The Zeigarnik Effect & why is it important for your digital products
Human psychology to perfect your user experience!
Ever noticed a thriller web series where the episode ends at unfinished business and you want to go back to see what happens next? Or an itch to open that unread email or solve an unsolved puzzle ? That’s itch or feeling is called The Zeigarnik Effect and today companies are using it secretly to make habit-forming products, to get you back to their products and use it again.
People remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.
People hate the tension created by incomplete tasks.
That’s why we remember them better or take action to complete them.
This principle can be applied to any product that wants to help people complete harder tasks.
Now let’s understand how some top digital products have used this principle to solve complex challenges.
- LinkedIn used this principle to solve one of its biggest onboarding issues
And when the point is you need a complete professional resume, you need to have a good solution…Let’s see how Linkedin solved it.
And… they coupled it with another principle — Guess which ?
Endowed Progress Effect
As shown above, if you give people a sense of progress from the start, they will be more likely to have the motivation to complete a task. Progress bars can help motivate the users by informing them how close they are to their goal. In short, you want to give your users a head start whenever you can.
2. Memrise used these principles to help users increase their knowledge base seamlessly…
The other day I was looking to learn German language and came across Memrise. Can you guess what helped me retain my interest throughout the course? Yes, the clear view of the remaining steps. Also, during my onboarding I was made to learn few words, which motivated me to complete the remaining course.
When the “Zegarnik Effect” is combined with the“Endowed Progress Effect”, it helps in achieving more impactful experience.
Now, to make sure you can apply the Zeigarnik effect ethically to your product — I have listed down few Do’s and Don’ts.
DON’T use the Zeigarnik Effect if it’s:
- Too short: Don’t sacrifice the joy of completing a task.
- Too easy: Also, don’t over-design something that can be accomplished rapidly.
- Unethical: Make sure it is not used repeatedly (or too often). So you don’t hold people hostage.
- Make sure the first steps are actual steps people took (when using Endowed Progress Effect).
- Don’t fake steps, so you don’t have to start at zero. Make sure to provide an endpoint. Don’t keep a task “open” forever by always adding new milestones.
DO use the Zeigarnik Effect if…
- The goal is within reach: In other words, if you people are close to finishing a task, make sure you reward them with the right information (as shown in the Memrise example).
- Make sure to show previously completed tasks.
- Highlight what’s left to complete.
2. The task is complex or hard: If you have a product that’s more complex or that needs more intense focused tasks, make sure to support people in their effort:
- Remind them of how far they’ve come.
- Take them by the hand and try to specifically mention how they can go to the next step in their journey. Don’t let them guess.
3. The task is core to your product: If you have a key task that people absolutely need to go through in order to understand what your product is all about, try to find ways to incorporate this principle within the interaction.
Key Takeaways
So when you next design your product show the users that they have not completed their tasks like haven’t filled their profile info, tell them that something is pending like they need to connect to friend, recommend the service they have been using, an unfinished playlist of songs, drafts in a pending blog post etc.
Keep the motivation high with the reward post completion of tasks and then bring up another task for them to complete. Keep the cycle to keep the users coming back to the product.
I hope you found this article helpful. If you’ve come across any more examples of this effect, let me know in the comments. I have added a few references at the end of this article if you wish to dive deeper into this topic.
Happy Reading !
References
- The impact of progress indicators on task completion
- Zeigarnik Effect
- How Uber uses psychology to perfect their customer experience
- An Overview of the Zeigarnik Effect and Memory
About me
I currently work at OLX Autos as a Product designer. I would love to connect to talk more about design. Here’s where to find me on Linkedin and Instagram.
