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Tom Storr
Founder at The Experimentation Group | Growing Mobile Games | Ex. King, Microsoft
Tom Storr is a co-founder of The Experimentation Group, a consultancy that specializes in helping mobile game studios achieve growth through experimentation.12 He is an industry veteran with extensive experience in the gaming sector, particularly in the areas of experimentation, product development, and innovation.
Professional Background
Prior to founding The Experimentation Group, Tom Storr held a significant role at King, the mobile game developer known for titles like Candy Crush Saga. At King, he served as the Product Lead for Experimentation, where he founded and led the company's experimentation function, growing it from its inception to a world-class operation.2
Expertise
Tom's expertise lies in several key areas:
- Experimentation: He has over a decade of experience in applying experimentation techniques to game development and optimization.1
- Free-to-play and Mobile Games: His work focuses primarily on the mobile gaming sector, particularly free-to-play games.4
- Growth Strategies: Tom specializes in creating growth through innovation across global franchises.
- R&D and Lean Development: He has a background in research and development, as well as lean development methodologies.
The Experimentation Group
In 2023, Tom Storr co-founded The Experimentation Group along with other industry veterans, Phillip Black and David Nelson.1 The consultancy aims to:
- Help game studios apply experimentation techniques to understand player preferences better.3
- Offer guidance to studios, often free of charge, in exchange for being able to share results publicly to benefit the wider industry.1
- Assist teams in unlocking growth potential for games of various sizes through structured experimentation.1
Approach to Experimentation
Tom Storr advocates for a structured approach to experimentation in game development, emphasizing:
- Operating within a clear structure
- Balancing data with creativity
- Moving fast and testing often
- Maintaining a focus on learning and understanding player behavior1
Through his work at The Experimentation Group, Tom continues to share his expertise and help game developers improve their products and boost revenues through data-driven experimentation and innovation.4
Highlights
Would experimentation work with a board game?
🎲
This was fun, a totally unexpected question!
The obvious answer is, no.
Experimentation works on digital products because there is a constant throughput of users for whom you can control the experience.
This means you can run AB tests, quickly answering your questions, then iterating.
We spoke more and found the question she wanted to answer was on positioning.
Because of this it seemed we could run online concept tests, trying out different positionings with different audiences to see what really pops.
So, by understanding more about the context we were able to find a way to help.
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Do we need to set data up for teams?
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This is an interesting answer. In short, it varies a lot. We work with teams of all sizes, some have everything set up, some do the set up for.
The main work tends to be around using data in the right way.
🔎
Almost every client we've worked with has had a similar use case. They have a game they want to grow and for one reason or another, are not sure how to do it.
Where everything is tracked and dashboarded this can mean they've been through everything, nothing's worked and they're not sure what to do next.
Often we dig into the data ourselves. Working through our questions tends to turn up some interesting areas to re-focus work and kick off experimentation.
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Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
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