The Sincere Apology Framework: Professional Relationship Repair Through Behavioral Design
A colleague I deeply respected cut off all contact with me. No warning. No conversation. Just silence, followed…
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The Blog
Gamification Analysis
Articles on Gamification Analysis — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework.
Lifestyle Inertia Design: The 5-Component Self-Gamification System That Replaces Willpower
Every productivity system I’ve encountered makes the same fundamental error: it treats procrastination as a character flaw and…
Invest in Your Future Self: The Anti-Carpe Diem Philosophy
I strongly dislike the movie Dead Poets Society. Not because it’s poorly made. It’s beautifully crafted. Robin Williams…
The Law of Small Numbers: Why Your Brain Fails at Statistics
I teach behavioral design for a living. I’ve spent two decades studying what makes people do things. And…
Graduated Achievement Design: Stars, Badges, and Collection Sets
Here’s the problem with most achievement systems: they exist on a single dimension. You either earned the badge…
Why Every Motivation Framework Is Missing Half the Picture
Every few years, a new motivation framework captures the business world’s imagination. Daniel Pink’s Drive. Ryan and Deci’s…
3 Types of Motivation That Explain All Human Behavior
I’ve spent twenty years mapping the types of motivation that drive every human decision. And for most of…
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…