Podcast Summary
Podcast: The Digital Executive
Episode: Building Products People Love: Tetiana Kobzar on Gamification, Data-Driven Design, and Startup Growth | Ep 1127
Date: October 15, 2025
Host: Brian (Coruzant Technologies)
Guest: Tetiana Kobzar, Founder of Diversito & Cure Range
Episode Overview
This episode features Tetiana Kobzar, an accomplished technologist and product strategist known for helping startups turn their ideas into beloved, effective products. The conversation dives into Tetiana’s journey from hands-on coder to founder, practical applications of gamification in digital products, the importance of data-driven design, and actionable advice for startup founders. The focus is on building products people genuinely want by understanding motivation, user behavior, and minimal viable product (MVP) strategy.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Transitioning from Developer to Business Leader
[01:35]
- Tetiana describes the internal challenges of moving from tech contributor to business leader.
- Biggest shift: Realizing "just doing a great tech is not enough."
- She had to educate herself in business, marketing, sales, finance, and HR.
- Delegation is tough: She learned to "delegate but control"—gradually trusting others with more responsibility but maintaining oversight.
Quote:
“The biggest difficulty was to transition from the developer, from project manager to a business owner... all those areas I needed to educate myself about.” — Tetiana Kobzar [01:40]
2. Gamification Beyond Points and Badges
[03:56]
- Tetiana’s roots as a game developer shaped her philosophy on user engagement.
- She emphasizes that gamification is about motivating emotions, not just features.
- Real-world impact:
- Children's Hospital UK: Developed gamified speech therapy apps for kids—boosting their engagement and practice at home.
- Elderly Cognitive Testing: For a California startup, replaced boring cognitive tests with 29 mini-games—making users “much more motivated to do their best.”
- Gamification enhances both child and elderly user experiences, proving “it’s not just for kids.”
Quote:
“That’s the most important thing: how users feel using your application... their motivation to perform their desired action.” — Tetiana Kobzar [04:32]
“This also proves that gamification is not only for kids... they were anyway much more motivated to do the test.” — Tetiana Kobzar [06:33]
3. Data-Driven Design and Feedback Loops
[08:01]
- Measuring user behavior is central: “We cannot improve something we are not measuring.”
- Early implementation of logging and analytics is crucial, even if the data isn’t used right away.
- Track where users drop off, which screens frustrate them, and pivot accordingly.
- Applies hypothesis-driven development: Every feature is an assumption to test, not just build.
Quote:
“That’s what I always recommend: to start with the logging as soon as possible... Even if you are not going to process it right now.” — Tetiana Kobzar [08:33]
“Any feature, any idea, it should be treated as a hypothesis... never just invent some feature and go for it without a measurable goal.” — Tetiana Kobzar [10:26]
4. Practical Advice: Tools, Mindsets, and Common Mistakes for Founders
[11:58]
- Always start with a minimal viable product (MVP): Minimal, but actually viable.
- Focus on ONE core feature that makes the product unique.
- Avoid over-building—founders often get carried away trying to fit too many ideas in v1.
- Think beyond development:
- User acquisition is frequently overlooked, but “getting new users is very hard and expensive.”
- Have at least a rough plan for post-launch user growth and engagement.
- Founders with prior experience are “much more structured” in distribution planning.
Quote:
“What is the main feature... Why users would want to try it? But let’s have only one main feature first.” — Tetiana Kobzar [12:28]
"It’s not enough to build very good software for people to use it... you need to gain this critical mass of users to start the organic growth." — Tetiana Kobzar [14:08]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Growth and Delegation:
"You need to learn to delegate, you need to learn to trust, but not just give everything to the person and never check... you delegate but you control, and then delegate bigger chunks." — Tetiana Kobzar [02:35]
- On the True Value of Gamification:
"Keeping the emotions and motivation in mind... that's a way to do software." — Tetiana Kobzar [07:00]
- On Measuring User Behavior:
"You need to analyze this data also as often as possible... [Any feature] should be treated as a hypothesis." — Tetiana Kobzar [09:15]
- On Standing Out in the Market:
"There is so much noise now, so many... hundreds of new apps appear on the App Store every day... even if your idea is awesome, you need to gain this critical mass." — Tetiana Kobzar [14:02]
Timestamps of Important Segments
- 00:55 – Guest introduction and greetings
- 01:35 – Challenges of transitioning from coder to entrepreneur
- 03:56 – Real-world examples of gamification making a difference
- 08:01 – The necessity of measuring and analyzing user behavior
- 11:58 – Tetiana’s recommendations for early-stage founders (MVP, common pitfalls, user acquisition)
- 14:44 – Final thoughts on critical mass and organic growth
Recap & Takeaways
Tetiana Kobzar advocates for a product development approach centered on emotion, measurement, and focus. She urges founders to:
- Embrace both emotional and technical sides of digital products,
- Measure and iterate continuously,
- Start lean with a clear, compelling MVP,
- And never underestimate the challenge of user acquisition.
Her lived experience in both technical and business arenas offers a pragmatic, inspiring blueprint for founders aiming to build products that delight and endure.