Yu-kai Chou is an Author and International Keynote Speaker on Gamification and Behavioral Design. He is the Founding Partner and Chief Creation Officer of the premium consulting/design firm The Octalysis Group, as well as Co-Founder and Chief Experience of Metablox – an NFT platform powered by Real World Places and Real Life Memories.
Yu-kai is the Original Creator of the Octalysis Framework, and the author of Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards, which sold over 100,000 copies and is referenced by over 2500 Ph.D. Thesis and Academic Journals.
Yu-kai has been a regular speaker/lecturer on gamification and motivation worldwide, including at organizations like Harvard/Stanford/Oxford/Yale, Tesla, Google, IDEO LEGO, BCG, the governments of UK, Singapore, Kingdom of Bahrain, and many more. His design work has empowered over 1.5 Billion users’ experiences and he was rated #1 among the “Top 100 Gamification Gurus” in the world 3 out of 4 years by the Gamification World Congress and the Gamification Europe Conference.
Formerly, Yu-kai was Head of Creative Labs as well as Head of Digital Commerce for HTC, pioneering innovation in VR/AR and the Metaverse. He was also the Chief Experience Officer of the Blockchain company Decentral, working with the Co-Founder of Ethereum Anthony Di Iorio to create delightful Blockchain experiences. Yu-kai is also the creator of Octalysis Prime, a Gamified Library of all his work and research.
Yu-kai was one of the earliest pioneers in Gamification, starting his work in the industry in 2003. He is a Fellow for the London-based Royal Society of Arts and was Knighted by His Imperial Highness King Yi Seok of the Joseon Imperial Family of Korea. He is also a proud Investor of SpaceX and Mighty Bear Games.
Yu-kai is a follower of Christ, and his other hobbies include playing/teaching chess, writing/playing string quartet pieces, rating high quality movies, though he rarely has time for these hobbies. Yu-kai is the proud father of twin daughters and a son.
“Yu-kai’s reputation precedes him in the field of gamification, so I know him professionally before I know him personally. Professionally he’s as efficient and effective as a black hat hacker. But personally, he’s as kind and passionate as a white hat artist. Yu-kai himself is the perfect embodiment of his octalysis framework. You may have only seen some aspect of him; but believe me, he has all 8 sides of the octagon, plus the center—he’s sensational.”
-Michael Wu, Chief Scientist @ Lithium Technologies
Get mentored by Yu-kai Chou
Every week I hop on a conference call to teach, answer questions, and give feedback to members of Octalysis Prime. If you want to take your Gamification practice to the next level, then come join us.
Hi Yukai Chou,
I am a trainer in Viet Nam. I am interested in your book. I want to ask you something.
How can I stranslate your book into Vietnamese and print your book and lauch it in Viet Nam?
Thank you.
Where did you go to school to know all this? Do you have a degree in psychology to do this kind of work and have this insight? I’d like to know for myself as I am interested in human digital behavior.
Yu-Kai Chou is a master of his craft. He even leverages the concepts of Octalysis into the writing of his book. Oddly, I am motivated to keep reading it! 🙂
Well observed, Brad! He lives life as though it were his favorite game.
I just pleased to know you.
Pretty impressive background. I wonder how many of these large companies would’ve have eventually stumbled into gamification and its applications without a nudge in the right direction?
I am looking for a plugin/app that engages my facebook group to complete tasks and earn point, badges, and levels within the group. Do you know if there is a plugin/app/third-party who has such a tool designed?
Yu-Kai Chou has got some serious get up and go! Let’s do it!
Hi Yu Kai,
Recently I flipped your book again after sometime I have first read your book. I pay more attention this round on the last chapter and decided to experience your gamification design here. It’s awesome! Besides the gamified experience, the case studies are inspiring. Keep it up and see you soon in Madrid.
Hello!
Hi there 🙂
helloo, my name rendy.
im a trainer, i need your advice sir, can you hep me about making training session , with content about selling in social media with the delivery system by Gamification (not just sit down in class)
Dear Mr. Yu Kai Chou,
First of all, I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience on the topic. I am an IT student and I am just starting to learn about gamification. I saw a few of your videos, they are awesome!
