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Understanding Activation

Learn how Accoil defines activation, why it matters, and how it shapes product success from the very first interaction.

Simon Herd avatar
Written by Simon Herd
Updated this week

What Is Activation?

Activation measures how far along a user or account is in their journey toward that "aha!" moment — when they first realize the value your product can deliver.

It’s not about full mastery or frequent usage. Instead, activation focuses on early signals of value — the steps that indicate someone is set up, engaged, and ready to benefit.

In Accoil, activation is:

  • A static measurement (it shows progress, not ongoing engagement)

  • Calculated as a percentage of key steps completed

  • Tracked separately for users and accounts


Key Aspects of Activation

🧭 Non-Linear Journeys

Users and accounts don’t move through onboarding in a straight line. They:

  • Take different paths

  • Complete actions in varying orders

  • Discover value at their own pace

Accoil respects this flexibility by treating activation as non-sequential — the order doesn’t matter, just the completion.

📊 Percentage-Based Tracking

Progress toward activation is shown as a percentage:

  • If there are 4 activation steps and a user has completed 3, they’re at 75%

  • Once all steps are complete, they’re considered fully activated

This gives you a clear, comparable way to see where each user or account stands.

🧱 Foundation of Customer Health

Activation is a critical pillar of customer health. It’s the first real indicator that a user or account is on the right track — not just signed up, but genuinely starting to experience value.

Without activation, engagement scores are often meaningless: a user can be active but still unprepared to succeed.


Why Activation Matters

  • Improves Onboarding: Spot where users get stuck and refine your flows

  • Drives Retention: Early value = long-term success

  • Prioritizes Outreach: Help unactivated users before they churn

  • Aligns Teams: Gives Product, Success, and Growth a shared success metric

When users hit that “aha!” moment, their customer health improves — and they’re far more likely to keep coming back.


Activation for Users and Accounts

You can track activation for both:

  • Users — based on what an individual has done

  • Accounts — based on combined activity across users

Each profile in Accoil can define:

  • A custom set of activation criteria (events, traits, or both)

  • Separate logic for users and accounts

  • A running Activation Rate for each object

From within a Profile go to Configuration → Account Activation or User Activation to define these steps.

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