Badges That Backfire: Why Most Achievement Systems Destroy Motivation
If you’ve spent time in a modern app, a language learning platform, an employee training system, a fitness…
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The Blog
Ideas on motivation, behavior & design.
Deep dives on the psychology behind why people do what they do — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework. Pick the topic that matters to you.
Why Losing Hurts Twice as Much: The Psychology Behind Every Decision You Regret
We feel losses more intensely than equivalent gains. That asymmetry, often described as loss aversion in behavioral economics,…
Curiosity’s Dark Side: When Mystery Becomes Addiction
Core Drive 7: The Only Intrinsic Black Hat Drive Core Drive 7, Unpredictability and Curiosity, is the human…
The Irrational Power of Scarcity: Why Price Amplifies Desire
The Turquoise Jewelry Lesson Robert Cialdini recounts a famous retail anecdote about a jewelry store owner whose turquoise…
Oxytocin vs Serotonin: Design Belonging, Not Dominance
Most “social” features in modern products fail because the team building them never decided which feeling they were…
From Wanting to Protecting: The Ownership Lifecycle
Ownership is one of the most underestimated forces in product design. The moment a user feels something is…
Beyond Badges: Deep Accomplishment in Game Design
Core Drive 2, Development and Accomplishment, sits at the heart of what makes people feel satisfied with progress.…
Community Design: Building Tribes, Not User Bases
Community design might sound like a modern buzzword, but it’s actually the difference between having customers and having…
Quest Design: From Bootleg Quests to Boss Fights
Quest design is one of the most powerful mechanisms I’ve seen transform how users engage with digital products.…