Solsten: Leveraging AI and Psychology to Revolutionize Customer Experiences

Businesses across all sectors seek to understand and engage their customers to thrive in the competitive marketplace. Human insights and user psychology are underrated factors in determining long-term success in this landscape. Unknown to many, understanding what drives individuals (i.e., their motivations, desires, and emotions) is critical in creating personalized, meaningful experiences.  

Companies that can tap into these psychological insights possess higher chances of developing products, strategies, and user experiences that resonate with audiences. Solsten redefines how businesses understand and interact with their target market. Its artificial intelligence (AI) engine processes neuropsychological assessments, in conjunction with behavioral parameters, to capture psychological data points that deliver insights into users’ desires, values, and personalities – and ultimately what drives their behavior.

The innovative firm initially focused on the gaming industry, helping game publishers understand, engage, and monetize their uses by informing them of the psychological factors driving their behavior. Now, Solsten caters to the needs of businesses across sectors. Interestingly, sunstones, the ancient navigational tool, inspired the company’s name. “Solsten aids companies in navigating complex business landscapes just as sunstones help sailors find their way even in cloudy conditions,” shares CEO Joe Schaeppi. 

Schaeppi and Bastian Bergmann, COO, co-founded Solsten in 2018. Schaeppi’s background as a user experience (UX) strategist, startup advisor, and adventure-based psychologist has molded the company’s approach to putting people first. This human-centric approach enables businesses to create resonant experiences that lead to better outcomes for the customer and the company.  

Working with Fortune 500 companies made Schaeppi realize that many products are created without understanding the people using them. “There’s this lack of empathy in the design and development process,” says the CEO. “Too many products don’t actually meet users’ needs.” Schaeppi then thought of integrating psychological assessments into product design. This vision was the beginning of Solsten’s foundation. 

The co-founders met while studying in Minnesota and, knowing the challenges of launching a startup, sought a location that would increase their chances of success. They anchored the company in Berlin, where Bergmann had previous professional ties, bootstrapping it while maintaining strong roots in the US market. Schaeppi and Bergmann gathered AI, gaming research, and psychometrics experts to fulfill Solsten’s mission of helping businesses create personalized experiences, optimize resource allocation, and reduce customer churn. 

Solsten improves business performance through its flagship products— Traits and Navigator. The former aids companies in understanding any audience’s psychological makeup on demand (e.g., values, motives, preferences, etc.) in great detail. With Traits, brands can personalize customer experiences to enhance engagement, loyalty, and revenue. They can also segment their audience into like-minded groups, adapt experiences to individual needs, and drive higher returns on marketing and product development efforts through scientifically backed personas. 

Meanwhile, Navigator, a vast psychological database, helps explore audience insights across industries. Businesses can identify high-value audience segments, reduce development risk, and launch products with Navigator. Those seeking market insights, competitive analysis, or potential mergers and acquisitions targets can benefit from this product, as it provides a data-driven roadmap for success. 

Solsten continues to stand out in the gaming sector, as it provides game developers insights into player behavior and preferences. Developers can maximize player engagement, prioritize features, and predict lifetime value by analyzing key performance metrics and psychological data. Solsten’s Games User Research also enables game designers to test multiple concepts, measure usability, and ensure their products resonate with the intended audience when paired with Navigator. 

Ultimately, those who aim to discover untapped markets, optimize their marketing strategies, and enhance customer delight and loyalty can leverage Solsten’s psychological database. With established companies already benefiting from Solsten-powered experiences, Solsten intends to continue improving digital experiences to further solidify its presence as a leading figure in combining AI and psychology to pave the way for business success.