Technique · Hooked
A commitment ladder that starts with a tiny yes
Design a sequence where the first rung is something almost everyone accepts and each next rung asks a little more, with real value at every step: pick a topic, then set a weekly digest, then share it with the team.
Plain label: small first step, then biggerAlso known as: foot in the door, commitment ladder, consistency, small commitments, upgrade path
How it works
After people do something small, they tend to act in line with it, so a larger related request becomes easier to accept. The effect is real but smaller in meta-analyses than in the classic study.
Evidence warning
Meta-analyses find smaller foot-in-the-door effects than the original study.
What the research says
Homeowners who first agreed to a small sign accepted a large one 76% of the time, vs 17% when asked cold (original study).
Freedman & Fraser, as cited in Hooked Ch.5, 1966
How to build it
- B2B
- A free audit, then a saved project, then a team workspace, then a paid plan.
- E-commerce
- A wishlist, then a price alert, then a purchase, then a subscription.
- Web
- Choose one topic, then set a weekly digest, then share it.
What can go wrong
- Rungs that serve the business but not the user.
- Jumping from a tiny first step straight to a large payment.
Pairs well with
- Ask after the reward.
- Stage asks from easy to hard.
Limits
What we don’t claim
- The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
- Left Brain and Right Brain are a metaphor for extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, not a claim about neuroscience.Actionable Gamification Ch.13, pp.342-343
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.5
Source IDs: HK-INV04
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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