Killer Snails works on making educational games that are related to science. The start-up was founded in 2015 by professionals with years of experience in scientific research and teaching.
The partners and founders of the company, Mandë Holford, Jessica Ochoa Hendrix, and Lindsay Portnoy used the “play-break-fix” model to expand their business, as the Chief Executive Officer Ochoa Hendrix says. The company is focused on gathering feedback as about 10,000 students have tested their products over the past three years.
In January the company has reportedly started its first national pilot program that is called BioDive, a game using an online journal and virtual-reality immersions to simulate the experience of underwater missions and marine biologists, as a report by Bloomberg Businessweek made clear.
How are companies like Killer Snails managing to create content that has an engaging but scientifically proven story? Speaking with the founders, Bloomberg synthesized five main lessons to be drawn from their experience:
1. Research and define your targeted users
It`s important to define which age group will potentially be using your products and where, would it be in the classroom or at home, as Hendrix tells Bloomberg.
2. Start on a local level
Killer Snails has collaborated with schools and other organizations near its location in Brooklyn, where the company is located.
3. Prepare in advance
Schedule visits with teachers, and make sure there will be enough student taking part in the pilot.
4. Diminish the costs
You have to make your products affordable and easy to use. The company provides teachers with inexpensive cardboard kits for VR viewing and smartphones.
5. Ask for feedback and use it
The team takes notes. But that`s not all. Students are also completing surveys after playing a game. The most important thing is to be always testing, changing and improving in line with customers` feedback.
It`s interesting to watch what would be next for Killer Snails. In the meantime, many other start-ups can try implementing their tips.