Nielsen Norman Group — engagement modelled as expected utility = perceived value minus interaction cost; abandonment can happen within seconds when perceived value drops

Claim: Nielsen Norman Group frames user engagement as expected utility = perceived value minus interaction cost. A well-built tool delivers a high-value answer for modest, well-signposted effort, raising expected utility. Abandonment can happen within seconds when perceived value drops.

Source: nngroup.com engagement / form-design literature.

Confidence: Industry-consensus (NN/g is an independent UX authority — no portal/calculator vendor incentive).

Why this matters for Candid: Operationalises the Kivetz, Urminsky & Zheng (2006), Journal of Marketing Research — goal-gradient in consumer contexts: cafe loyalty stamps completed faster as customers neared reward; online raters persist longer near reward mechanism in interface terms. A tool that fails the value-minus-cost test is abandoned regardless of how well its psychology is grounded. Pair with R2 — Design every multi-step tool for the goal gradient: visible progress + low interaction cost + start-state non-empty when possible.