Behavioral Science for Product and User Experience Design
8 Weeks
·Cohort-based Course
Create persuasive, habit-forming, and immersive experiences with the world's most actionable behavioral design framework.
Behavioral Science for Product and User Experience Design
8 Weeks
·Cohort-based Course
Create persuasive, habit-forming, and immersive experiences with the world's most actionable behavioral design framework.
Empowered with Behavioral Science:
Course overview
Unlock the Power of Behavioral Science to Design Better Experiences
The make it toolkit is the world's most comprehensive framework grounded in hundreds of books and research insights from thinkers, researchers, and practitioners.
“Designing for behavior change? This is the ultimate cheat sheet. Almost too good to be true!”
— Charley Cramer, Author of The Purpose Myth: Change the World, Not Your Job
READY TO MASTER IT? 🎓 🚀
You'll master a proven framework that makes applying psychology in your work work and life as easy as it can be.
Structured Learning Journey
We built the framework we wish we had when we started. Let us take you to a step-by-step journey that will help you connect all the dots.
Case Study Exploration
We are both educators and practitioners. Expect to learn from real world case studies across sectors and industries, both successful and less successful.
Hands-on Activities
You will experience hands-on individual and group exercises for you to apply directly the most important psychology principles to your project.
Office Hours
Office hours (optional to attend) on weekdays provide an opportunity to clarify concepts, receive feedback and support, and engage with both peers and instructors for enhanced learning.
High-Impact Resources.
Miss a class? No worries! We provide access to video recordings right after each session. Plus, enjoy 1-year access to all recordings, allowing you to revisit lessons, reinforce your understanding, and continue growing your knowledge.
Who is this course for
01
Product Managers, Entrepreneurs, and Marketers who want to understand human behavior and how you can persuade, engage, and retain customers
02
UX Designers or Gamification enthusiasts with or without prior experience who want to level up the psychology side of design.
.”
03
Behavior change professionals who are applying psychology insights in the digital space.
What you’ll get out of this course
Learn the 15 behavior change strategies of the Make it toolkit and 100+ tactics
Master proven strategies and tactics to design behavior-changing products, services, and interventions.
Gain hands-on experience with the Make It Toolkit in the context of digital experiences
Apply behavioral design principles to create engaging and impactful digital experiences.
Discover how to create habits and habit-forming systems
Learn to design systems that build habits and sustain long-term user engagement.
Discover how to create gamified and immersive experiences
Explore techniques to make experiences more interactive, motivating, and emotionally engaging through gamification and storytelling.
This course includes
8 interactive live sessions
Lifetime access to course materials
163 in-depth lessons
Direct access to instructor
Projects to apply learnings
Guided feedback & reflection
Private community of peers
Course certificate upon completion
Maven Satisfaction Guarantee
This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.
Behavioral Science for Product and User Experience Design
Course syllabus
Week 1
Apr
9
Session 1: Discover the Science behind Behavior
The Cohort - Introductions
Behavioral Design
Biases and Heuristics
The Five Laws of Human Behavior
Motivation Science
Practice: Self-applied Behavioral Science
Books to Read
Week 2
Apr
16
Session 2: Design with Intent
The Behavioral Design Process
Behavioral Design Approaches
The Make It Toolkit
Step 1: Define Key Outcome and Key Behavior
Step 2: Complete a Behavioral Audit
Transtheoretical Model (TTM)
Practice: Stages of Behavioral Change
Week 3
Apr
23
Session 3: Capture Attention and Design User Acquisition Strategies
Mastering the User Behavior Journey
Behavioral Audit
Behavioral Insight vs. Behavioral Intervention
Step 3: Design Behavioral Change Solution
The Psychology of Attention
Discovery Enrichment
Make It Easy + Tactics
Make It Obvious + Tactics
Make It Timely + Tactics
Make It Attractive + Tactics
Practice: Different Types of Design Intervention
Office Hours: Behavioral Persona and Journey Mapping
Week 4
Apr
30
Session 4: Think like a Game Designer
Homo Ludens
The DNA of Games: Interesting Challenges
Make It Achievable + Tactics
Make It Scarce + Tactics
Make It Immersive + Tactics
Make It Empowering + Tactics
Emergent Behavior/Behavior Dynamics
Game Design Canvas
Week 5
May
7
Session 5: Create Successful First Impressions and Onboarding
Crafting Seamless Experiences
Psychological Ownership
Game Thinking
Make It Tangible + Tactics
Make It Intriguing + Tactics
Make It Unexpected + Tactics
Make It Social + Tactics
Make It Yours + Tactics
Practice: Audit Onboarding and Play (BeatStar)
Week 6
May
14
Session 6: Build Habit-Forming Products
Introduction to Habit Science
Three Phases of the Experience
Feedback Systems
Reward Mechanisms
Make It Meaningful + Tactics
Achievement Design Canvas
Product Teardowns
Practice: Audit Onboarding and Play (Duolingo)
Practice: Deconstruct Engagement Loop (Beat Star)
Office Hours: Achievement Design Canvas and Streak Design Canvas
Week 7
May
21
Session 7: Integration of Behavioral Nudges in Product Strategy
Make It Aversive + Tactics
Comprehension, Purpose, and Mattering
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
Higher Level Themes
Steps 4 and 5 of Behavioral Change Process
Week 8
May
28
Session 8: Ethical and Meaningful Design
Practice: Reverse Engineer the Habit/Engagement Loop
Sustainable Engagement
Ethics in Nudges
Meaningful Experiences
What's Next?
