This document discusses how companies can use stories to build community. It provides examples of how TinyCo uses stories to make their community team visible, keep insights grounded and relevant, and close the feedback loop with developers. Stories are shared on a "Wonder Wall" to delight players daily and enable random acts of community. Feedback reports are made more engaging by adding player stories and framing feedback positively. Community teams can find stories that build empathy and share short, positive "Moments of Zen" to benefit players and the company. Developing story pipelines allows community insights to regularly influence product teams. By sharing stories, community can change companies.

1. We are all Community
Using stories to build community in
companies

2. Origin Stories
• Hi, I’m Matt!
• Every Community has powerful, archetypal
stories
• These stories can help Community teams drive
significant change within companies
• … but it’s a ton of work!

3. Community at TinyCo
Community
Building
Customer
Support
Social
Media

4. “Wow, you
have the best
Players”

5. Incorrect Assumptions
• “You can never make the community happy”
• “They’re going to be mad no matter what we
do”
• “Gamers are jerks”

6. 1)How do we make the Community visible?
2)How do we keep Community insights
grounded, useful and relevant to the
company?
3)How do we close the feedback loop with
developers, so they see direct results of what
they work on?

7. Story Venue 1: The Wonder Wall

8. Delight one person per day

9. Enable Random Acts of Community

10. Create Community as a Gift to the
Company

11. Story Venue 2: Feedback Reports

12. Framing Stories
• Players are
passionate
• It’s not about you
• Angry players are
angry because they
love your product
• We’re only worried if
nobody is talking

13. Reports are boring – and invaluable
• Reports force you to
structure your
thinking
• Player stories can add
color
• How you frame your
feedback matters
• Also, they don’t have
to be boring

14. Presenting Feedback
• Avoid incendiary
language
• Words like “many”,
“most” or “some” are
signal flares for where
you need more
specifics
• Include a tl;dr
• Keep to a regular
schedule

15. How to speak Product Manager
• Study the art of presenting data
• Find every ounce of Quantitative you can
• Present tradeoffs
• Qualitative data is still data, but must be
presented impartially

16. Stories as Empathy
• Pain points are Data
Points
• Dig for context
• Find the stories that
build empathy

17. Story Venue 3: Moment of Zen

18. Moment of Zen
• Short story of
wowing players,
shared with the
whole company
– Or: players wowing us
• Always, always,
always positive
• The players are never
the butt of the joke

19. Story Pipelines
• Set up pipelines that allow
stories to come to you
• Document, document,
document
• Create contests that benefit
the playerbase, the game,
or the company
• Involve the product teams
• Develop intrinsic rewards

20. You’ll find Tattoo Stories

21. You’ll find Love Stories

22. You’ll find
Human
Stories

23. Community Changes Companies

24. That’s it!
So, what’s your story?