Goal-Setting Theory: An S-Tier Guide to Locke & Latham
Short answer: Goal-Setting Theory holds that specific, difficult goals produce higher performance than vague goals, easy goals, or…
Work with Yu-kai
The Blog
Gamification Analysis
Articles on Gamification Analysis — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework.
The Onboarding Mistake That Kills Innovative Products
I watched an innovative product’s onboarding fail in real time last year. The app looked like a small…
Why Did a Missing Horse Skin Make Me Actually Sad? A Live Octalysis Autopsy of Heroes of the Storm
A live Octalysis autopsy of Heroes of the Storm: why a missing horse skin made me sad, why…
Why Do User Surveys Lie? The Four Layers of Desire
Ask ten people in 2009 whether they’d spend three hours a day clicking on virtual cows, and ten…
Is Your Gamification Worth the Friction It Adds?
Every gamification layer you add costs your users something nobody measures. We call it efficiency loss: the friction…
Which Core Drive Should You Use at Each Difficulty Level?
A few years ago a Norwegian university brought me in with a problem that sounded like a bad…
Why Most Certifications Are Worthless (And How to Fix Them)
I have a confession that probably shouldn’t be a confession. I think most professional certifications are worthless, and…
Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion: S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion are the most widely taught compliance framework in marketing, sales, and behavioral science:…
Why Users Can’t Leave: How Personalization Creates the Ultimate Switching Cost
Have you ever thought about switching from Spotify to Apple Music, then realized you’d lose years of perfectly…