How To Automate Your Design

Accomplish More. Juggle Less.

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Hey guys, it’s Kushagra from Atlasmoth! The holidays are here, and we’re almost at our 1-year mark—super exciting!

Now, with the holidays, lots of people take time off and aren’t as focused. But that’s why it’s the perfect time to set up autopilot for your work. One thing you can’t let slide is user onboarding. So today, we’re diving into that!

Speed-Run The Basics

Want to measure activation? Do this in 3 easy steps:

Setup: Users set it up, ready to go.
Aha: Users hit that moment when they see the value.
Habit: Users make it a regular thing.

This way, you look at the full user journey, not just one moment. This approach didn’t come overnight—it’s been built up over the years.

The History of Activation

Phase 1 - From Facebook Comes Activation

Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook’s ex-VP of Growth, kicked off the talk on activation. In his famous 2013 Growth Hackers talk, he said, “Get any person to 7 friends in 10 days.” That was the secret sauce. Simple and clear.

After that, teams tried to find their own “X in Y days” rules, but it didn’t always work.

Phase 2 - From Reforge Come Steps

The “X in Y days” rule wasn’t for all products. It doesn’t capture the gaps where users drop off. Plus, new startups don’t have the data to track it.

So Reforge broke it down into 3 steps: Setup, Aha, and Habit.

This helps a lot more products work better.

Phase 3 - Added Complexity

As products grew, so did activation. For complex B2B products, Setup and Aha overlap. Companies with lots of products need separate activation metrics for each. The neat three-step model can break when real-world users don’t fit into these stages.

The growth in complexity is why activation metrics feel all over the place today. Time to dive in and untangle it.

Case Studies in Onboarding Evolution

Activation frameworks are cool but real-world applications? Even cooler. No framework is perfect out of the gate. Companies change and improve metrics as they learn more and face new challenges.

Apollo

Three key evolutions helped Apollo grow:

Focus on core users

At first, we tracked all users, getting them to the aha moment of downloading 5 contacts. But we soon realized it wasn’t helping. We cared about growing sales teams at funded companies, so we focused on core, paid users instead. This was a big shift.

Keep metrics constant for a while

We kept learning and refining our metrics. First, we tracked downloading 5 contacts. Then we focused on sending a sequence after that. We kept refining, but we stuck to one key activation goal—getting people to send a sequence. That drove retention and cross-selling.

Product line-based metrics

As Apollo grew, we made separate activation plans for each product line. This gave each team a clear focus—like customer success—on moving users through setup, aha, and habit.

Appcues

Appcues show a different challenge: balancing speed, automation, and personalization.

Self-serve for the core use case

Appcues started with a self-serve model for onboarding B2B users. The goal was to:

• Let users explore the product via in-app guides.

• Cut down on human support needs.

• Offer resources for users to find answers on their own.

Their aha moment? When users onboard their first user via a flow or message.

More use cases

Appcues learned that different users had different needs. So, they expanded to offer solutions for other use cases, like feature announcements and feedback collection. This broadened their value.

Focus on Day 1 wins and support

Appcues then shifted focus to Day 1 wins. For users who took too long to see the aha moment, Appcues helped them reach small wins fast—like designing a flow on Day 1. Plus, users who spoke to the support team activated 2-3 times faster. They focused on when human help was needed and triggered that at the right times.

Activation is not just for product teams. Marketing, success, and sales need to align on activation. If not, users get a confusing experience.

Bridging the Framework and Real World

These case studies show that frameworks are just the start. Real progress comes from adjusting them as users and products grow.

Now that we’ve seen how onboarding evolves, let’s dive into product-led vs. sales-led activation and the mistakes to avoid.

Product-Led vs. Sales-Led Activation

For product-led companies, the goal is clear: make it easy for users to get to value fast. Duolingo, for example, gamifies learning with streaks and rewards. Their activation metric? Completing the first lesson and keeping a 5-day streak.

In contrast, sales-led companies go for high-touch onboarding, including:

• Personal calls and demos

• Customized plans

• Regular check-ins

• Detailed training

Salesforce’s activation? Getting admin users set up, then slowly rolling out features. Their metrics focus on setup completion and adoption across teams.

Free vs. Paid Activation

One key point for PLG companies: free users vs. paid users.

Free users can be a trap. Measure them separately.

Paid users care more since they pay for your product. Invest time and resources to help them win long-term.

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Mistakes People Make

Aha Metrics Don't Boost Retention

At thredUP, we made a mistake early on by choosing the wrong Aha moment: "Add to cart." It seemed good, but it didn’t boost long-term users. We learned that users who put in their size were way more likely to buy again. Aha, moments need to help retention. If not, you’re focusing on the wrong thing.

Always Changing Metrics

As your team learns more, the temptation is to change the goal every time. But that can ruin progress. Stick with it for a quarter. It lets designers and engineers make moves based on one clear goal. Changing too fast wastes time and money.

Product Can’t Fix It All

If users don't match your ideal customer, they won’t activate well. Focus on getting the right users. Look at where they came from—social, paid ads, organic, etc. Some channels, like organic or referrals, often work better than paid ads for activation.

No Org-Wide Buy-In

The Metrics Universe

There’s no one-size-fits-all metric. It’s about your system.

Here’s the list of metrics:

Signup Step

• Signup Conversion Rate: How many finish sign-up?

• Time to Complete Signup: How long to sign up?

• Signup Abandonment Rate: How many start but don’t finish?

Setup Step

• Account Setup Completion Rate: How many finish setup?

• Time-to-Complete-Setup: How long to set up?

• Setup Drop-off Rate: How many leave during setup?

Aha Step

• Time-to-First-Value: How long till the first win?

• Time-to-Full-Value: How long till the full value?

• Feature Adoption Rate: How many use key features?

• Onboarding Completion Rate: How many finish onboarding?

• User Activation Rate: How many take key actions?

Habit Step

• DAU/WAU/MAU: How many engage at different times?

• Retention Rate: How many come back?

• Churn Rate: How many leave?

• Feature Usage Frequency: How often do they use features?

Pick one as your North Star. Others are just backups.

How to Mobilize Your Company

Product can’t do it all. Customer success is key. They know which accounts need help. With the right info, they can focus on users who aren’t activated yet.

At Apollo, they made activation a top goal. Marketing, success, and sales had specific goals to help. In 12 months, they doubled activation.

At Appcues, they made a "Tiger Team" with members from all departments. They focused on fixing activation and improved it from under 2% to 25%.

What I found amazing this week

Shopify breaks growth rules: Why they ditch KPIs, embrace churn, and trust intuition.🧠

This track gave me a serious boost—check out ‘Escape’ by Ist Drm🎵

xAI is building a Grok iOS app —what’s next for AI?📱