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…
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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.
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.…
Status Design: Why Status Drives Behavior More Than Money
Status design is one of the most misunderstood forces in human behavior. We’ve been taught that money motivates…
Habit Formation Through Gamification Design
Most people talk about habit formation like it’s a simple three-step process: trigger, behavior, reward. If you’re familiar…
The Voluntary Adoption Cascade
Voluntary adoption sounds like a paradox when you first hear it. Most companies approach adoption like a military…
Physical World Gamification Design
Physical world gamification is the hardest design challenge most practitioners never attempt. Most gamification design assumes a digital…
The Do Your Job Game Trap
Workplace gamification is one of those ideas that sounds brilliant until it implodes. I’ve seen it happen at…
Frequency-Based Strategy: Why Booking.com Tactics Kill Amazon
By Yu-kai Chou | Behavioral Design Insights Every day I see companies making the same mistake. They see…
Endgame Dead-Ends: Why Your Best Users Leave
There’s a moment in every habit-building product where your most engaged users suddenly disappear. Not because they hated…