Emperor’s Dilemma: Why Your AI Agrees With You (and How I Make Mine Fight)
The Emperor's Dilemma is a scoring rule for AI agents: a model earns points for catching a real…
Work with Yu-kai
The Blog
Gamification Analysis
Articles on Gamification Analysis — from Yu-kai Chou, creator of the Octalysis Framework.
AI Motivation Design: The Complete 2026 Framework
The first time an AI told me I was doing great, I almost thanked it out loud. That…
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation: The Complete Framework (and Why Rewards Backfire)
Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation: clear definitions, the overjustification effect, when rewards help or backfire, and the Octalysis Left-Brain/Right-Brain…
AI Companion Apps, Loneliness, and the Way Back to Humans
AI companion apps relieve loneliness for minutes, then stall. Yu-kai Chou maps why the comfort fades and 7…
Lewin’s Change Management: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Kurt Lewin never packaged a three-step model, and the metaphor he actually used was a river. What he…
Agentic Commerce: Designing for Buyers Who Aren’t Human
74% of shoppers would trust an AI agent over their best friend to buy for them. Only 12%…
Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Most transformations don’t die in a dramatic showdown. They dissolve quietly, somewhere between the kickoff town hall and…
Management by Objectives: An S-Tier Behavioral Designer’s Guide
Walk into almost any company on the planet and you will find some version of the same ritual.…
AI and Employee Motivation: Why the AI-Fluent Quit First
AI and employee motivation are colliding: your most AI-fluent people score highest on engagement and highest on intent…