Lessons in Digital Strategy & UX from

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Adam McCrimmon @McAtoms amccrim.com

Co-Host of WhatTheGrok Podcast!whatthegrok.com

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Director of Digital Strategy & UX!hyc.com

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Only for über nerds.

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Best Selling Game in the World Created in 1993 Over 20 Billion Cards Printed !

Over 12 Million Players Printed in 11 Languages Sold in 120 Countries !

More than 700k Sanctioned Events a year

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4 Expansions & 1,000 new unique cards created a year 14,000 Total Individual Cards !

5 Colors 20 Color Combinations !

8 Card Types 24 Creature Types 136 Keywords

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How Did I Get Here?

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Lesson 1: It’s ok to suck

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I sucked.

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A new type of failure

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CommonRationalized

This bad thing happened but it’s not totally my fault.

This bad thing happened it’s my fault & it’s not a big deal.

Budget wasn't big enough!There wasn’t enough time!Requirements kept changing

Got to work late!Forgot my lunch!Didn’t recycle that bottle

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We’ve grown accustomed to rationalized & common failure. !

We’re comfortable with it.

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Invested

This bad thing happened. !It’s my fault and it’s a big deal to me.

Emotionally Invested.!Full Responsibility.

Invested

Fake it.

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Capability

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EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCE

Capability

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You only get one chance to learn something new.

Don’t Fake It.

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Invested failure is transformative.

Approach Point of view Assumptions

Helps you learn.

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Invested

Emotionally Invested.!Full Responsibility.

Lesson 2: Get a Hobby #MTGLessons

Hobby: !

An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

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Entertainment.

Today’s world we have lots of entertainment options.

But would you call Facebook a hobby?How about marathon TV watching?

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Hobby: !

An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for experience, fulfillment, challenge & pleasure.

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Learned about myself

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Learned about myselfHow I handle pressure and tense situations. How I judge fairness. How I’m perceived by others. How I make pragmatic decisions. How I solve problems on the fly.  How I handle success and how I handle failure. 

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I got better!

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Momentum

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Matthew Effect

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Matthew Effect (1963)Success can breed success, and inequality breeds more inequality.!!

“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

Robert K MertonSociologisthttp://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/merton/matthew1.pdf

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Arnout van de RijtAssociate Professor - SUNYhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/28/on-privilege-and-luck-or-why-success-breeds-success/

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Arnout van de RijtAssociate Professor - SUNYhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/28/on-privilege-and-luck-or-why-success-breeds-success/

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Arnout van de RijtAssociate Professor - SUNYhttp://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/28/on-privilege-and-luck-or-why-success-breeds-success/

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Success leads to success.

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Hobbies give you a self-motived outlet for success and teach you about yourself.

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Scored 15% to 30% higher on performance rankings

Lesson 3: Restraint is a Requirement

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You can do anything!

You can do anything!

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Without limitations we’re directionless.

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Video - Stephen Hawking’s Into the Universe !Gravity Explanation!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DECAorZYErk

Limitations give us direction.

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Famous Quote or Story about limitations.

Richard Garfield #MTGLessons

Richard Garfield Peter Adkison #MTGLessons

Peter Adkison #MTGLessons

Richard Garfield Peter Adkison

Wanted a game: Fast Playing Little Setup Inexpensive !

Had a contact to: Print Pictures on Cards

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Richard Garfield Peter Adkison #MTGLessons

Richard Garfield Peter Adkison #MTGLessons

Richard Garfield Peter Adkison #MTGLessons

“Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful.”!!

- Joss Whedon

“It was really SMS that inspired the further direction -- the particular constraint of 140 characters was kind of borrowed.” !!

- Jack Dorsey (Twitter)

“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” !!

-Orson Welles

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Constraint = Creativity

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Not Here.Think Here.

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Think Here. Not Here.

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Cognitive Overhead

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Cognitive OverheadHow many logical connections or jumps your brain has to make in order to understand or contextualize the thing you’re looking at.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/20/cognitive-overhead/

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Cognitive Overhead

High Low

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Lesson 4: Stop Talking. Start Doing.

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Theory Design vs Practical Design

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Practical DesignTheory Design

Talking & thinking about how something might work.

Trying it out as quickly as possible to see if it works.

Brainstorming!Meetings!Documentation

Role Playing!Sketching!Prototyping

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Prototyping

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Prototyping

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High Fidelity Low Fidelity

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Trying it out as quickly as possible to see if it works.

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Finding Problems, Not Solutions

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So how do we find solutions?

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Iteration

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Good enough is fine.

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Judo SolutionsOne that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort. Judo solutions are all about getting the most out of doing the least. !!

When good enough gets the job done, go for it. And remember, you can usually turn good enough into great later.

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1993 20141999 #MTGLessons

1993

Name & Mana Cost

Art

Creature Type

Rules & Flavor Text

Artist & Power/Toughness #MTGLessons

1993

Name & Mana Cost

Art

Creature Type

Rules & Flavor Text

Artist & Power/Toughness #MTGLessons

1993

Name & Mana Cost

Art

Creature Type

Rules & Flavor Text

Artist & Power/Toughness #MTGLessons

1993

Name & Mana Cost

Art

Creature Type

Rules & Flavor Text

Artist & Power/Toughness #MTGLessons

Mana Symbols

Rules

Card Type

Iteration

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Micro Iteration

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Video from 37signals.com!Evolution of a homepage!

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http://vimeo.com/29088090

Everything is a prototype. !

Anything can be changed.

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Lesson 5: Respect Human Nature

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You Can’t Beat Human Nature

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Humans like patterns.

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http://shapingcloudsproject.tumblr.com/ #MTGLessons

http://shapingcloudsproject.tumblr.com/ #MTGLessons

http://webwithoutwords.com #MTGLessons

http://webwithoutwords.com #MTGLessons

Shared Knowledge

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Lenticular Design

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Lenticular DesignA player’s experience will dictate how complex a design is to them. And some complexity is hidden, because it requires certain knowledge to even be aware of it.

http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/293

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People do what we ask. Respect them.

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It’s ok to suck.Get a HobbyRestraint is a RequirementStop Talking. Start Doing.Respect Human Nature

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Thanks!Adam Mc amccrim.com | @McAtoms #MTGLessons