Persuasive Patterns: Influence
Intentional Gaps
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
Intentional Gaps is a persuasive technique that uses deliberate omissions or ambiguities in information to prompt users to seek out the missing pieces. By strategically withholding certain details, designers drive users to explore further, learn more, or participate actively to resolve these gaps.
Imagine a teacher organizing a scavenger hunt. The map marks several locations but leaves out the final destination. Each clue offers a piece of the puzzle, and the last clue requires combining all previous information. Students engage deeply with every clue, discuss theories with peers, and push forward – driven by the urge to fill in the missing endpoint.
The same dynamic plays out in digital products. A mobile mystery game presents each level ending with a cliffhanger that hints at the next stage, but details about the final level are deliberately omitted. Players progress through each level to piece together the story, each completion providing just enough information to keep them intrigued while always leaving one question unanswered.
The study: Unfinished tasks stick in memory
In the 1920s, Zeigarnik observed that waiters remembered unpaid orders better than paid ones. Follow-up experiments confirmed the pattern: people recall uncompleted or interrupted tasks more readily than completed ones. The finding – now known as the Zeigarnik Effect – explains why leaving tasks intentionally incomplete drives people to return and achieve closure.
Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Über das Behalten von erledigten und unerledigten Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung, 9(1), 1-85.
The formal study of curiosity as a psychological trigger began with Zeigarnik’s work in the 1920s. This foundation was later formalized as Information Gap Theory: when people become aware of a gap between what they know and what they want to know, they experience curiosity as a form of deprivation that compels action. The gap creates psychological tension that can only be resolved by acquiring the missing information.
This mechanism is particularly effective in digital environments where user actions – clicks, views, return visits – are pivotal. By strategically withholding details or ending narratives with cliffhangers, designers activate innate curiosity and sustain engagement across sessions. The technique applies across contexts: in education it enhances learning outcomes by encouraging discovery; in marketing and product design it maintains engagement by prompting actions that complete the information set.
Designing products using Intentional Gaps
The goal is to create gaps large enough to provoke curiosity but not so large as to cause frustration – and to ensure that closing the gap delivers genuine value.
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Identify what to withhold
Map out key information or features that benefit from staggered reveal. A learning app might design modules that gradually uncover deeper layers as users complete preliminary levels, enhancing both comprehension and retention. -
Use narrative tension
Introduce story elements that are partially hidden and require user actions to unlock. A game that reveals pieces of its narrative only after completing certain levels ensures players are continuously motivated to progress. -
Create anticipation
In e-commerce, teaser previews of upcoming products or sales events – a countdown timer paired with a blurred product image – create a gap that brings users back. The key is revealing enough to spark interest without giving away the payoff. -
Calibrate the gap size
Provide enough information to give users a clear direction on how to fill each gap. Subtle hints, incremental rewards, or partial reveals guide users toward the resolution without leaving them lost. A project management tool might lock an advanced feature behind a tooltip that says “Complete 3 projects to unlock” – clear enough to motivate, mysterious enough to intrigue. -
Test and iterate
Run usability tests and track behavioral data – completion rates, return visits, drop-off points – to fine-tune the balance between withholding and revealing. What feels intriguing to one segment may feel frustrating to another. -
Visualize progress toward closure
Progress bars, checklists, or unlocking animations help users see what they’ve achieved and what remains, encouraging them to close the gap completely.
Ethical recommendations
Intentional Gaps can manipulate users into compulsive behaviors – repeated in-app purchases, endless content loops – that benefit the platform at the expense of the user’s time, money, or privacy. If the withheld information involves hidden costs or data privacy implications, the pattern becomes a tool for deception.
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Be transparent
Ensure users understand what actions they are being nudged toward and why. Never withhold information that is critical to informed decision-making. -
Provide genuine value
The resolution of each gap should deliver meaningful outcomes that justify the user’s investment of time or resources. -
Respect user autonomy
Offer clear, rewarding conclusions to gap-driven activities. Avoid trapping users in endless engagement loops that serve only the service provider. -
Monitor impact
Track how users interact with designed gaps. Be prepared to adjust if the pattern causes frustration or compulsive behavior rather than genuine engagement.
Real life Intentional Gaps examples
The professional networking site displays partial profile views to non-premium members, creating a curiosity gap that often leads to upgrading to premium services for full access.
Duolingo
This language learning app uses intentional gaps in its lesson structure. Users are given incomplete information about language rules and are encouraged to guess words in sentences, thus learning by doing and discovering patterns themselves.
