Level design, incitement systems, feedback loops: designer game as an entrepreneurial compass
An idea that germinates between two parts
It is in a Parisian cafe, a spring morning, that Julien, thirty -something with contagious energy, scribbles on his notebook. His startup does not yet exist, but he already knows how he wants to build it: “like a video game”.
Not a hollow metaphor. Julien is not only an occasional player: he spent hundreds of hours on The Legend of Zelda, Factorio or Civilization. And for him, entrepreneurship is a series of levels to be crossed, puzzles to solve and mechanics to be balanced.
“In a good game, we don’t explain everything. We give you a framework, a goal, then let you explore, make mistakes, understand the system. A company is the same: you create a world in which your team will evolve, and you adjust the rules so that everyone wants to go to the end ”he says, stirring his coffee.
This vision – create a business as we create a game – might seem whimsical. However, behind the formula hides a precise discipline: the game design, the art of conceiving the rules, objectives, incentives and returns which transform an experience into a captivating adventure.
The company’s “level design”: the challenge
In a design game, level design consists in designing environments that guide the player, balance the difficulty and maintain interest.
Transposed to the entrepreneurial world, it is the art of structuring the progression of teams and customers.
1/ Build the world map
A good game starts with a coherent universe. In the company, this corresponds to vision and values. These are not just sentences on a website: these are tags that allow employees to find their way. Without a clear card, difficult to know where to place the next goal.
2/ Manage the difficulty curve
A player who succeeds at the first time is bored; A constantly failed player abandons. An employee, a partner or a customer works like this. The entrepreneur who thinks in Level Designer knows how to dose the challenges. The first “levels” must be affordable to give confidence, but with just enough resistance to be rewarding.
3/ Multiply the paths
Good games offer several ways to achieve a goal. In the company, this means avoiding the rigidity of the processes. Leave a margin of initiative to the teams, as a player chooses to face a boss head -on or to avoid it by exploring a secondary path.
A former Ubisoft designer, converted into the startup advice, sums up:
“When you understand a mission in a game, you think of the blocked player, the curious player and the fast player. In a box, it’s the same: your employees and customers do not all have the same rate or the same motivations. Level design is used to orchestrate that. »»
Incittar systems: invisible currency
In a video game, each player’s action is guided by incentives: get a reward, unlock a skill, access a new area … It is not only “carrot”: it is a finely thought out system.
1/ Tangible and intangible awards
In the company, the tangible reward is salary, bonus, promotion. But the most powerful are often intangible: recognition, feeling of accomplishment, belonging to a community.
Game studios know that a virtual badge can motivate as much as a legendary weapon. An entrepreneur who masters this logic knows that a word of congratulations in a meeting, or an opportunity to present an internal project, can have a huge impact.
2/ The rhythm of the awards
In the video game, we alternate micro-rewards (parts, experience, a bonus) and macro-renounceds (pass a level, defeat a boss). A company that only gives annual objectives may discourage. The incitement must be punctuated: small frequent victories, large rarer achievements.
3/ The risks of “grind”
The game designers know that making a player “farm” too long end up breaking the commitment. In business, it is the equivalent of the employee who continues repetitive tasks without seeing the overall meaning. The reward loop must therefore be calibrated to avoid wear.
Feedback loops: learn while playing
Feedback is the oxygen of the player. A game that gives no return to the action leaves the player lost. A game that gives too much becomes noisy. In the company, it’s the same.
1/ immediate and delayed feedback
In a good game, each action has an instant return: a sound, a visual effect, a change on the screen. The company can do the same: a quick “thank you”, a message on Slack, a dashboard that shows the impact of work. But you also need a delayed, more global feedback: the quarterly review, the balance sheet of a project.
2/ Positive and corrective feedback
A player learns as much success as a failure. But failure must be “safe”: in a game, you can start again. In business, creating spaces where error is analyzed without systematic sanction allows teams to progress faster.
3/ The feedback coming from external “players”
In a game, beta testers and the community influence evolution. In a company, customers and partners play this role. Listening to them regularly, integrating their feedback into the design of products or services is the equivalent of a patch that corrects a bug.
The traps to avoid
Applying the game design to the company does not mean “gamifying” to excess. Sticching badges and rankings everywhere can quickly turn to the gadget.
The experienced game designers know that a successful game is based on three pillars: the clarity of the rules, the coherence of the universe and the relevance of the incentives. Without these foundations, any fun mechanics become artificial.
“Danger is to transform work into permanent competition, or to reward only speed rather than quality. In a game, you can frustrate a player, he will go playing something else. In a business, he will work elsewhere “warns Julie R., Agile coach and ex-project chef in video games.
When the big bosses become games designers
Some companies have already integrated logics from video games.
- Salesforce has created “quests” to train its employees: small missions with experience points and virtual badges, integrated into a skills progression system.
- Tesla uses instant feedback in its production processes: each team sees in real time advancement and quality, just as a player sees its statistics evolve.
- Duolingo has built all its platform as a game: levels, daily objectives, progression curves … but above all a feedback loop that makes each micro-production visible.
These companies do not play for pleasure: they know that a well -designed system triggers an intrinsic motivation, the one that pushes to come back every day.
The entrepreneur as master of the game
If we push the metaphor to the end, the entrepreneur is both screenwriter, architect, referee and playmate.
- Scriptwriter: He defines the great history, the vision, the raison d’être.
- Architect (Level Designer): He shapes environments, rules, possible routes.
- Referee: it adjusts incentives and feedback to maintain balance
- Playful companion: he evolves with his “players”, agrees to change the rules if the experience becomes frustrating.
And as in a well thought out game, it is not only a question of “winning” but of ensuring that the participants want to continue to play.
A compass to navigate in uncertainty
In the permanent uncertainty that characterizes entrepreneurship, the Game Design offers a reassuring framework.
He does not promise victory, but he provides a compass:
- Always think about the experience lived by players (teams, customers, partners).
- Know how to dose the difficulty to maintain commitment.
- offer fair and motivating awards.
Install feedback loops that allow you to adjust continuously.
Julien, our entrepreneur-player, understood. A year after our meeting at the coffee, his startup has ten employees. On an office wall, a large fresco represents the “levels” crossed since the launch: completed financing, first customer, first recruitments … and below, the mention “Level 4: international opening”.
“It’s simple,” he smiles, “we’re not just working.” We are playing … but seriously. »»
