Episode 48 - 'Gaming the System' with Kerstin Oberprieler

In this episode we had a chance to discuss the world of startups, gamification and behavioural change with Dr Kerstin Oberprieler. Kerstin successfully developed, launched and exited PentaQuest, a platform-based behavioural change product and continues to consult into the area of corporate culture, change and behaviour.

I started by asking Kerstin about gamification and human-centred behavioural change. Kerstin's journey into gamification was fascinating, discovering an interest in business and psychology. She came across gamification as an emerging research area as her undergraduate and doctoral studies unfolded. The journey started during her studies, finding market pull and interest in how gamification could be used to support organisational change. This started through the development of a 'classical' game, with pen and paper, but the challenge was to develop a game that would make a business.

Kerstin shared the challenges of building a digital product, juggling access to coding skills, engaging with clients and obligations a supportive employer. This period allowed for the testing of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and identifying important aspects to enhance user and customer experience.

Kerstin's first client came through unexpected circumstances arising from a conference presentation and audience members seizing the concept and championing early experimentation within their organisation. This is a particularly interesting aspect of the journey in the context of current discussions around Australian industry demand for innovation and technology and the role procurement plays in nurturing new businesses – live conversations at the Cooperative Research Australia National Innovation Policy Forum which has been facilitated by Kerstin the past couple of years. Encouragingly, the first customer became an advocate for the product creating opportunities in adjacent parts of their organisation.

Kerstin shares her reflections on deciding to move full time into PentaQuest after years of testing and development. This involved building an organisation to meet the growing demand for products, the need to build a salesforce and greater flexibility into the product platform. Kerstin also shared the experience of the platform dropping out for a period, and the impacts on clients and reputation. We have reflected on time and timing in earlier podcasts, and Kerstin reflected on the impact that the COVID pandemic had on business growth. The inflection in sales growth lead to a decision to sell the business and Kerstin shared some of the process she went through to find a buyer with aligned interests.

This was a great conversation about the journey from concept through commercialisation to conclusion for a founder. I also reflected on the importance of behavioural change in tech transfer and uptake of new products and concepts, making this a doubly interesting conversation for me!