Users abandon onboarding checklists
Show 2 of 5 steps already done. The endowed progress effect makes people want to finish what's started.
When to use
You have a multi-step onboarding flow with measurable drop-off.
Hypothesis template
If we show onboarding progress starting at fill in: X% instead of 0%, more users will complete it because they feel invested already.
Method
The problem: Users see "Step 1 of 5" and think "this is going to take
forever." They bounce before starting.
The psychology: The endowed progress effect. A car wash study found that a
card needing 8 stamps with 2 already stamped had 34% higher completion than a card
needing 6 stamps with none stamped. Same remaining effort, different psychology.
How Duolingo and others use this:
- Show "2 of 5 complete" on first login
- Credit them for signing up, verifying email, etc.
- The progress bar is already 40% full before they do anything new
Why it works:
- Sunk cost: "I've already started, might as well finish"
- Less daunting: 3 steps feels better than 5
- Momentum: feels like winning from the start
How to do it:
- Break onboarding into 5-8 steps
- Credit the first 2-3 for actions already taken (signup, email verify, profile)
- Show visual progress prominently
- Celebrate completion with confetti/badge
- A/B test: 0% start vs pre-filled start
Result: Studies show 10%+ improvement in completion rates.
Success metrics
- •Onboarding completion rate
- •Drop-off at each step
- •Time to complete onboarding
- •A/B: headstart vs no headstart
Prerequisites
- Multi-step onboarding
- Progress visualization
- A/B testing capability
Common pitfalls
- •Fake progress that feels dishonest
- •Too many total steps
- •No actual value in completing steps
Source: Endowed progress effect research. Read more
Suggested ICE scores
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