The aha moment is when the user realizes the value in a product. It’s a glorious moment, for sure. However, users will have a difficult time reaching this eureka moment without some help. Identifying your product’s value isn’t always easy, which is why you’re here.

How the aha moment impacts retention rates

The moment when everything clicks for a user and they understand how they can benefit from your product is critical

  • These are the users who are more likely to continue using your product.
  • They stick around because your product solves their current pain point

Shortlist and test potential behaviors

Use a specific set of features

  • Achieving a particular outcome within a product
  • Using your value metrics
  • Watching an onboarding video before diving in
  • Analyzing how people use your product to understand how they engage with it
  • Organize your experiments to test in an experiment log

What makes people come back?

The aha moment

  • This is when a new user first realizes the meaningful value of your product
  • Helps users solve a problem and they love you for it
  • Makes the entire selling process easier
  • Users are committed to the product because they know it has meaningful value

Step 1: Talk to actual users

Start with badass users.

  • They don’t want to be badass at using your product, they want badass results
  • Ask them simple questions: How do you use the [product] you’ve purchased?
  • What do you love most about our product? What made you decide you wanted to pay for it?

What does an aha moment feel like?

You understand exactly how a product can help you

  • Experience the core value of a product
  • Achieve something very quickly that might have taken you hours previously
  • For example, for Airbnb, it’s making your first booking
  • Google, finding the answer to something complex
  • Facebook, connecting with your friends

Look for patterns

Start by looking at your value metrics.

  • Find behaviors that, when performed, best correlate with continuing to use your product for an extended period of time
  • Identify where friction is so you can eliminate it
  • Consider looking at customer behavior of both your good and bad customers to identify successful user journeys

What’s your product’s aha moment?

Aha moments are the essential ingredients that keep users returning to your product, day after day

Pre-conditions to consider

You don’t have a decent amount of your app/product’s data at hand, i.e. 6-12 months of data

  • If everyone is churning, you’ve got bigger fish to fry

How to identify your aha moment

Three stages you must go through to identify a clear AHA moment: talk to users, look for patterns, shortlist and test potential behaviors, and shortlist potential behaviors

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