Building Joyful Products: Lessons from Game Design to Delight Your Users

Tuesday, July 8, 2025
1pm - 3pm

Whether you’re designing apps, building services, managing teams, or shaping product strategy, the Center for Transformational Play’s Building Joyful Products workshop is designed to help you infuse more delight into the things you make.

Join CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer as we explore why play matters, how joy works, and what research on games and human pleasure can teach us about creating more effective, engaging products. You’ll get to learn what the science says, examine real-world examples, and learn how to design experiences that surprise, satisfy, and stick with users, even in areas that aren’t traditionally seen as “fun.”

This workshop is ideal for designers, developers, project managers, and product thinkers who have a project they are working on that could use an infusion of delight. with some work experience. Game design experience welcome, but not required.

Location:
In person
Carnegie Mellon University Campus

Pricing:
Corporate Rate: $475 (early bird $375)
Individual Rate: $350 (early bird $225)

About The Presenter:
Dr. Jessica Hammer is the Founding Director of the Center for Transformational Play at Carnegie Mellon University, with a joint appointment as Associate Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center. An internationally-recognized game designer, Dr. Hammer’s research on transformational games, project-based learning, and inclusive innovation in design has received widespread acclaim. Her work explores topics such as game-based STEM education, playful approaches to fostering climate action, and games that help facilitate difficult conversations between players. She is a member of the Women in Games Hall of Fame and an NSF CAREER award winner. Her teaching and mentoring has also been recognized through Carnegie Mellon’s Teaching Innovation award and the Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring.