Users sign up and disappear
There's a specific action that separates users who stick around from users who leave. Find it, then get everyone there faster.
When to use
You have enough users to analyze (1000+) and you're seeing big differences in who stays vs who leaves.
Hypothesis template
If we get users to fill in: specific action within fill in: timeframe, more of them will stick around because that action is what makes the product click.
Method
The problem: Users sign up, poke around, and disappear. You don't know
what separates the ones who stay from the ones who leave.
What Slack found: Teams that sent 2,000 messages almost never quit. Not 1,000. Not 500. Specifically 2,000.
What they did: Restructured everything around hitting that number. Removed
friction before 2,000, added friction after.
How to find yours:
- Look at users who stayed 90+ days vs those who left
- What did the stayers do in their first 2 weeks that leavers didn't?
- Find the number—not just "sent messages" but "sent HOW MANY"
- Test it: if you push users to that action, do more of them stay?
Then redesign around it:
- Remove every obstacle before users hit the number
- Add gates (upgrades, advanced features) AFTER
- Show progress toward the number
- Nudge users who stall
Success metrics
- •% of users hitting the number
- •How fast they get there
- •Retention: users who hit it vs those who didn't
Prerequisites
- 6+ months of user data
- Event tracking in place
- Someone who can run cohort analysis
Common pitfalls
- •Confusing correlation with causation
- •Picking a number that's too hard to hit
- •Not testing if causing the action actually helps
Source: Slack. Teams hitting 2000 messages had 93% retention.
Suggested ICE scores
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