Publications
Publications
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(32)
- Faculty Publications (5)
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- 2025
- Working Paper
Emotional Manipulation by AI Companions
By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp and Ahmet Kaan-Uğuralp
AI-companion apps such as Replika, Chai, and Character.ai promise relational benefits—yet many boast session lengths that rival gaming platforms while suffering high long-run churn. What conversational design features increase consumer engagement, and what trade-offs... View Details
- July 2023
- Case
Honeycomb
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Kumba Sennaar
Honeycomb, an audio app enabling seniors to record stories and save family memories, suddenly draws interest from a younger user demographic. The co-founders consider pivoting to better serve this new user demographic. How should they think about strategy, brand, and... View Details
- January 2023
- Teaching Note
Duolingo: Teaching Languages to the Masses
By: Youngme Moon
Teaching Note for HBS Case 323-016. At the time the case is written, Duolingo is the most popular language learning service in the world. The company has more than 40 million monthly active users, and the company’s total annual revenue has reached $250 million a year.... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing
digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to
progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details
- Forthcoming
- Article
Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games
By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge
One of the most significant levers available to gaming companies in designing digital games is
setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the
game. This aspect is particularly significant in free-to-play (F2P)... View Details