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Episode Summary
Rob breaks down adoption target difficulty, showing why login counts cannot tell you whether a goal is set right. He covers a 2026 Journal of Marketing Research study of the Australian micro-investing app Raiz Invest and a randomized test in a popular free-to-play puzzle game, drawing on both to explain why missed targets are associated with lower retention a year later. Listeners learn to measure the valuable action instead of the login and how to re-tune difficulty for each person.
About the Host
Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
Key Takeaways
A 2026 Journal of Marketing Research study of the investing app Raiz found a goal feature helped most users but left a substantial segment no better or worse off, a split linked to how hard each goal was for the person.
In Raiz's email test, five message versions went to 10,000 customers each; among the 329 who adopted within two weeks, suggesting a recurring amount beat plain goal setting, while suggesting only an end goal did not.
Login counts did not differ across any Raiz test group, so a login-based metric would have missed what people were actually doing in the app, which is the valuable action a business needs to track.
In a randomized test of about 330,000 puzzle-game players, easier boards for players who had been playing less lifted win rates about 14 points and added about 10 rounds over 30 days; they used fewer boosters per round, yet total spending rose, against the company's expectation.
Missed targets were associated with lower retention a year later, a horizon that a seven-week test or a sprint review would never catch, which is why Rob recommends tracking the miss rate by segment and by period.
Core Drive 3 (Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback) acts as the feedback loop that keeps Core Drive 2 (Development & Accomplishment) meaningful when difficulty is re-tuned for each person.
Topics Covered
0:00 - Who set the bar on your last adoption target?
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