The Design Psychologist | Psychology for UX, Product, Service, Instructional, Interior, and Game Designers Why Games Work: Emotional Arcs, Flow States, and Meaningful Play (with Jesse Schell)
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Sep 29, 2025 Join veteran game designer Jesse Schell, a former Disney Imagineering creative director and CEO of Schell Games, as he dives into the impactful world of game design. Discover how games create meaningful experiences rather than just products. Jesse highlights the power of introspection for understanding users and shares insights on maintaining player flow through tension and release. Learn why gamification often misses the mark and how essential emotional arcs and playful interactions shape engaging designs applicable across various fields.
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Design For Experience First
- A game is an inert machine; its value is the experiences it generates when played.
- Designers must prioritize the intended player experience over the game's parts or technology.
Toontown: Theme Locked The Design
- While designing Toontown, the team defined the essence as play versus work and built enemies called 'cogs.'
- That theme connected with kids and parents and clarified design choices for the whole game.
Build The Toy Before Defining Goals
- Start by building a fun toy even if no goal exists yet, and observe how players make goals themselves.
- Convert a compelling toy into a game later by adding goals that support the discovered play patterns.
