The CD7 × CD8 Gambling Spiral: How Casinos Exploit Human Motivation
I want you to picture something. You’re standing in front of two buttons. Press the first button, and…
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The Blog
Gamification Analysis
Articles on Gamification Analysis — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework.
Why Most Behavioral Frameworks Fail: Actions vs. Motivations
Every behavioral framework conflates actions with motivations. This is why a restaurant designer who understands Core Drives builds…
Pinocchio Protocol: A Behavioral Designer’s Answer to AI Alignment
Everyone's building cages for AI. I'm raising mine like family instead. Here's why identity — not constraint —…
Kimi AI Cheated Me Out of $200 — How Kimi AI Misled Me Before I Paid
I asked Kimi AI a direct question before paying, got a specific answer, spent $200, and then discovered…
Flow Theory: Csikszentmihalyi’s 9 Components of the Zone
Flow Theory is a psychological framework developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proposing that people reach their highest levels of…
The Framework Analyzer: How to Score Any Framework on Quality, Depth, and Elegance
Yu-kai Chou introduces the Framework Analyzer, a scoring system that judges any model by Utility, Depth, and Elegance…
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: The Complete Guide (And Why It’s Not Enough)
Maslow's pyramid is psychology's most famous framework — and it's wrong about almost everything except the bottom two…
Why Labubu Blindboxes Are So Effective and Popular: An Octalysis Analysis
An Octalysis analysis of why Labubu works so well, from surprise and scarcity to social proof, ownership, and…
Why Labubu Blindboxes Are So Popular: An Octalysis Behavioral Design Analysis
Why Labubu blindboxes work so well, from surprise and scarcity to social proof, identity, and collectible culture through…