Cue visibility

We only act on what we notice.
The rest? Ignored. Forgotten. Gone.
A cue can whisper or shout.
Too quiet, and behaviour never starts.
Too loud, and it’s seen as noise. It's skipped, swiped, or shut down.

Think:

A loud ringing phone in a quiet place is hard to miss.

A phone ringing on a crowded train is easy to miss..

“Would someone notice this cue while scrolling with coffee in hand?”

Scroll-blind? Cue Visibility is your silent blocker.

What to do

Behaviour Kit – Strategy Selector

What you’ll notice

Users say “Oh, I didn’t see that.”
Key features sit untouched
Uptake spikes only after you point the cue out in person

Why it happens

Low-salience prompts blend into the scroll noise, so our brains auto-filter them out.

Select a strategy to reveal tactics:

Use motion, contrast, sound, or timing to pop the cue at the right moment.

Pair the prompt with “8,214 others just did this” to lift perceived importance.

What you’ll notice

Users dismiss or close the prompt instantly
“Feels spammy” feedback
Important content buried under visual noise

Why it happens

Over-powerful cues annoy users and crowd out the task they came to do.

Select a strategy to reveal tactics:

Reduce frequency, dim colours, delay pop-ups until there’s proven intent.

Why it matters

All behaviour starts with a trigger.
The gun at the start of the race.
A ping on your phone.
That sudden “I’m starving” moment.

All make you pause, perk up, and say:
“Oh, time to move.”

That’s why cues matter. They start the behaviour.

But, it's hard to get them right:

Attention is scarce. Your cue competes with 1,000 others every minute.
Signals guide action. If the call-to-act hides in plain sight, behaviour never gets on the runway.
But volume cuts both ways. Over-loud cues feel spammy, trigger skip-behaviour, or worse, user irritation.
People get used to things. What once stood out fades into background noise.

Cue Visibility isn’t just about colour or size.

It’s timing, placement, contrast, and relevance.

The science bit

Behaviour Resources

Fogg Behaviour Model (B = MAP)

Behaviour only happens when motivation, ability, and a prompt meet at the same moment. If the cue’s not seen (or comes too early/late), nothing happens.

→ Prompts need timing and clarity to work.