The eight-core-drive gamification framework developed by Yu-kai Chou.
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real corporate cases: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Rob breaks down why enterprise AI adoption stalls even with paid licenses and training, while a group of students beat a locked, proctored exam with […]
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 […]
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.
Don’t experiment on your own revenue with broken game mechanics. Get our guide “Core Drives in the Wild” to learn how to apply real behavioral science to your product: professorgame.com/WildCD Episode Summary Rob Alvarez breaks down three “engagement leaks” that cause products to lose […]
Wondering if Octalysis fits your challenge? Quick intro chat → professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Joris Beerda, CEO and co-founder of The Octalysis Group, walks through the five-step Octalysis design process and argues that IDEO-style human-centered design produces intuitive but not repeatedly engaging products. He distinguishes […]
If you’re implementing AI and want to realize that promised ROI, let’s see if Octalysis fits → professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Rob Alvarez argues that AI implementation in 2026 is a behavioral problem and not a technical one, and that most AI rollouts fail because […]
Have a product challenge around retention? Quick intro chat → professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Applying the Octalysis Framework to personal career development, arguing that real-life growth feels invisible because win states are spaced too far apart, and that breaking goals into quests with defined win […]
I’ve interviewed hundreds of experts and now lead Engagement Strategy (EU) at The Octalysis Group. If you want help applying this, start here: professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Rob Alvarez introduces the Octalysis Framework as a 101 walkthrough, contrasting function-focused design (which assumes people will do […]
Curious if Octalysis fits your engagement challenge? Quick intro chat: professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Rob Alvarez breaks down “confirm shaming,” the dark pattern where opt-out buttons are worded to make users feel stupid, guilty, or irresponsible for declining a desired action. The hook: a […]
Aiming for sustainable retention? Intro chat (no sales pitch): professorgame.com/chat Episode Summary Rob Alvarez marks the eighth anniversary of Professor Game with a retrospective on 420 episodes, roughly 400 guests, and the consistency that took the show from a launch his mother doubted could […]