TikTok Top Moments

TikTok knew they wanted to make collectibles of their creators' best moments, but not quite what that meant. Much of my job was helping them work it out.

At a glance

Situation: In 2021, as digital collectibles had their moment, TikTok wanted to turn some of their most culturally significant videos into collectibles with their creators. The success of the Immutable X Marketplace brought them to us.
Task: Help TikTok decide what they did and didn't want from something new to everyone, and build auctions on a platform that didn't yet have them.
Action: Defined what reliable, exciting bidding needed and built the auction tooling fast, and guided TikTok's team on what belonged inside a collectible and what didn't.
Result: TikTok Top Moments launched with Lil Nas X's drop and weekly drops through October, with wide press coverage. The lessons shaped how we designed Guild of Guardians' items.

Situation

Everyone wanted in, and few knew what for

In 2021, with many people at home, digital collectibles had their moment. Plenty of companies knew they wanted to take part, but not what they'd actually do. TikTok, having their own moment, got in touch: they had creators and artists, and we had the technology. Why not sell collectibles of some of TikTok's most memorable videos?

The Immutable X Marketplace had shown we could launch something people trusted, and that success brought TikTok to us.

Task

Build auctions fast, and help shape the idea

We didn't have auction technology, so we needed to build it quickly. And TikTok needed help deciding what they did and didn't want from something that was new to nearly everyone involved.

Action

Reliable bidding, and honest collectibles

Make every bid count

Auctions happen fast and end decisively, so bidding had to be reliable and consistent at the busiest moment. Two bids landing at once couldn't leave anyone unsure who'd won. I worked out what bidding needed to be both dependable and enjoyable, and we built it.

A design comp for a TikTok Top Moments drop page: a live countdown, a bid field, a list of recent bids, the collaborators, and a breakdown of how royalties are shared. — A drop page design comp: the live auction, its bid history, the creators behind the moment, and how proceeds are shared.

Help decide what belongs in a collectible

A collectible's details are fixed forever once it's made. That raised questions nobody had asked yet. If owning one entitled the buyer to a phone call with a creator, what happens when it's resold after the call? A promise like that can't live in something permanent, or it lives forever.

I spent a lot of time with senior people in TikTok's New York office working through questions like this. That advice kept them from accidentally promising a celebrity's time forever.

Carry the lessons into our own games

The same rule applies to game items. If every detail of an item is fixed, it can never level up, which takes much of the fun out of owning and trading it. We learned a lot about what to put in an item's permanent record and what to keep outside it, and used it in designing Guild of Guardians. Altar of Sacrifice shows some of the creative ways we let items grow.

Result

Launched, noticed, and a lasting lesson

Launchedwith Lil Nas X's drop in October 2021, followed by weekly drops through the month.
Widepress coverage for TikTok's first creator-led collectibles.
Lessonson what a permanent item should hold, used in designing Guild of Guardians.