curiosity-gap

name	curiosity-gap
description	Create ethical information gaps that earn attention and resolve with real payoff. Use when writing headlines, notifications, teasers, onboarding reveals, or feature-discovery prompts; avoid fake urgency, vague clickbait, or habit-loop work better handled by Hooked or self-initiated triggers.

Curiosity Gap

Reveal enough to create interest. Hide enough to motivate action. Deliver real payoff.

When to Use

• Writing headlines or subject lines.
• Designing notifications.
• Planning onboarding or feature discovery.
• Creating product reveals.
• Improving content engagement.

Goal

Create useful information gaps. Increase engagement without misleading users.

Rules

• Define payoff before writing the gap.
• Make the promise specific and believable.
• Match promise and delivery.
• Do not use fake urgency.
• Do not exploit fear, shame, or anxiety.
• Make resolution easy to reach.
• Watch satisfaction and return engagement, not only clicks.

Gap Types

• Knowledge gap: user wants to know how or why.
• Outcome gap: user wants to know what happened.
• Opinion gap: user wants to compare views.
• Resolution gap: user wants conclusion or answer.

Flow

1. Define audience and context.
2. Define the payoff.
3. Choose gap type.
4. Reveal relevance and value.
5. Conceal only the missing piece.
6. Check ethics.
7. Measure click, completion, satisfaction, and trust.

Calibration

• Too small: no reason to act.
• Too large: feels vague or unbelievable.
• Too strong: gets clicks but harms trust.
• Good: user knows what they will gain, not the full answer.

Ethics Test

• Does payoff match promise?
• Would the user feel satisfied after clicking?
• Is this building trust?
• Can the user resolve the gap easily?

If any answer is no, revise or stop.

Resources

• Information Gap Theory - Loewenstein (1994)
• Made to Stick - Chip & Dan Heath
• Hooked - Nir Eyal
• Growth.Design Case Studies

Output

## Curiosity Gap Design
- Context: [where used]
- Audience: [who]
- Payoff: [what user gains]
- Gap type: [knowledge/outcome/opinion/resolution]
- Current: [copy]
- Improved: [copy]
- Ethics check: [pass/fail and why]
- Metrics: [CTR, completion, satisfaction, return rate]