help you move faster with

Templates
Proprietary Gen-AI Platform
Expert Coaching
Professional Creative Serivces

If you’re ready to accelerate, we’re excited to deliver you results 🚀

TEMPLATES minimize guesswork

Over the years, we’ve developed powerful templates that enable a laser-focused approach to innovation.

Our templates minimize guesswork, save valuable time, and consistently deliver successful insights and outcomes.

Discovery

Pitch Maker: Define who you’re serving & what they need
Niche Finder: Discover the key traits of a high-need niche
Screener Builder: Draft your 6-question Screener Survey

Design

Habit Synthesizer: Identify relevant Habit Stories
Loop Builder: Design a sticky Habit Loop
Journey Crafter: Describe your customer’s goals during 4 stages

Storyboard

Beat Shaper: Identify key Story Beats in your end-to-end journey
Persona Creator: Define how customers will engage with your product over time
Storyboard Builder: Visualize key “beats” in a 30-day experience

Validation

Playtest Planner: Create & run high-learning concept tests
Insight Clipper: Collect video clips illustrating your key insights & findings
Brief Builder: Summarize what you learned & next steps

GEN-AI PLATFORM does the heavy lifting

When you’re building a new product, speed counts. That’s why we developed the JourneyMaker, our AI-powered platform that automates many of the most difficult and time-consuming steps in early product research and development. JourneyMaker helps you:

Write targeted customer surveys
Extract patterns from customer interview transcripts
Generate customer journey storyboards

EXPERT COACHING provides support & guidance

Receive expert feedback & guidance with your project from Amy Jo Kim as well as from other project teams during a 12-week program.

We’ll guide you through the complete end-to-end process and teach you the inner workings of the Product Breakthrough Method.

You and your team will be equipped and confident to execute the steps and make incredible progress in just 3 months time!

Breakthrough Coaching

Gain product/market insights that cut product development costs
Perform months worth of work in just weeks
Meaningfully boost your chances of success

PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE SERVICES make us part of your team

For companies and teams that value more direct involvement from us, we also provide the Product Breakthrough Method as a bespoke service.

During 12 weeks, Amy Jo Kim and her team will work hand in hand with your team on your product.

We’ll be available to you and your team at every step, helping you get the most out of the Product Breakthrough Method.

Breakthrough Creative Services

Execute the steps from the Product Breakthrough Method with the experts right by your side
Exclusive focus and attention from Amy Jo Kim and her team on your product and project
Significantly boost your chances of success

Finally, I have a method to track innovation projects & help my team build hits

George Ogbonnaya

VP @ First City Monument Bank

Now I can do research much earlier & set my teams up for success

Bonnie Chiurazzi

Director Market Insights, Glassdoor

I was amazed at how quickly we found our ideal target customers. This stuff works.

Robin Allenson

CEO & Founder, Similar.ai

Trusted By Startups & Leading Brands

Successful product teams at Disney, Netflix, Tesla, Google, MTV, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and the New York Times, as well as teams at startups, have used Game Thinking to bring their ideas to life faster and smarter.

The Product Breakthrough Method is a proven innovation method that we’ve developed, applied and refined for many years. The method, process and tools have consistently delivered key insights and meaningful breakthroughs.

The method is powerful and versatile. It has proven effective across different sectors and product categories. Our clients work in automotive, beauty, education, entertainment, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology.

Read about how companies have applied the Product Breakthrough Method to set their product up for success.

How can we help you?

CTA

Case Studies

Read about how companies have applied the Product Breakthrough Method to set their product up for success.

Products

Shiseido

After an initial failed product launch, the cosmetics giant turned to the Product Breakthrough Method to tune their product and find success.

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Games

Covet Fashion

Using the Product Breakthrough Method, Crowdstar were able to design and create a hit mobile game that’s still going strong after 10+ years.

Apps

Happify

Thanks to insights gained through the Product Breakthrough Method, Happify became a market-leading digital mental health app.

Testimonials

Hear from product leaders on how the Product Breakthrough Method has helped them in their endeavors.

Amanda Taylor

Senior Researcher

Dylan Watkins

VR / AR Developer

Eugenia Kuyda

CEO @ Replika

This program is magic for entrepreneurs searching for product/market fit

Candis Best

CEO @ Learningateway

This program saved my team months of time. Incredible value

Vinayak Joglekar

CTO @ Excellerate

This program changed how we design; it delivers powerful insights fast

Kacie Hsu

User Research @ Jam City

Work with us. And see results fast.

When you work with us, you’ll benefit from proven techniques, tools, and templates that will accelerate your team’s progress. Our Product Breakthrough Method delivers valuable product/market insights that will save you money and meaningfully boost your chances of success.

We offer three levels of service:

Product Breakthrough Bootcamp — for beginners

In this 5-day learning experience, you’ll be introduced to the techniques, tools and templates of the Product Breakthrough Method. You’ll then be able to apply these to your own project yourself.

Product Breakthrough Coaching — get help every step of the way

During this 12-week program, you and your team will learn how to use the techniques, tools and templates of the Product Breakthrough Method. We’ll meet weekly to provide coaching, support and guidance.

Product Breakthrough Creative Services — our premiere service

At the top end, we are able to help apply all the techniques, tools and templates of the Product Breakthrough Method, exclusively for your project. You and your team will receive direct support, feedback and guidance to ensure you obtain the optimal results.

The Product Breakthrough Method in a nutshell

Get your product development on the right track by asking the right questions and finding the right answers:

Find & interview a small group of ideal, high-need customers
Design a sticky habit loop and compelling journey to keep them engaged
Visualize your 30-day customer experience with storyboards
Validate your customer journey with ideal customers

Apply our techniques, tools & templates, and make a difference in just 3 months time!

Which level of service is right for you?

LEARN THE METHOD

Breakthrough Bootcamp

Learn about the techniques, tools & templates of the Product Breakthrough Method, and apply them to your own project yourself.

Audience

Ideal for founders and product leaders who are comfortable getting hands-on with the Product Breakthrough Method, or want an introduction to how the method can help them make progress.

Duration

Five days (single-week)

Timing

We only make the Bootcamp available once or twice per year.