The CREATE Action Funnel
Kosh sends a payday notification asking users to set up automatic saving. Of 10,000 people who receive it, 40 finish the setup. Where did the other 9,960 go? "They weren't interested" is a guess. A funnel turns the guess into a map of exactly where people drop out.
The rule
Cue, Reaction, Evaluation, Ability, Timing, Execution — lose them anywhere, lose the action.
Behavioral scientist Stephen Wendel describes the path from "not thinking about it" to "doing it" as six stages, spelled CREATE:
- Cue — something makes the person think of the action: a notification, a message, a button, a moment in their day.
- Reaction — an instant, intuitive response, the fast mode at work: does this look relevant, trustworthy, interesting? It takes a fraction of a second.
- Evaluation — a more deliberate weighing of costs and benefits: is this worth it for me?
- Ability — can they actually do it now? Do they have the money, the information, the device, the skill?
- Timing — is now the moment, or does "later" win? Without a reason to act now, most good intentions wait forever.
- Execution — they do it. How it feels to do it colours their reaction the next time a cue arrives.
It works like a funnel: each stage lets fewer people through, and a leak at one stage starves every stage below it. CREATE fits neatly with B = MAP: the cue is the prompt, reaction and evaluation are the fast and slow sides of motivation, and ability is ability. Timing adds the urgency that turns "yes" into "yes, now".
The shortcut
Walk the funnel from the top and fix the first leak. A stage further down can only work with the people who survived the stages above it.
Cue
Sent at 9 a.m. on payday, and 70% of users see it. The cue works.
The common mistake is starting where the team is most comfortable — usually the final screen — and polishing a stage that almost nobody reaches.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
Which CREATE stage is the instant, gut-level response to a cue?
A user trusts Kosh and thinks saving is worthwhile, but decides "I'll set it up next month". Which stage lost them?
A user taps the notification and likes the idea, but setup asks for a PAN card number they don't have with them. Which stage is the leak?
Which is the correct order of the CREATE stages?
Why diagnose the funnel from the top down?
Remember
- Cue, Reaction, Evaluation, Ability, Timing, Execution — lose people at any stage and the action is lost.
- Shortcut: walk the funnel from the top and fix the first leak.
- Trap: polishing the last screen that almost nobody reaches.