Just in Time Experience Design

We spent seven months building a program. Then, two weeks before launch, we trashed 60% of it and rebuilt. It was horrible, and also one of the best things we've ever done.

The great philosopher Mike Tyson once said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Indeed.

We'd been asked to build a skill development program for the innovation division of one of the world's biggest companies.

The first build was smart, well-planned. We did user interviews. We have a lot of experience making this stuff.

It wasn't right.

Too much explanation, not enough practice. The games were too clever by half.

Maybe we should have noticed earlier. But better late than never, I guess.

So two of us rebuilt the entire thing, literally up until the night before the first session.

There was self-loathing. Frustration. Real concern about burn rate.

But after one session, we knew 80% of what we needed to know. After three, we had it down. Because now we could picture the people - their pacing, their goals, who they actually were.

Looking back at what we had... it was good. It just wasn't right.

User research matters. Playtesting matters more. Receiving a jab and a right hook combo matters even more than that.

Just in time experience design.

That program is now on cohort five. It's one of the best things we've made.

I know it's probably bad for business to admit the Wavetable crew rebuilt a whole thing because we did it wrong, but if you want to work with people who build like this - say hello.