Progress and momentum
Endowed progress effect
Starting people partway along makes more of them finish.
Limited evidenceSupporting studies exist, but they are few and conditions matter.
Example
More people completed a 10-stamp card with 2 stamps already filled than an empty 8-stamp card. Both needed 8 more stamps.
Why it works
A goal already underway feels like one’s own, and starting further along the goal gradient helps people finish.
On the web
After sign-up, start the profile meter at "2 of 6 done" by counting steps people actually finished, such as confirming their email.
When it backfires
Showing progress nobody made is misleading. Count only steps users really completed.
Sources
In a 300-customer car-wash study, 34% redeemed a 10-stamp card with 2 stamps prefilled versus 19% with an empty 8-stamp card.
Nunes, J. C., & Drèze, X. (2006). The endowed progress effect: How artificial advancement increases effort. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(4), 504-512. Open source
Connect with the classics
These links are editorial readings, not research findings. Check the original meaning on each classics page.
譬如平地，雖覆一簣，進，吾往也。Even one basket of earth on level ground is progress, and it is mine. Counting a small start as one’s own progress is the endowed progress effect.
The Analects Zi Han: change and persistence →