Move signed-up users past the registration wall and into meaningful product usage. Eliminate the gap between sign-up and the first valuable action by guiding new users to their activation moment as quickly as possible.
A large percentage of users who sign up never take the first meaningful action in your product. They create an account, look around briefly, and leave without ever experiencing the value that would turn them into engaged users.
Users sign up and land on a blank or overwhelming dashboard. Without clear direction, most leave within minutes and never return. Only a small fraction discover the product's value on their own.
New users are guided immediately to the one action that delivers the most value. Activation rates climb because users reach the "aha" moment in minutes rather than stumbling around hoping to find it.
Determine the single action that most strongly predicts long-term retention, whether it's creating a first project, inviting a teammate, or completing a core workflow.
Audit every step between sign-up and the activation event, then use in-app guidance to smooth over confusing or tedious steps.
Design a streamlined flow that takes new users directly to their activation moment without detours or distractions.
Show users how close they are to completing setup and reaching value, giving them motivation to push through the last few steps.
When returning users haven't activated yet, show contextual prompts that pick up where they left off and guide them toward the next step.
Activation rate (% of signups who complete the activation event)
Time from signup to activation
Drop-off rate at each step before activation
Day-1 retention rate
Look at your retained users and find the common actions they took early on. The activation event is the action that has the strongest correlation with long-term retention. It might be creating a first item, completing a workflow, or inviting a colleague.
Create separate activation flows for each user segment. During signup or onboarding, identify the user type and route them to the appropriate activation path.
Allow power users to skip if they want, but make the activation flow the default experience. Most users benefit from guided direction, and you can always surface skipped steps later as contextual prompts.
Product Tours
Product Tours for User Activation
Announcements
Announcements for User Activation
Checklists
Checklists for User Activation
Feedback Widgets
Feedback Widgets for User Activation
Smart Tips
Smart Tips for User Activation
Tool Tips
Tool Tips for User Activation
Roadmaps
Roadmaps for User Activation
NPS Widgets
NPS Widgets for User Activation
Micro Surveys
Micro Surveys for User Activation
Employee Training
Changelogs for Employee Training
Trial-to-Paid Conversion
Changelogs for Trial-to-Paid Conversion
Feature Adoption
Changelogs for Feature Adoption
Customer Onboarding
Changelogs for Customer Onboarding
Self-Service Support
Changelogs for Self-Service Support
Change Management
Changelogs for Change Management
Compliance Training
Changelogs for Compliance Training
Upselling & Cross-selling
Changelogs for Upselling & Cross-selling