Designing Fun: Inside the Toy & Game Industry with Richard Heayes

Richard Heayes has spent years in the toy and game industry, and this conversation was genuinely fascinating — even if it's not our typical AI and tech topic.

How Toys Get Made

The journey from idea to toy shelf is way more complex than most people realize. It involves concept development, prototyping, safety testing, manufacturing negotiations (usually in China), logistics, retail placement, and marketing — all with margins that are tighter than you'd expect.

Richard walked through each stage and the surprises at every step. The biggest one for me: how much of a toy's success depends on packaging and shelf placement, not the product itself.

The Gamification Connection

What made this relevant to our audience is the gamification angle. The principles that make toys and games engaging — clear goals, progressive difficulty, reward loops, social interaction — are exactly what makes software engaging too.

If you're building a learning platform, an app, or any user experience where engagement matters, study how game designers think. They've been solving the "how do I keep people engaged" problem for decades.

Lessons for Business

Richard's insight about the toy industry: the companies that last aren't the ones with the biggest marketing budgets. They're the ones that understand their audience deeply and iterate quickly based on feedback.

Sound familiar? It's the same principle that works in software, consulting, and any service business. Understand your customer, move fast, and keep improving.