product-engagement-designlisted

# Product Engagement Design ## When To Use - A product concept depends on repeated behavior, retention loops, or activation momentum - The team is proposing streaks, badges, levels, rewards, social proof, nudges, or other gamified mechanics - A PRD includes behavior-shaping mechanics that need ethical guardrails and counter-metrics - The question is not "should we build this feature?" but "how should the behavior loop work without harming trust?" - The problem involves a freemium model, PLG conversion funnel, activation mechanics, onboarding-to-value flow, or in-context upsell design — load `references/plg-flow-design.md` ## Key Concepts - **Behavior loop**: trigger -> action -> reward -> investment - **Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation**: amplify existing user value before adding rewards - **Progression design**: levels, badges, streaks, and milestones only help when they reinforce real product progress - **Counter-metrics**: track harm signals alongside engagement lift - **Ethical guardrails**: avoid coercion, fake urgency, exploitative loss aversion, and hollow achievements - **Show, Don't Tell**: design the user path so value is experienced before it is pitched — apply to activation flows, freemium onboarding, and in-context upsell placement. The free experience must be genuinely valuable, not a crippled version of the paid product. See `references/plg-flow-design.md`. - **Deceptive design taxonomy**: formal categories of manipulative interface patterns — Trick Wording