Every episode of the Professor Game podcast, hosted by Rob Alvarez of The Octalysis Group. Honest breakdowns of gamification, behavioral design, and the Octalysis Framework, applied to real products, retention, and engagement. New episodes weekly, plus interviews with leading experts.
My Barber Beats Airline Miles At Loyalty | Episode 446
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real products: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Rob breaks down why the most durable loyalty has almost nothing to do with points, contrasting a typical airline miles program with a neighborhood barber who […]
Stop Overthinking in 90 Seconds with the “Brain Huddle” Trick | Episode 445
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real products: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Victoria Ichizli-Bartels, author of fourteen books on gameful living and coiner of the term “self-gamification,” explores how the role of the tabletop RPG game master maps […]
Why a Gamification Expert HATES Duolingo’s Strategy | Episode 444
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real products: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Tetiana Kobzar, product designer with 18 years of experience and creator of the Comportance Framework, joins Rob to share how behavioral design turns clinical and educational […]
What UI Designers DON’T Tell You About User Onboarding | Episode 443
Most apps lose 77% of their users within the first three days because they treat onboarding like a tax audit instead of a human journey. In this episode, Rob Alvarez breaks down why your “helpful” 15-step toolkit might actually be causing cognitive friction and driving users away. By moving from function-focused design to human-focused design, you can transform a bounce into a lifelong advocate. Rob explores the “Christmas Magic Mistake,” the “Hello World” principle for instant wins, and the “Miyagi Method” of scaffolding to ensure your users actually want to come back for Day 2.
From Grand Theft Auto to Fighting Dementia | Episode 442
Identify the exact strategies Sharon and Rob discussed so you can start increasing engagement in your own projects today. Grab our Core Drives in the Wild guide for free professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Sharon Wood, who launched the original Grand Theft Auto in 1996 on […]