DOJO MADNESS (now Bayes) is a technology-driven company founded by several eSports and gaming veterans including Jens Hilgers, founder and chairman of Turtle Entertainment/ESL. Harnessing the latest innovations in machine learning, we created a set of sophisticated tools that help gamers master their play.
As the former Senior Product Designer for LOLSUMO I conceptualized an innovative idea for an app that would later become OVERSUMO. As the Product Owner / Lead, I was responsible for Product Vision & Strategy, Roadmap, Stakeholder & Team Management, Team Leadership, User Research, Competitor Analysis, Product Analytics and Business Development with a high level of autonomy.
Teaming up with a professional gaming team that had access to the games' early beta, and one of our developers, we created the first comprehensive set of tips and tricks for every character, map, and game mode. We put this into a beautiful app with a lean user experience and we were able to convince our management team to form a new product team to continue building the app.
Starting this early, we managed to be the first App for the game in the App Stores and gained significant advantage over other Apps and services and were able to create some news buzz.
Check out one of our sponsored Influencer Videos below.
After the game's release the publisher offered a website that showed players in-game stats. However, the data was only cumulative, and thus mostly useless for players.
We saw an opportunity to provide players with more insightful and detailed match-by-match performance data for each character, map, and more.
We developed a web scraper that allowed us to track individual players' data after every game and created a unique performance score that compared individual players' data against others in their skill range.
With this, we were able to create an invaluable tool for players seeking to improve their gameplay.
Our innovative solution quickly gained traction among Overwatch players, and our growing user base created a massive Reddit community that we engaged with on a daily basis. To promote OVERSUMO, we created compelling marketing campaigns for Reddit, Google Ads, and connected with the biggest influencers of the game to sponsor video content and get feedback for the product.
To further enhance our services, we also created a personal feed that provided players with daily, weekly, and monthly performance reports, as well as access to the latest guides from top Overwatch YouTube channels. With the introduction of social features, players could also track their friend's performance.
Leveraging these unique features, we released monetization features that allowed dedicated players to gain more insight into their data through comprehensive charts and gameplay analysis.
With a compelling product and a great monetization strategy we grew the user base to more than 5M+ users, with a rating of 4.6 stars in the App Store and were able to generate 5-digit monthly recurring revenue with our monetization in the form of an in-app subscription service.
Unfortunately, after more than 2 Years, the publisher decided to ban every 3rd party app from using their in-game data to monetize their services.
This was particular devastating for us since we were always open and transparent about our plans for monetization with the publish from day one.
On a positive note, it showed us, that the service was a real success and even big game publishers had to come up with better ideas to monetize their data.
Hiring and managing a team of designers, developers, and data scientists with no prior experience was challenging, but essential to build a successful product. I surrounded myself with people with passion for the same thing and who were willing to work hard for our mutual success.
Paying attention to the market gaps and being early mover was a huge differentiator and created a competitive advantage. When faced with challenges or limitations, think outside the box and find creative solutions.
Building a community around your product is critical. By engaging with your users and responding to their feedback, you can build trust and create brand loyalty. Furthermore, you were able to connect with the biggest influencers in the game, which helped to promote and raise awareness of your product.
Traveling to the US to attend BlizzCon was likely a unique and exciting experience. Being open to new opportunities can help broaden your perspective and open doors for future opportunities.
Finally, building a successful product is not easy, and it's essential to celebrate your achievements. By recognizing the hard work and dedication of your team, you can boost morale and create a positive work culture, make lasting friends and overcome the biggest challenges.
