1. Hi Calum, can you introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you do?

I am the Director of Product at Kano, which is an independent studio in Victoria, BC, Canada.  We have four Evergreen titles that turn 15 years old this year and four narrative Idle games.

1. What drew you to working in mobile gaming?

I have always had a passion for gaming and mobile gaming also provides a challenge that I love.  Mobile gaming is always evolving, so you need to keep on your toes, and you are always learning.

1. We released a report last month looking at the top challenges in Mobile Game Product Monetization, with Fostering a Stable Game Economy ranking the top challenge.

What are your three top tips for other product managers who are struggling to balance their in-game economies?

1. Track your sources and sinks and check on this often, especially after a new feature or event is rolled out. I have this visualized and compared it to different time periods like the previous 7 days or month before.
2. Tighten the economy, are you giving away too much hard currency? A/B testing can help as well, if you want to reduce the risk.
3. Have multiple currencies so you can still give players something but it can lessen the impact on purchasing both New Purchases and Repeat. If you can have personalization or vanity items as a reward the player wants, say as leaderboard reward for an event then you don’t have to give out as much hard currency as a prize.

1. How important is protecting the UX and understanding player motivations when it comes to building a product roadmap?

It’s very important because it really guides the problem you are trying to solve.  You are building a game for your players, not for you.  Understanding how they play, why they play, and their pain points can really help with building your product roadmap.

1. What can our attendees expect to hear from you at Gamesforum North America?

Experiences building product roadmaps for the last decade and the lessons learned over time.  I can also add the perspective of doing it for an independent studio which probably looks different than an AAA studio

1. The final question, you are stuck on a desert island and you have access to one book and one song. What book and song are you picking and why?

Well if I am stuck on a desert island, my book would be a giant book of puzzles or Sudoku.  I would have some time to kill and I like to keep my brain challenged.

My song would be Optimistic by Radiohead because I love that band and I would have be optimistic to be rescued 🙂