The aha moment guide: How to find, optimize, and design for your product

1. Start with data you already have—in particular, your user analytics and user feedback
2. Supplement with user feedback
3. Learn from churned users

Knowing which actions or events in your product trigger aha moments allows you to create more tailored onboarding experiences for different types of users.

For example, Duolingo asks the user to choose if he's new to the language or if he knows some.

Signup forms, multiple tabs, installs, tutorial videos—the more work you make a user put in before they hit their “aha,” the less likely it is that they’ll stick around for it. If you can get users to their aha moment before requiring them to enter credit card info, agree to Terms of Service, or even log in—do it! That moment of activation will work in your favor—don’t gate your aha moment if you don’t have to.

Take a look at how Airbnb gives you access to all their listings before asking you for any information.

Use tooltips to point users where you want them to go, leading them directly to your aha moment with a step-by-step breakdown of what to do. Instead of telling users what to do via a boring guide or video, tooltips show users exactly how to get to their goals. When new users don’t have to figure things out on their own, they’re more likely to reach “aha.”