Fast Drift Risk
Short-form feed
Highest confidence that drift can form quickly. DEADSCROLL can escalate earlier here because the cost of waiting is usually higher.
System Overview
How DEADSCROLL intervenes.
DEADSCROLL is designed to explain its principles without making itself trivial to game. The product nudges instead of simply blocking, escalates when the same pattern keeps returning, and lets the user choose how firm that baseline should be.
Nudge Ladder
The first nudge is a pause. The next ones get stronger.
DEADSCROLL uses a staged model. The first interruption is lighter. Later interruptions become stronger if attention keeps drifting, if the same target keeps reopening, or if the user keeps pushing deeper into the same pattern.
01
Pause and breathe
First contact, seconds long. A pause on target-app entry, so awareness arrives before momentum takes over.
02
Hold, type, complete a phrase
The loop is forming. A compulsive pattern is becoming clearer, so the nudge asks for deliberate effort the user cannot glide through mindlessly.
03
Solve to continue
The loop is holding. A passive pause is no longer enough, so the nudge asks for full attention before the session can continue.
Category Awareness
DEADSCROLL does not treat every target app the same way.
Not every attention pattern forms at the same speed. A short-form feed, a mixed-content social app, and a long-form video surface each have different false-positive risk and different escalation needs.
Mixed Intent
Mixed-content feed
These apps can be productive or compulsive depending on the moment. DEADSCROLL stays more cautious, but still escalates meaningfully.
False Positive Cost
Long-form video
Longer content often needs a softer first-contact posture. DEADSCROLL still intervenes, but not with the same early confidence as short-form feeds.
Nudge Classes
The form of the nudge matters as much as the timing.
Pause Friction
Hold
The user presses through a timed toll. This is the simplest conscious pause and the lightest current entry into friction.
Regulation Friction
Breathe
Guided breathing is used when the best interruption is physiological regulation instead of a purely cognitive test.
Cognitive Friction
Type the code
Short code-entry nudges force active attention so the user cannot comply absent-mindedly and immediately slip back into the same pattern.
Cognitive Friction
Type the line
Written prompts push the user back into language and intention. These nudges are stronger because they take more real participation.
Deliberate Friction
Solve the sum
A short arithmetic toll is the firmest nudge in the current library. It is reserved for the point where the loop is holding and nothing lighter has broken it.
DEADSCROLL will keep expanding its nudge library carefully over time so the system stays effective, varied, and behaviorally sharp.
Severity Contract
Users choose how firm the system should feel overall.
Severity
Gentle
Slower escalation, lighter touch, and the most forgiving posture toward edge-case sessions.
Severity
Mindful
The balanced default. Firm enough to matter, but designed to avoid becoming a blunt blocker.
Severity
Ironclad
Fastest escalation and the strongest willingness to use higher-friction nudges earlier.
FAQ
Questions users usually ask once they understand the basics.
Why not publish the exact thresholds?
The tiers themselves are published, both here and inside the app. What stays unpublished is the timing map behind them. Explaining the philosophy does not require handing out the thresholds that would make the system easier to work around.
Why do nudges vary over time?
Because a repeated pattern needs a different interruption than a first-contact pause. Variation is part of making the system effective instead of predictable and easy to ignore.
Is this just blocking by another name?
No. DEADSCROLL is built around intervention and escalation, not around a single brute lockout rule applied everywhere.