How Google used segmentation to drive new thinking about gaming – presented with Google at The Quirk’s Event

Google Play serves as the official app store for Android-based games and works with developers to bring mobile games to market. Because the growth of these games has been phenomenal and has such a diverse audience, building games that keep players engaged and excited has become more and more challenging. It’s critical for Google Play and its developer partners to understand the characteristics, needs and motivations of those playing.

To learn more about who plays games, Google Play commissioned us to conduct a segmentation study. In this session at The Quirk’s Event in Orange County, we shared how Google used the segmentation study to change their internal audience and developers’ mind-sets about their audience.

Presenters: Allen Bevans, UX Researcher – Google, Bill Salokar, VP Client Solutions – SKIM

Insights from how Google used segmentation to drive new thinking about gaming

The traditional view was that the audience of Google Play was a bifurcated market of hardcore gamers, typically young and male, combined with casual players, typically older and female. Applying and socializing the new segmentation, internally and externally, has helped Google Play and its partners consider the much broader spectrum of gaming behaviors, instead of extreme behavior stereotypes.

Subjects covered:

• Segmentation
• Effective vendor/client relationship management
• Customer experience

Takeaways:

1. Market myths and mind-sets can develop based on stereotypical and assumed behavior but can be changed through effective use of market understanding research like segmentation.
2. Socializing segmentation findings leads to greater understanding and utilization of the research.
3. Investing in segmentation isn’t just for the internal team, but has great value when used effectively with external partners.