What's the Make it Toolkit?
Vitaly Friedman
Eden Brownell
Tools and templates to make your life easier.
1 - Collaborative Ideation Board
Digital whiteboard with the digital version of the Make it Box for remote collaboration
2 - Make it Playbook
Your downloadable guide to revisit they key concepts, and get unstuck any time you communicate and design
3 - MakeitGPT
Your Make it toolkit Pro. Let me help you do some magic.
Behavior Strategy Canvas
Formulate a clear behavior design challenge as a North-Star for your project.
Get it now
What people are saying
Andreia Ferreira Ruivo
Smuk Landolf
Julian Rocholl
Bukky Olawepo
Premika PoSaw
Patricia Heemskerk
Matteo Argiolas
Reina Lee
Meet your instructors
John Gusiff
CX Strategist and Certified Make it Toolkit Behavioral Strategist
John is the Managing Partner at Customer Centric Solutions LLC, where he specializes in helping brands craft cohesive and meaningful experiences across all touchpoints to drive customer acquisition, deepen engagement, and build long-term loyalty. His approach is grounded in customer Jobs-to-be-Done research methods and behavioral science.
Massimo Ingegno
Creator of the Make it Toolkit and CEO, Make it Lab
Massimo has been defined as one of the world’s leading Behavior and Gamification Designers and has pioneered this field in Southeast Asia. Driven by the mission of making behavioral science more accessible and actionable, he has trained 2000+ design and business leaders and is currently advising the United Nations on behavioral science and AI.
David McCann
Behavioral Finance and COO, Make it Lab
David is global business leader with extensive and proven results in marketing, product design and culture change programs in high-growth Asian markets. He is focused on financial inclusion and accessible healthcare and uses behavioral design to build solutions.
Zac Fitz-Walter
PhD, Gamification, University Instructor and Consutlant
Zac is an established thought leader in the space of gamification, motivation and engagement design. He earned one of the world’s first PhDs in gamification design
FREE Make it Box ($490) - YES, FREE.
Frame your problem from a behavioral perspective
15 Barriers Cards to help you map and understand why your audience does what it does
FInd creative solutions faster
with the 15 Strategies and selected 45 Tactics Cards
Do it collaboratively
With additional cards for a fun and effective experience and a Facilitator Manual
*enroll by January 31 to claim YOUR free Make it Box.
FREE Make it Box ($490)
🎁 Enroll in the Make It Masterclass by January
When you join the Make It Masterclass, you’ll also receive a FREE Make It Box—your physical toolkit for behavioral design.
What’s Inside?
✔️ 15 Proven Strategies to influence behavior—grounded in behavioral science.
✔️ 45 Actionable Tactics to simplify brainstorming and turn ideas into impactful designs.
✔️ 15 Barriers to Action—insights into the common obstacles that block decisions and behaviors.
✔️ Facilitation Guides for collaborative design sessions—step-by-step instructions to
Reserve Now (end January 31)
Course schedule
4-5 hours per week
Weekly Interactive Sessions
Every Wednesday, 3:00pm - 6:00pm PST
3-hour interactive session
Office Hours and Deep Dives
Communicated Week-by Week
These include unstructured and friendly Office Hours to ask any questions as well as guest instructors for deep dives
Make it Toolkit Poster
🎯 Your Go-To Guide for Behavior Change—The 15 Strategies Poster!
Keep the 15 proven behavior design strategies from the Make It Toolkit by your side—perfect for brainstorming, planning, and designing impactful solutions.
Get this free resource
Learning is better with cohorts
Active hands-on learning
This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects
Interactive and project-based
You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams
Learn with a cohort of peers
Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you
The 15 Behavior Change Strategies and 45/300+ Tactics
45 behavioral tactics
Keep the 15 proven behavior change strategies and 45 actionable tactics from the Make It Toolkit at your fingertips—perfect for brainstorming, planning, and designing solutions that drive action.
Get it now