People work harder to finish a goal when they are already part of the way there.
Start a progress bar or checklist with the steps the person has genuinely already completed.
The endowed progress effect was described by the researchers Joseph Nunes and Xavier Drèze in a 2006 paper in the Journal of Consumer Research. In their field study at a car wash, some customers got a loyalty card needing eight stamps, and others got a card needing ten with two stamps already on it. Both groups had to buy eight times. Over about nine months, 34% of customers with the pre-stamped card redeemed it, compared with 19% of those who started with an empty card.
A new project tool shows a five-step setup checklist. Version one starts at 0 of 5. Version two counts the account the person has just created as step one, so it starts at 1 of 5. The remaining work is identical, but the second version looks started instead of distant, and people are more likely to carry on. Loyalty cards, profile-completion bars and course dashboards use the same idea.
When progress cannot honestly be counted, leave it out. A fake head start on something the person has to do for themselves, like a compliance form, reads as manipulation. It also fades when the goal is not wanted: a head start will not make people want a task they do not value.
Look at the first screen of your checklist or progress bar. Is every step shown as complete something the person really did? If you cannot explain each one, remove it.
People are more motivated to finish a goal when they are already partway to it, even when the head start is small. The goal feels closer, so they are more likely to carry on.
In a 2006 field study by Nunes and Drèze, customers got a loyalty card needing eight stamps, or a card needing ten with two already stamped. Both needed eight purchases. Over about nine months, 34% of the pre-stamped group redeemed the card, compared with 19% of the other group.
Start a checklist or progress bar with the steps the person has genuinely already done, such as creating an account, then show the next step clearly.
Not if the progress is real. Counting something the person actually did is honest. Inventing progress they did not make is manipulative, and people usually notice.
Endowed progress is a head start at the beginning. The goal gradient effect is that people speed up as they get closer to the finish. They work well together.
A project tool shows new users a five-step setup checklist that starts at 0 of 5. Few people finish it, and many stop after the first step.