Improving User Activation
Improve Activation via an Effective Framework
- Time to complete: 1 week
- Format: framework + theoretical materials and examples
- Price: $99 Free
Activation — the most important lever for influencing product metrics
Why this framework works
Who will benefit from the framework:
- Product managers
- Members of activation or onboarding teams
- Those who want to dive deep into activation
What you will learn:
- How to define Aha moment for main JTBDs (jobs-to-be-done)
- How to design a new activation mechanism
- Dozens of hypotheses to improve your product metrics
- A systematic approach for working on activation
Creator
- Founder of GoPractice—leader in product management education.
- Member of early team at Workplace (from launch to 2 million paying users)
- As product manager, launched games with tens of millions of players
- As product director developed API.AI (acquired by Google)
- Head of analytics for MSQRD (acquired by a US tech giant)
How this works
- Works with any product (B2C/B2B, online/offline). The general principles are universal.
- Start working on your own or gather a team of 2–4 people who are actively working on activation (product + marketing is the ideal combo)
- Learn the framework and additional materials, conduct research, and complete tasks described in the framework.
- Within 7 days, you will gain first insights that will change your understanding of the product and user tasks.
- Within 4–5 weeks you will learn a new effective activation mechanism and get 50+ hypotheses for further improvements.
Program
You will determine:
- Key JTBD with product/market fit
- Direct and indirect competitors
- The added value of your product in comparison to alternatives
You will also learn:
- When it makes sense to work on activation
- The nonlinear effect of activation on product growth
- When users are ready to perceive value
- Difference between objective and perceived value
You’ll learn how users go from their first interaction with the product to truly experiencing its value. To do this, you will:
- Highlight Aha moments—the points when users truly experience and recognize the product’s value.
- Explore what sparks users’ interest in the product and the main paths that lead them to experience its value.
You will also learn:
- What is an Aha moment
- How to properly measure activation effectiveness
- How to find and choose Aha moment (including in different use‑cases)
- Learn how to identify the key conditions needed for users to reach their Aha moment
- Common team mistakes when searching for Aha moments
Tools you will use:
- JTBD research
- User session analysis
- You will define necessary conditions for reaching Aha moments, as well as key building blocks for the new activation mechanism at different levels: product, notifications, human intervention, etc.
- Visualize the activation customer journey map (CJM) to align the team and make it easier to test and refine hypotheses.
You will also learn:
- What is “Time to Value” and why it’s an important lever for improving activation
- How Time to Value and product complexity determine the building blocks of activation
- Why activation starts long before registration
- What activation building blocks exist at the product level
- When and why to add humans into activation
Tools you will use:
- CJM for working on activation
- CJM for checking activation across multiple use cases
- You’ll create a new activation framework by combining insights from previous steps—understanding the product’s objective value, how users perceive it, and the product and business features that shape it.
- Refine your new structure using the “Tax–Benefit” framework
- Find opportunities to structure the activation flow for different JTBD
You will also learn:
- Real case study of reverse design of activation / onboarding
Tools you will use:
- Reverse flow design
- “Tax–Benefit” framework
- You’ll apply strategies to minimize friction and boost user motivation
- Use the value‑communication analysis framework
- Form and prioritize a list of hypotheses to further improve activation
You will also learn:
- When to start optimizing and how small improvements can add up to a significant overall impact.
- How to optimize activation by reducing resistance and increasing motivation
- How to optimize activation using additional user data
Tools you will use:
- Value‑communication analysis framework
- Generating hypotheses based on analyses across all steps
Loved by students at top companies
Key outcomes from using the framework
- You’ll build an effective activation flow that turns more new users into regular ones.
- You’ll learn how to impact key product metrics through better activation and onboarding.
- You’ll generate 50+ hypotheses to keep improving activation in your product.
- You’ll have ongoing access to the framework and examples so your improvement cycle never stops.
Testimonials about the framework
Q&A
No—this isn’t a simulator. There’s no simulated product to practice on or build skills with.
To master and apply this framework, you’ll need your own product with proven value (product-market fit) and the ability to manage and adjust activation.
You’ll need your own product with proven value (product-market fit) and the ability to manage activation and implement changes.
Activation covers the entire journey—from the first time someone hears about your product (through a friend, an ad, or online mention) to the moment they experience its value (Aha moment) and think, “Wow, this is useful, I’ll come back.”
In other words, it goes far beyond onboarding—it includes everything that happens before and after it.
Ideally, learn and apply the framework as a team of 2–4 people working on the product and its activation. Joint learning and discussion of materials, conducting research and doing tasks yields more efficiency and more hypothesis variety.
If you can’t bring in multiple participants, the most relevant people to join are product managers working on activation or growth, along with their marketing counterparts.
Still have questions?
Email the GoPractice team at contacts@gopractice.io or via the messenger plug-in located at the bottom right, and we will respond as soon as possible.