Behavioral science validation for digital game design

Key takeaway

This was a white paper titled "The Power of Ritual: Exploring the Science, Psychology, and Neuroscience Behind Rituals in The Verse" that became the nonprofit’s north star for product strategy and a flagship thought‑leadership asset, fueling direct adoption of its core framework in the organization’s new behavioral change toolkit.

Challenge

Scope

Client

Approach

Results

An early stage digital nonprofit startup for improving human flourishing

Research the breadth of neurscientific, psychological, and anthropological literature on how to encourage stickiness of healthy behaviors.

The nonprofit aimed to create gamified experiences to improve flourishing through real human connection. In a crowded space, they needed a scholarly edge to stand out. With no external funding, research had to be cost‑neutral.

Internal data audit: organized the important data about this topic that the leadership team had already conducted.

Literature review: conducted a scoping review of 120+ peer-reviewed articles on lasting behavior change and identified possible mechanisms. Then focused deep dive into the most actionable concept, synthesizing 90 empirical research papers.

Deliverable: 20‑page PDF, hierarchical organization, executive summary, and an annotated bibliography for transparency.

The white paper became a foundational basis from which three main product lines were developed, woven into each new iteration of the MVP. It served as the actionable blueprint that turned mission into measurable product strategy, all while amplifying brand credibility on a bootstrap budget.