Our response to Shopify’s blog post – “What Talking To Video Game NPCs Can Teach You About User Experience”

Shopify posted an interesting article on their blog this week written by Tommy Walker. Titled “What Talking To Video Game NPCs Can Teach You About User Experience” the article raises two really interesting points. Firstly, in looking at what eCommerce creators can learn from game designers, Walker explores how game designers and eCommerce designers are seeking to do similar things in their digital (or virtual) environments – to tell a story and provide the user (or if you  prefer players) with an immersive experience.

But from our point of view what we found most interesting is the way people – thought leaders – in the digital, virtual reality and now eCommerce community are gradually starting to make the connections.

People are starting to draw the dots between what was only recently regarded as separate industries, so to speak – eCommerce environments and 3D environments.

People are starting to make the connections that the user / player experience sought for in eCommerce environments has similarities with the player experience sought for in the game environment. That is the creation of rich, memorable and interactive experiences that are engaging and make the player want to return to that environment again and again.

Now imagine providing retailers – large and small – with the tools to create their own 3D game environments and experiences?  Virtual shopping environments where  customers / players can interact with each other and where NPCs don’t have to be flat 2D images but rather are robust, rich ‘digital entities’? Then imagine giving retailers the tools to enable their customers to purchase products, services or experiences from these virtual environments?

Now, that’s exciting stuff.