Last Tuesday, after a storming launch reaching number one on the paid app charts in more than 30 countries, Monument Valley earned the top distinction of an Apple Design Award. An extraordinary honour following the kudos earlier in the day of Apple CEO Tim Cook featuring Monument Valley in the iconic Apple keynote. A new high point in our Own-IP journey.
Our clients know Own-IP has long been part of our culture. Our Own-IP has grown as we have grown, our clients have matured and the digital product market has matured. While some Own-IP projects have been more commercially successful than others, we have learned from every single one. These are not commercial hobbies, marketing gimmicks or executive pet projects, but products of passion built into the core of the ustwo business model and the hearts of our people.
Our Own-IP is the front lines of experimenting and learning how to make commercially valuable products in a fast moving and uncertain world. While some products such as Rando are conceived and launched in a couple of weeks, others like Monument Valley take nearly a year from conception to launch.
Each Own-IP project is based on an informed assumption of a user need to fulfil. Each empowered and horizontal team focuses on validating assumptions and learning by doing as the product develops. A fundamental principle is the product team working as one across User Experience Designers, Visual Designers and Developers to create valuable products. The team, not a hovering design or creative director, is the hero and driver of greatness.
Just as Monument Valley earned back its development cost within the first few weeks, so too are our clients adopting our Product Team approach to turnover millions, and in some cases billions, in transaction volume monthly. It isn't easy to launch a meaningful product with a tangible commercial value, and by reducing practices that don't directly benefit the product - we dramatically increase the probability of getting it right.
We are developing a fundamentally different model and way of working by walking the talk. We have freedom to experiment, learn and iterate on ourselves just as we do on our products. Thus, our clients plug their teams into a studio experienced on more enlightened, rapid and flexible ways of working. Because of Own-IP our clients gain the benefit of validation versus promises and assertions.
Most of the fashionable Lean and Agile mindsets and practices, which we buy into, have yet to be adopted outside software or startup companies. The trick isn't reading the books because everyone's done that. The trick is in perfecting the practice, in practice. Which is why Own-IP is important for our clients.