Releasing a product or service of any kind comes with more problems than just the technical. Ego, expectations, motivation, and vulnerability to criticism are all massive barriers to even the simplest of projects.
Here are the top 3 psychological challenges I've faced while developing my games, and how I've managed to overcome them.
1. Motivation - Maintaining your drive
"Burn the ships!" - Hernán Cortés
tldr; We are primarily motivated to accomplish necessities, not dreams. Turn your project into something you need to get done instead of something you want to get done
It was a common occurrence for me to open up Atom, write some code for thirty minutes, then daydream and scroll social media for two hours. I found staying focused to be incredibly difficult. It hurts to think how much time was lost. It was something I needed to solve or my whole life was going to waste away into quick pleasures.
Humans ability to develop higher levels of abstraction of the world and perform actions based on that is an incredible superpower. It remains, however, considerably weaker than our more primal inclinations for immediate comfort seeking.
The trick with motivation is to set up situations with yourself that force the more primitive side of our brains to "choose" to work on our projects. But how do you do this?
The key is accountability; setting up consequences for yourself if you fail to complete your current goal.
You will find that the pursuit of comfort is no where near as psychologically powerful as the avoidance of discomfort. When someone wants to finish a project they will give a token amount of effort. However, if someone faces a consequence for not finishing a project, they will move mountains.
Here are a few options to utilize this.
The first is to establish yourself in a group of motivated people. This is why workout groups are so effective. When you are surrounded by motivated people it becomes uncomfortable to be seen as the "unmotivated" one in the group.
The second is to make a public declaration. Whether it's to your company or to your social media followers, DECLARE that on a certain date you will deliver some product or service. You will be very motivated not to disappoint those who believe in you.
The third option, which I use, is to put your money where your mouth is. With a trusted relative set up a "contract" whereby you provide an amount of money and can only have it returned if your objective is achieved. For one of my games I had given my siblings two thousand dollars that could only reclaimed if my project was completed by X date. Needless to say, the decision to keep working on my game everyday became very easy.
2. Value Perception - Is what I'm making fun?
"Buy not on optimism, but on arithmetic" - Benjamin Graham
tldr; It is impossible to maintain an objective perspective of your product when you have invested so much. Ensure you base your endeavor on an objective foundation to persevere through the doubts
It is almost too easy to think of an initial idea and cling to it. The trap with building an idea from your "intuition" is that you have now conflated your ego with it. And to step back and challenge the idea would be a direct assault on you.
Basing project ideas on "what sounds cool" can be devastating once you're months into a project. Losing perspective is an inevitability. On your 2000th test you will begin to wonder if what you're making has any value. The problem with basing your idea on emotions and imagination is that once those emotions or imaginations shift the entire project collapses.
By basing your project ideas on a proven process or established design theory you provide yourself with a shield. You give yourself a psychological scapegoat. It is much better to think "this design process failed", than "my intuition sucks".
Additionally, taking and applying criticism becomes very easy. When a QA tester tells you "this mechanic isn't fun", you are able to suggest replacing your design process rather than being crippled by feelings of inadequacy.
For my game Dune Riders I decided to make an effort to research and build a "design theory" before I developed a "game idea". I read books on the theory of fun, game design, and psychology. After I had all the information, I created a list of design principles I wanted to use to build my concept off. Some months later when I received feedback it became painless. Their criticism targeted my amount of research on design rather than my intelligence as a person.
3. Finishing a project - Discovering the results
“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” - Carl Jung
tldr; The possibility of exceptional results from an active project can provide us immense comfort and hope. Ensure to pre-emptively wane yourself off this drug. Or you might not have the strength to discover the outcome of your endeavor
Finishing a project means you find out if you failed or succeeded relative to your expectations. It also means you no longer have a project to pursue. This can leave you in a very bad place if things don't go to plan. So some people opt to never find out.
Imagine spending five years on a project, dreaming about how great it will be, and then on launch it's met by two star reviews. That sort of experience is devastating.
It's common for people to become perfectionists during this period so to distract themselves from the real objective of shipping their product.
To remedy this I use two solutions; devaluing the success of the project with an alternate plan and focusing on shorter deadlines for delivery.
Devaluing the success of a project is not simple, since its success is a fundamental source of motivation. Instead, think of how else the project could benefit you if its not a blazing success. How could you demonstrate / retrofit the mediocre project for other plans that can help you reach the same goal?
A common strategy is to think of your project as a good "portfolio" item for job applications. In school I wrote a social networking application called Plink. I had high hopes for the website, but like most projects, it failed. By shipping this service however, I was able to impress a local web dev company and scored myself a developer job. Not a bad outcome.
This mentality has seriously helped with my initial "all or nothing" mindset to my projects. And by devaluing the success of projects with other possible benefits from shipping, I have managed to overcome the perfectionist trap.
Shorter deadlines for delivery is a fantastic method for preventing a build up of expectations. It can also help identify if consumers value your product by forcing a focus on core features.
My initial products would take me nine months to a year to deliver. And when you spend so much time on a project you begin to expect a lot from it. You can imagine the psychological struggle I had when it came to find out if consumers enjoyed it.
For my first game Only Us I decided to spend only one and a half months on development. I wanted to focus more on entering the "finishing" mindset rather than the "perfectionist" one. By doing this I alleviated pressure on the outcome and was able to ship my game with ease. It was also smoother to tell people about it because "it only took me a couple months to make".
To my surprise it was very well received online, giving me an opportunity to create a fully formed product with a clear indicator that it could be successful.
I hope my experience helps you. Good luck on your project!
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