Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational individuals from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Jessy (Tsai-Jung) Yu, Monetization Designer at A Thinking Ape. She speaks about how her journey across engineering, game design, and monetization has shaped her approach to creating player-focused, research-driven monetization designs that balance business goals while emphasizing the importance of personal well-being. Read more about Jessy here:
Hi Jessy! You’ve worked across engineering, game design, and now monetization design. What drew you into the world of games, and how has your journey across disciplines shaped the way you approach your current role?

I stumbled upon game design as a career while self-studying for UX design, after having been exposed to it through my work as a software developer. I wanted to give it a try through Vancouver Film School, and it turned out I absolutely loved it!

Moving across different disciplines has often felt like starting from scratch, but each transition became an opportunity to learn something new. I’ve since developed a habit of researching deeply, learning quickly, and asking lots of questions to understand new roles and projects (huge thanks to the coworkers and managers who’ve supported that!).

I recently transitioned from Senior Monetization Manager to Monetization Designer. In my previous role, I focused on planning and executing smaller monetization initiatives for our live game Party In My Dorm, with days largely split between meetings, coordination, and live ops support across time zones.

In my new role, I have fewer meetings and spend more time on research and problem-solving from a product and design perspective. My days now vary between studying best practices, analyzing mobile games, and proposing and iterating on design documents for experiments!

You’ve mentioned a love for prototyping and iterating, whether it’s a game feature, a level, or a monetization plan. How do you balance the player experience  with business goals in your work?

Balancing player experience and business goals starts with treating both as equally important. For every initiative, I first clearly define the goals from each perspective: what experience I want players to have, and what design or business outcomes we need to achieve.

From there, I explore solutions separately through both lenses. On the player side, I ask what will create the most excitement, clarity, or satisfaction. On the business and design side, I look at different ways to influence the target metrics while staying aligned with the game’s systems and constraints.

Once I’ve explored those options, I bring them together and identify solutions that support all three pillars—player experience, design integrity, and business performance. Throughout the process, I also step back to ensure the solution fits naturally within the overall game and long-term player journey.

This iterative approach allows me to prototype and refine ideas that feel good to engage with while still delivering on business goals!

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice on your first day in the game industry, what would it be?

I’d tell myself to dive in with curiosity and passion, but also remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Early in your career, it’s tempting to push constantly and say yes to everything, but sustainable growth comes from taking care of yourself along the way.

Your health and well-being are what allow you to keep learning, creating, and showing up fully over time. When you protect that, you’re not only doing better work, you’re also building a career that lasts and positively impacts the people around you.

I hope everyone can find that better balance for themselves!

Thanks for this interview, Jessy!

Jessy’s links: LinkedIn

 

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories Feature by Madeleine Egger