Users come back after a week and don't know what changed
When users return after 3+ days, show a quick summary of what happened while they were gone.
When to use
Users visit your product periodically (not daily). There's activity or changes that accumulate between visits.
Hypothesis template
If we show returning users a summary of [changes/updates] since their last visit, session depth will increase by [target]% because they re-engage with context.
Method
The problem: Users return after a week and see the same dashboard. They don't know if anything changed, if experiments progressed, or if there's something new to check.
What Slack does: When you open Slack after being away, it shows unread messages, mentions, and activity — a clear "here's what you missed."
The result: "Since you were away" summaries increase session depth by 30-50% because users immediately have something to engage with instead of wondering where to start.
How to do it:
- Track each user's last active timestamp
- When they return after 3+ days, compile changes: new data, completed items, team activity, new features
- Show a dismissible card at the top of the dashboard
- Keep it to 3-5 bullet points max
- Each bullet links directly to the relevant page
- Dismiss after they've seen it or clicked through
Key insight: The returning user's biggest enemy is "I don't know where to start." Give them a starting point and they'll stay longer.
Success metrics
- •Returning user session depth
- •Click-through rate on summary items
- •Returning user retention
- •Time to first action on return
Prerequisites
- Last-active tracking per user
- A way to compile changes since last visit
- Dashboard space for the summary card
Common pitfalls
- •Showing the summary to daily users (only show after 3+ days away)
- •Making it too long (3-5 items max)
- •Not linking directly to relevant pages
- •Showing it every time instead of once per return
Source: Slack, LinkedIn. "Since you were away" summaries increase returning user session depth by 30-50%.
Suggested ICE scores
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