---
title: "Should onboarding start at zero?"
code: JZ-007
series: Perception
published: 2026-11
updated: 2026-11-01
author: Joost van der Zwan
canonical: https://softwarebehavior.com/notes/jz-007
skill: studio-jz-head-start
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Should onboarding start at zero?

Field Note JZ-007 · Perception · Two free stamps

**34%** of head-start cards completed

## The guess
Free stamps don't count: people only care how many steps are left.

## What the research found
At a car wash, some customers got a loyalty card that needed 8 stamps; others got one that needed 10, with 2 already stamped. The same eight washes to go. 34% of the head-start cards were completed, against 19% of the plain ones, and they were filled sooner too.

## Why
A goal that is already under way feels closer, so people keep going.

## What to do
- Count what people already did: account created, email confirmed, first project made: and show it as progress.
- Start progress bars and checklists with that progress visible, not at zero.
- Keep the number of remaining steps honest.

## What not to do
- Show an empty bar when people have already done part of the work.
- Add fake steps just to tick them off.

## Limits
- One field study, at one car wash, with one kind of card.
- The head start was two free stamps. In a product, count steps people really took.
- Status: the completion figures are being checked in the full paper; this skill ships when they are confirmed.

## Example
- Before: "Set up your workspace · 0 of 6 done" right after sign-up.
- After: "Set up your workspace · 2 of 8 done" with "Account created" and "Email confirmed" already ticked (illustrative).

## Sources
- Nunes, J. C. & Drèze, X. (2006). The Endowed Progress Effect: How Artificial Advancement Increases Effort. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(4), 504–512. https://doi.org/10.1086/500480

## Use with your AI
This note is also a skill: `studio-jz-head-start` (version 1.0.0, in review). All skills: https://softwarebehavior.com/field-kit

Software Behavior Field Notes by Joost van der Zwan · Studio JZ · CC BY 4.0 · softwarebehavior.com