Five tips from the founders of Killer Snails on running successful pilot programs.

Article:
This Educational Gaming Company Has Testing Down to a Science By Nick Leiber

Founded in 2015, a startup software company that makes educational games gives five lessons to run a successful pilot program. The company, Killer Snails invested hundreds of hours in testing and gathering feedback for its first national pilot program. The software application called BioDive uses virtual-reality immersions to simulate the experience of marine biologists on underwater missions.

The first lesson is to identify your audience. Determining your target age group and where or how the software will be used can provide a foundation model for your software. In conjuction with identifying your target audience, a second lesson Killer Snails points out is that you should also do your homework. Visiting your target audience in the setting you intend to implement the software can help flag any technical or behavioral type issues that need to be addressed.   

Two other lessons given are to start local and don’t waste time or money.  In their early trials, Killer Snails teamed up with local schools and provided low cost cardboard VR viewing kits so that there was no cost to the schools to participate.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Killer Snails recommends to use the feedback!  The company uses various forms of feedback such as team notes and student surveys. These are used to continuously make changes and develop the game experience.

According to Killer Snails, piloting is key for “developing games that make students feel like scientists addressing real-world problems.” Killer Snails expects to start licensing BioDive to schools this summer.