Start
Setup checklist
Effort: Medium
What to notice
A five-item checklist on the first screen ticks off as items are done.
How to build it
- Reduce the path to first value to three to five steps.
- Show the time each takes and link straight to the right screen.
- Show the same list on the next visit if people stop midway.
Measure
- Main metric
- Checklist completion rate
- Guardrail
- Share who dismiss the checklist
When it backfires
Too many items make the unfinished count feel heavy. Let people dismiss or postpone it.
Theory behind it
Unfinished tasks (Zeigarnik and Ovsiankina)
People tend to return to interrupted tasks. The famous claim that unfinished tasks are remembered better did not hold up in a meta-analysis.
Contested
Goal-gradient effect
People speed up as they get closer to a goal.
Well supported
Goal-setting theory
Specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than "do your best."
Well supported