Melinda Jacobs
Melinda S. Jacobs is an entrepreneur, gamification & UX strategist specialising in changing behaviour through play and games. She is an international speaker on gamification, user psychology, and narrative and has spoken at events such as Festival of Games, Gamification World, UPRISE, and Gamification Europe.
WATCH HER 2019 TALK:
WATCH HER 2017 TALK:
Melinda Jacobs – Biography (2025)
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Languages: English (native), Dutch (elementary proficiency)
Fields: Gamification, UX Strategy, AI Ethics, Organizational Psychology, Startup Leadership
Professional Summary
Melinda Jacobs is a gamification and UX strategist with a passion for ethical technology, behavior change through play, and building impactful teams. She blends her love of games with deep insights into human behavior to create award-winning interactive experiences.
She is the founder of Subatomic, a digital experience agency, and has held executive roles in multiple startups. Melinda is also a frequent speaker, mentor, and advisor, known for her engaging talks on gamification, AI ethics, and leadership.
Current Roles (2025)
- Advisor & Consultant at mPath AI Coaching (Mar 2025 – Present)
- Consultant & Public Speaker at Simple Penguin B.V. (Jan 2012 – Present)
- SXSW Pitch Advisory Board Member (Sep 2021 – Present)
- Advisor at Kaizo (Jun 2018 – Present)
- Gamification & Product Consultant at greenApes (Mar 2015 – Present)
Past Leadership Roles
- Interim CEO/Managing Director at Kaizo (Sep 2017 – Jun 2018)
Led the company through its launch phase, developed product vision, branding, and team strategy.
Speaking Engagements & Panels
Melinda has spoken at global events including:
- Gamification Europe – “UX & Gamification: The Big Picture”
- EMERCE Next! – “Enhancing or Manipulating?: Tech, Gamification, & Ethics”
- Women in Tech Regatta – “Launch it Broken, Fix it Live”
- UPRISE Dublin – “One Click to Rule Them All”
- KvK Startersdag – “Fake it 'Til You Make It”
- Zen of Data Teams – Tallinn
Education
- Utrecht University – Research MA in Media Studies (2008–2010)
Thesis: The Uncanniness of Electricity and Electronic Media in Ghost Hunting Reality Television - Bowling Green State University – BA in Popular Culture (2005–2007)
Thesis: Multiculturalism in Online Gaming Communities (Published in Journal for Cultural Research)
Publications
- “Games in a Brave New World” – Co-editor of a special issue on immersive environments and the future of work (IGI Global, 2022)
- “Gamification: Moving from ‘Addition’ to ‘Creation’” – CHI 2013
Awards
- Red Dot ‘Best of Best’ in Interaction Design (2013) – For Speeljetoekomst.nu, a gamified pension planning platform
- Viva 400 Nominee (2015)
Philosophy & Impact
Melinda advocates for ethical, inclusive, and transformative design. She critiques shallow engagement metrics and promotes systems that empower users through transparency, autonomy, and meaningful interaction. Her work is especially relevant in today’s climate of AI regulation and digital transformation.
2017 Talk
Game mechanics SUCK without narrative
We use “game mechanics” as a short-hand to talk about the design patterns games often use to create amazing engagement. But, too many people look at these mechanics as individual mechanisms that are independent generators and drivers of action, engagement, and value creation. In reality, they’re anything but independent. Mechanics create engagement when they work together to create a coherent system that makes a narrative move from static to interactive, that makes it explorable and responsive. I’ll show you how to approach designing such a system, that facilitates interaction between a user (your hero) and fictional or non-fiction narratives, and how the power of those mechanics you use is drawn from their relationship to the narrative itself.