We at myCred always try to find new ways to interact with Gamification Experts that have revolutionized the world as we know it.
Last week, we were lucky enough to have the creator of the Octalysis Framework, Yu-Kai Chou, as our guest on Twitter.
Today, we will review our twinterview with Yu-Kai and his take on topics like Octalysis Framework, Octalysis Prime, Actionable Gamification, and Gamification’s role in enhancing user experience.
Before we start, let’s take a look at the career of one of the most popular and active gamification experts in the world.
Yu-kai Chou is an Author and International Keynote Speaker on Gamification and Behavioral Design. He is the Original Creator of the Octalysis Framework and the author of Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards.
He is currently Founder Partner/Chief Creation Officer of The Octalysis Group and Chief OP Mentor of Octalysis Prime, a Gamified Mentorship Platform.
Yu-Kai has been a keynote speaker at Google, Tesla, Stanford University, LEGO, TEDx, Boston Consulting Group, and many others.
He has been awarded the “Gamification Guru of the Year” award in 2014, 2015, and 2017 by the World Gamification Congress & the Gamification Europe Conference.
One of the earliest pioneers in Gamification, Yu-Kai started his work in the industry in 2003. Since then, he has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as LEGO, Google, Volkswagen/Porsche, Accenture, eBay, Huawei, Fidelity, AIG Japan, Verizon, Ericsson, and Cisco.
Without further ado, let’s move to the twinterview question and answer sessions.
myCRED TWINTERVIEW WITH YU-KAI CHOU
Tweet #1: What inspired you to be leading gamification and behavioral design expert?
Mention: Ha – was never inspired to be a “leading expert.” In 2003 I became really interested in making important activities fun so I would no longer need to play games but actually focus on improving my life by treating it like a game. One thing leads to another 🙂
Ha – was never inspired to be a “leading expert.” In 2003 I became really interested in making important activities fun so I would no longer need to play games but actually focus on improving my life by treating it like a game. One thing lead to another 🙂
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#2: Can you give a short intro to OCTALYSIS FRAMEWORK to myCred followers?
Mention: Octalysis is a gamification/behavioral design framework where I break down all human motivation into 8 Core Drives.
https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/
It divides between White Hat (in-control, lack urgency), Black Hat (lack control, urgent/obsessive), Extrinsic (results-oriented), and Intrinsic (experience-oriented).
It’s also been cited in over 1500 academic journals and Ph.D. thesis:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=octalysis&btnG=
It divides between White Hat (in-control, lack urgency), Black Hat (lack control, urgent/obsessive), Extrinsic (results-oriented), and Intrinsic (experience-oriented).
It’s also been cited in over 1500 academic journals and PhD thesis: https://t.co/zV6qdd8Jfk
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#3: What is your opinion, how gamification enhances USER EXPERIENCE?
Mention: Since games are purely about the user experience and nothing else (there is no other purpose for the game besides creating an experience, unlike banking/fitness/productivity apps), by applying game design to those important things, those are enhanced.
Since games are purely about the user experience and nothing else (there is no other purpose for the game besides create an experience, unlike banking/fitness/productivity apps), by applying game design to those important things, those are enhanced.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#4: You have already been honored to be a key motivational speaker to many reputable universities and companies? Which place and audience did you like the most?
Mention: I really enjoy all the places I spoke at. I think my favorite was when I was doing a workshop at LEGO in Denmark and a LEGO employee told me years ago he saw my speech which motivated him to quit his job, move to Denmark and work for LEGO. That was fun to hear.
I really enjoy all the places I spoke at. I think my favorite was when I was doing a workshop at LEGO in Denmark and a LEGO employee told me years ago he saw my speech which motivated him to quit his job, move to Denmark and work for LEGO. That was fun to hear.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#5: You have been awarded ‘Gamification Guru of the year’ several times! How do you manage such consistency?
Mention: I think just consistently outputting quality content and work. But all-in-all the community has been very kind to recognize my work and contributions. It’s good to not focus on the recognition and be passionately focused on creating value.
I think just consistently outputting quality content and work. But all-in-all the community has been very kind to recognize my work and contributions. It’s good to not focus on the recognition and be passionately focused on creating value.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#6: What does OCTALYSIS PRIME do?
Mention: Octalysis Prime is my biggest project where I created a Gamified Education Platform to teach everything I know about Gamification. It now has over 900 videos of my most cutting-edge work (and beginner stuff). My 500-page book literally covers only 5% of the knowledge on OP.
Octalysis Prime is my biggest project where I created a Gamified Education Platform to teach everything I know about Gamification. It now has over 900 videos of my most cutting edge work (and beginner stuff). My 500 page book literally covers only 5% of the knowledge on OP.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
It has a DAU/MAU of 39%, and many members have been returning every single day for 3 years without fail. It also has a vibrant community plus a ton of game techniques to experience while learning about gamification.
It has a DAU/MAU of 39%, and many members have been returning every single day for 3 years without fail. It also has a vibrant community plus a ton of game techniques to experience while learning about gamification.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#7: Recommend your favorite books on gamification?
Mention: I tend to like the classics on human psychology (and some on game design) more, but I’d say Jane McGonigal’s two books Reality is Broken and SuperBetter are amazing and highly recommended.
I tend to like the classics on human psychology (and some on game design) more, but I’d say Jane McGonigal’s two books Reality is Broken and SuperBetter are amazing and highly recommended.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Tweet#8: Share your hobbies and favorite movie with myCred followers?
Mention: Favorite Movies: Brave Heart, Amadeus, Devil’s Advocate, Snatch, Rain Man, Dark Knight.
Favorite Hobbies: Chess, Games, Movies, Writing Music, Creating frameworks, rolling around on the floor trying to think about something
Favorite Movies: Brave Heart, Amadeus, Devil’s Advocate, Snatch, Rain Man, Dark Knight.
Favorite Hobbies: Chess, Games, Movies, Writing Music, Creating frameworks, rolling around on the floor trying to think about something.
— Yu-kai Chou (@yukaichou) August 23, 2021
Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/my_cred/status/1429726373015396361
TIME TO SIGN OUT
myCred and Yu-Kai Chou both had fun with this brief twinterview. We would like to thank Yu-Kai for taking the time out for this interview.
