Run an Attention and Hook test

The fuller read on your open: the same opening-interest score as a hook test, with pacing and skip-intent as diagnostics.

Attention and Hook reads the open the way an editor argues about it: not only whether people stayed, but how the pacing felt and where they wanted out.

What it measures

The primary question is a 0 to 10 rating of how interested someone was in the first few seconds, and the verdict is decided on the average for each version. Pacing and skip-intent ride alongside as diagnostics, so an inconclusive primary still ships something to act on. The card labels this set research-backed.

What people are asked

• "In the first few seconds, how interested were you?" on a 0 to 10 scale from "Not at all" to "Completely". This is the question the verdict rests on.
• "How did the pacing feel?" with three answers: too slow, about right, or too fast.
• "Did you want to skip at any point?" as a yes or no.
• An open question on the first thing that caught their attention.

When to pick it

Pick this one when the whole open is in play and you want pacing in the answer. If you care only about the first few seconds and want the shortest survey you can field, Hook Strength is the lighter read and asks less of each participant. If the question is whether the piece would earn a stop in a fast feed rather than how it plays once someone is watching, run Thumb-Stop instead.

What the verdict looks like

A winner is named on the opening-interest question only, and only when both groups hit the size committed at launch with balanced dropout and a gap that stands clear of chance. Otherwise you get a directional advantage or a plain "too close to call". Pacing and skip answers are read as texture around that verdict, never promoted into it. See Understanding your verdict.

What it cannot tell you

Interest reported after the fact is not a retention curve, and "about right" pacing from a group of strangers is not a mandate. The set cannot say why the open worked, because nobody compared the two versions and the design measures difference rather than mechanism. Keep everything except the opening matched between versions, or the answer belongs to the bundle of changes rather than to the open. See Preparing a fair test.

Formats

Attention and Hook is available on video tests and on audio tests.