BuzzFeed Quizzes
Often, BuzzFeed leaves results at the end of quizzes partially obscured or delayed, compelling users to complete more actions or share the quiz before revealing answers.
Trigger Questions
- Are the gaps we create directly tied to our core value proposition?
- Do we provide enough information to maintain user interest without overwhelming them?
- How can we ensure the resolution of these gaps is satisfying and rewarding for the user?
- What feedback mechanisms do we have in place to gauge user reactions to these gaps?
- How do we balance curiosity with user frustration?
- Are there opportunities to simplify or refine the way we implement these gaps?
Pairings
Intentional Gaps + Curiosity Effect
By creating a gap, and then using hints or partial reveals, you can heighten curiosity and encourage users to seek out the missing information actively.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
We crave more when teased with a small bit of interesting information
Intentional Gaps + Feedback Loops
Implementing feedback loops alongside Intentional Gaps can increase user motivation. As users progress towards closing the gap, providing feedback on their achievements can reinforce their actions and encourage continued effort.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
We are influenced by information that provides clarity on our actions
Intentional Gaps + Zeigarnik Effect
Utilizing the Zeigarnik Effect, where people remember uncompleted tasks better than completed ones, can make Intentional Gaps more compelling. Tapping into this effect ensures that tasks associated with these gaps remain top of mind for users, driving them to return and complete the interaction.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
We remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones
Intentional Gaps + Storytelling
Integrating storytelling with Intentional Gaps can create a narrative that users want to follow. By leaving parts of the story untold or mysteries unresolved until later in the user journey, you can keep users engaged over longer periods.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
We engage, understand, and remember narratives better than facts alone
Intentional Gaps + Limited Choice
Combining Limited Choice with Intentional Gaps can streamline user decisions while maintaining engagement. By limiting the number of options available at each step of the gap-filling process, you can guide users through a controlled experience, reducing decision fatigue and focusing their efforts on the tasks that help them complete the story or solve the puzzle. This combination is particularly effective in environments where too many choices might overwhelm the user, such as in complex software interfaces or extensive product catalogs.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
We are more likely to make a decision with fewer options to choose from
Intentional Gaps + Temptation Bundling
Temptation bundling involves pairing a desired activity with a less desirable one to increase engagement with the latter. When used with Intentional Gaps, this can mean linking the resolution of the gap with a reward or a particularly enjoyable activity. For example, a fitness app could unlock fun, engaging content only after a user completes a series of more challenging or less appealing workouts, thus using the user’s desire to engage with the content to motivate them through the tough parts of their exercise regimen.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
Engaging in hard tasks is more likely when coupled with something tempting
Intentional Gaps + Endowed Progress Effect
When users are given artificial advancement towards a goal it will increase their motivation to complete it. By integrating this with Intentional Gaps, you can provide users with a sense of progress towards solving a gap, even before they’ve started. For instance, if a user needs to complete several tasks to resolve a gap, showing them that they have already progressed somewhat towards this goal from the outset can motivate continued effort. This is especially useful in applications like educational courses or long-term projects, where initial progress indicators can encourage persistence.
Create intentional gaps that users can't help but try to fill
Early help speeds up goal achievement
Intentional Gaps is one of the cards in this deck
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Get your deck!- Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Über das Behalten von erledigten und unerledigten Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung, 9(1), 1-85.
- Loewenstein, G. (1994). The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin, 116(1), 75-98.
- Kidd, C., & Hayden, B. Y. (2015). The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity. Neuron, 88(3), 449-460.
- Berlyne, D. E. (1960). Conflict, arousal, and curiosity. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
- Litman, J. A., & Jimerson, T. L. (2004). The measurement of curiosity as a feeling of deprivation. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82(2), 147-157.
- Kang, M. J., Hsu, M., Krajbich, I. M., Loewenstein, G., McClure, S. M., Wang, J. T., & Camerer, C. F. (2009). The wick in the candle of learning: Epistemic curiosity activates reward circuitry and enhances memory. Psychological Science, 20(8), 963-973.
- Silvia, P. J. (2005). What is interesting? Exploring the appraisal structure of interest. Emotion, 5(1), 89-102.
- Minsky, M. (1975). A framework for representing knowledge. In P. H. Winston (Ed.), The psychology of computer vision (pp. 211-277). McGraw-Hill.