Saw shaped difficulty curve
The graphical representation of alternating between doing something scary/difficult and safe/familar is an upward trending zig-zag. Where the X-axis is time and the Y-axis is difficulty.
The goal is progress in developing the skill, therefore the graph, as a whole, trends upward. But within that trending upward graph is a significant number of saw-like teeth that indicate a concerted effort to push forward, followed by an immediate retreat to safety.
The important part is that across time, the retreats to safety are accompanied by an increase in confidence. Even if that increase in confidence is small, the cumulative effect is a generally trending upward improvement in that skill.
Space Invaders - Design Icons GMTK - Space Invaders Safety Dance swimming story
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