So, I was wondering,is there some schedule of books that I should read, in some predefined, specific order (as levels) in order to learn about gamification on the best possible way? I was playing games in the past, but I am not a passionate gamer (until now), so I am not sure if I should read something about games on the first place and then read about gamification. I really need an advice for this and I will be grateful if you can take 1 minute of your time and share your opinion with me 🙂
Thank you in advance,
No matter what, keep going with your work, you are awesome! 🙂
Best regards from Macedonia,
Emma
Hello Emma,
Thanks for reaching out. The first book I would recommend is of course my own book Actionable Gamification http://yukaichou.com/octalysisbook , since it is based on my 12 years of experience (though my preference is heavily biased 🙂 ). You can also check out Reality is Broken for Gameful Design, A Theory of Fun for Game Design, or Drive for motivational psychology.
I’m reading your book; I just got to the bit about peoples chess style reflecting the wider historical situation – ace. Your book is full of these very insightful snippets – my ‘meaning’, ‘scarcity’ and ’empowerment’ drivers are fizzing and popping and feel like they’re winning!
Thank you – just wanted to say that.
Thank YOU Monty. Encouragements like that keep my work going 🙂
Hello! Hope you’re alright, my name is William Hartshorn and I live in the UK studying at Birmingham City University. I currently doing my dissertation, which is on ‘The Future of Gamification.’ After following your channel over the last few months and reading your book and I have to thank you for the knowledge & research you have shared, the Octalysis Framework you have created is a fantastic theory, its the best out there!! I was wondering you would able to help me out and answer a few questions for me for my primary research?!
Thankyou
Please email victoria [at] octalysisgroup [period] com for questions you want to ask.
Here is the thing… you are awesome, the Octalysis is the best Gamification Framework out there; it is very well done and it has the wise of a man who is the best of the best in the Gamification World, in it. I am glad that I had the opportunitie to be part of one of your workshops, my life changed and now I am part of the gamification world 🙂 !!! Maybe some day I will be a Octalysis hero 🙂 so I can spread the word in my country about the framework and the beauty of Human Focused Design (gamification)
Thanks for the kind words Brandon! The pleasure is all mine. I’m excited that you are part of the journey!
Is it weird that I find myself looking forwarding to coming back to this blog, learning more and getting my ninja skills on? Thank you Gosu, for practising what you preach!
Hi,
No, thank YOU for being awesome! I am so happy my friend told me about you.
I am also thankful for the videos. I started reading your book this summer, but I have had to finish a previous project and go back to school for the fall semester. I have so much reading this semester, I haven’t been able to finish your book yet. So, thank you for the videos!!!
Great! Let me know when you finish the book and would love some feedback and maybe even a review on Amazon! 🙂
I want one badge 🙂
Just finished the book! Woohoo! Now i m going to find those surprises and get the next badge.! I rarely comment, so consider my comment a huge success!
Hi Yu-Kai,
I enjoyed our talk, hope to talk more soon!
I’m working at gamifying my middle school science class and could really use some ideas and refinement as well as resources. Any ideas?
Hello Yu-kai Chou,
I am sherine Ashraf. I study Computer Science Engineering.
First of all, Amazing work that came from hard work, I am really impressed by the work for autistic people. This what made me choose my bachelor project to be about Gamiification for autistic adults. I hope you can help me please as this is a new field and not many people know about it. I need to ask you some questions(mail/ Skype/ telephone/— what ever you like) that will help me in my research a lot if you don’t mind 🙂
Waiting for valuable reply
Thank you in advance
Sorry for the late response Sherine. While Autism (and many other health issues)is something I would love to help on (and I do help with clients in healthcare), my time is stretched so thin that I’m literally sleeping an hour less every time I take a Skype meeting like this. I would recommend you to read my book first, and if you can demonstrate that you get the concepts within, I would love to have a chat with you after.