10 Specific Examples of Companies Making Their Users Feel Awesome

When was the last time a company, crowdfunder, or service made you feel awesome?

I recently watched an older video about a book called Badass: Making Users Awesome. The book isn’t just about making customers feel great, but also about using techniques like benchmarks and examples to make users really good at using the product/service.

Over the last month, I’ve asked a few different groups of people the question I asked above, and I’ll share some of my favorite answers today. Some of these extend beyond “awesome” to other important feelings, like making people feel valued or safe.

Here they are in no particular order, with passages quoted when possible based on what people shared with me:

• Puzzles: A few people mentioned crowdfunding projects that use puzzles to engage and reward backers.
  • Andromeda’s Edge: “They had 9 puzzles you could solve and if you solved any 1 of them you got a free mini. But if you solved all of them you got a chance to win an all-in bundle. There was a link to their discord and it was a very engaging time in the puzzles channel in the Cardboard Alchemy discord.”
  • Santorini “did riddles daily for their puzzle co-op mode.”
  • Flamecraft: “I really enjoyed the puzzles that Cardboard Academy used in their Flamecraft Kickstarter. There was a reward for completing one (a special mini for free) and the possibility of a special reward for completing them all (a chance to win your pledge for free). It was exciting and kept me engaged all campaign! Flamecraft also had plushies of their dragons!”
• Unprompted Personalization: “An example of a time I felt incredibly valued as a customer was with Chewy, the pet supply company. I received a personalized, hand-written card on “National Video-Game Day” to celebrate my cat named Bowser. Along with this, they provided a small painted canvas depicting a likeness of my cat. I have heard so many similar stories of incredible customer service like this from Chewy. They’ve created a customer for life from me.”
• Pay Later: “Wyrmwood Tables – crowdfund the “deposit” then applied to a larger order as a gift certificate on their site – lessens the KS loss.”
• Local Loyalty: “When the STL City game was delayed on Saturday night because of the storms, the team’s official Twitter posted something to the effect of ‘We hope the Arch is turned on tonight!” They seem to have the whole city behind them and are playing exciting soccer, but that post specifically communicates that they’re grounded in St. Louis and the modern lore we like to throw around. I thought it was great and a thoughtful way to solidify their presence in our city.”
• Listening and Taking Action: “The Mythcraft RPG was initially not going to offer paid PDFs of the game as they stated that the rules will be online for free. Feedback from the community showed they still wanted a digital only option, so Mythcraft added PDFs as an add-on for backers. It was an interesting happy-medium the publisher did, even after expressing their own feelings toward digital only. While they didn’t 100% satisfy the asks of the community, they still addressed and adapted to their requests.”
• Safety First: In the first year of the pandemic, Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore made customers feel safe and welcomed by opening a large outdoor area with spaced-out tables.
• Elevating the Environment: “I thought The Search for Lost Species highlighting the work of the Re:wild organization and their environmental friendly production was great marketing. It contributed to me backing that game for sure.”
• Starting with the Story: There were two examples mentioned for this category.
  • “Voidfall ran an amazing campaign with the storyline they kept releasing as the campaign progressed! So fun to follow!”
  • “The Expeditions teaser trailer. Made me feel like I was not anticipating a board game, but I was anticipating an experience/adventure.”
• Live Announcements: I really like how Garphill Games (Shem and Sam) broadcast a live, publicized YouTube reveal of their upcoming projects once or twice a year. It has the feel of a modern press release, as it’s very personal, transparent, and engaging.
• First 48 Hour Incentive: “Fractured Sky did a special initial 48 hour ‘free gift’ for every backer – an enamel pin. I thought it was clever as it wasn’t too big to be a dealbreaker if you missed out but it was a nice small added bonus.”

I’d love to hear your story of the last time a company, crowdfunder, or service made you feel awesome, safe, or valued–let me know in the comments!

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