The application of behavioral science to product, learning, and engagement design.
Episode Summary Rob Alvarez argues that content alone cannot sustain an online community and identifies three “engines” that turn passive followers into committed members: recognition (being seen, heard, and valued), shared language (in-group rituals, memes, and phrases that build identity), and the third space […]
Build a thriving, monetized community—without chasing members or cranking out content 24/7. Join us for free: 🏡 professorgame.com/freecommunity-web Vice President at Unity and author of The Career Game Loop, Jessica Lindl shares how game-based strategies build better communities, improve retention, and drive real […]
Episode Summary Rob Alvarez explains how he grew his Skool community to over 140 members with zero ad spend, using three game-inspired strategies: leveraging existing social media presence with a clear CTA (such as a free YouTube titles spreadsheet), exploiting platform discovery features (citing […]
Episode Summary Sarah Iverson, founder of Curious Sunshine, describes how she designs play-based wellness experiences (including a virtual wellness escape room called The Labyrinth of Mystery released in June) that pair puzzle-solving with goal-setting exercises. She walks through her design process (start from the […]
Health and Safety 🔥 training is a drag and ineffective or expensive and dangerous ☠️… Or is it? Check out what’s possible with our sponsor Ludus and their Free Guide: professorgame.com/free-ludus-guide Episode Summary Testing five of Ludus’s standalone VR/AR health and safety simulations […]
Don’t guess your next title – get the proven ones for free: 👉 professorgame.com/YT-Title-Spreadsheet Episode Summary Rob Alvarez reports back from hiring five growth experts to build playbooks for the same community and distills their advice into three pre-onboarding levers for YouTube content: titles, […]
Book a free 1:1 call to create your personalized gamification game plan: 🎯 professorgame.com/discoverycall Episode Summary Kerry Flanagan-Owen, Senior Manager of Learning Design at the Bill of Rights Institute, describes how her team (collaborating with Game Genius designers Roddy McKenzie and Peter Williamson) built […]
Episode Summary Drawing on Peter Gray’s “A Brief History of Education,” Rob Alvarez argues that modern schooling was engineered for compliance and obedience to serve agricultural and industrial labor needs, not to develop free thinkers. He maps the resulting dynamic onto game design (extrinsic […]
🚀 Want your community buzzing and bringing in more revenue? Snag my free mini course with 3 killer gamification hacks: professorgame.com/freebie-3-gamification-hacks Episode Summary Alex Suchman, CEO of Barometer XP, argues that play at work has been miscast as frivolous when it is actually the […]
Episode Summary Elisa Navarro Chinchilla, CEO of Gold Bug Interactive, argues that a serious game’s core mechanic must be bound to the learning itself. Anything else produces “chocolate-covered broccoli” where a platformer pauses to ask quiz questions. She walks through the production cycle from […]