Users don't realize they're making progress toward their goals
Show users their growth over time. A line going up is the best retention tool ever invented.
When to use
Your product tracks user activity or results over time. Users currently see only individual items, not trends.
Hypothesis template
If we add a [progress dashboard] showing [trends over time], engagement will increase by [target]% because visible progress motivates continued use.
Method
The problem: Users run experiments and log results, but there's no big-picture view of their progress. Each session feels isolated.
How to do it:
- Identify 2-3 metrics that show user progress (experiments completed, success rate, metrics improved)
- Build a simple line chart or progress card showing these over time
- Add comparisons: "This month vs last month"
- Include a streak or consistency indicator
- Celebrate trends: "Your success rate improved 15% this quarter"
- Make it the first thing users see on the dashboard
Key insight: Progress is invisible without visualization. A user who ran 12 experiments and improved activation by 20% doesn't FEEL that progress unless you show them the trend line.
Success metrics
- •Dashboard engagement rate
- •Session frequency
- •User-reported satisfaction
- •Churn rate with progress view vs without
Prerequisites
- Historical user data
- Chart/visualization library
- Dashboard space for the progress view
Common pitfalls
- •Showing trends that are flat or declining (be thoughtful about what you visualize)
- •Making the dashboard too complex
- •Not celebrating positive trends
- •Showing too many metrics at once (2-3 max)
Source: Strava, Duolingo, GitHub. Visible progress is one of the strongest retention mechanisms.
Suggested ICE scores
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