Activation Rate ~ (also "aha-moment rate", "setup-completion rate")
The share of new users who reach the first moment of real value.
The fork, why two teams get different numbers
Two forks, both fierce. The EVENT fork: activation can be a single "aha"
event (a growth-team pick, e.g. "created first project"), a multi-step
setup CHECKLIST completed (onboarding/lifecycle teams), or a
value-threshold ("invited 2+ teammates within 7 days"). The DENOMINATOR
fork: activated over ALL sign-ups, over sign-ups who reached onboarding,
or over accounts (not users) -- self-serve tools count individuals, sales-
assisted tools count workspaces. Because activation is the number everyone
optimizes, its definition is renegotiated often, and last quarter's 46%
and this quarter's 39% can be the same behavior under a stricter event.
The trap
Redefining activation retroactively rewrites history and breaks the trend line -- if the aha-event changes, old cohorts must be recomputed under the new event or the before/after comparison is a definitional artifact, not a win.
- The full trap, worked on a real export
- Every formula variant, spelled out
- The reconciliation anchor, what to tie it to and when to refuse
Reference: Product-analytics convention (no governing body)