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Perception & CognitionMember ingredient
Zeigarnik Effect
Interrupted tasks are not reliably remembered better, although people often choose to resume them.
Public evidence overview
One checked source, with its limits.
This preview is not the complete evidence base. Use it as a question to investigate in your own product, not as a prediction of what an individual will do.
Checked source previewAcademic paper
Unfinished work tasks and work-related thoughts during off-job time: meta-analysis of the Zeigarnik effect in a work-recovery context
Research-assisted source review
- What it supports
- Unfinished work was positively associated with off-job work-related thought at both the between-person (rho = .382) and within-person (rho = .247) levels. Associations were strongest when the outcome was affective rumination.
- Where it may not transfer
- The synthesis concerns employment and recovery rather than product interfaces. The associations do not establish that unfinished tasks caused rumination, and measures, populations and moderators varied. It supports monitoring possible intrusion and recovery costs, not predicting how an individual user will respond.
See how sources and limitations are checked in our editorial method.
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Seen in real products
How teams put it to work.
Examples identified in our interface teardowns, linked back to the full product journey.
