Overview
Give users a chance to try the product themselves, see its value through real use, and build confidence that it’s the right fit.
Reduce setup effort and guide users through key actions, focusing on the use cases that matter most to your ideal customers — those that will connect them to meaningful value quickly. Create a clear path to the aha moment, where users first experience value.
Build trust by showing users how well the product solves their main job-to-be-done.
Key moments
The Try experience is a sequence of moments in which people move from registering for your free trial to realizing your product's value.
Design each moment to reduce friction, guide key actions, and reinforce value through hands-on experience. Help users quickly determine whether the product solves their main job-to-be-done.
Key moment | Definition | Touchpoints | How to optimize |
|---|---|---|---|
Access it Can I try this without a lot of effort? | When a potential customer decides to evaluate your product and gains access to a free trial with minimal friction, effort, cost, or risk. | – Trial offer selection – Trial sign-up flow (sandbox trial, full trial, or freemium plan) – Identity and provisioning flow | – Match the Try model (sandbox trial, full trial, freemium plan, guided proof of concept) to the customer's needs. – Minimize friction to get started. |
Get oriented Where do I start? | When trial users are introduced to your product and guided toward key actions. | – Onboarding flows – Product tours – AI agents – AI assistants – Sample data – Welcome experiences | – Guide users to the fastest path to value. – Clearly show what to do next. – Use guided onboarding journeys and AI assistance to reduce confusion. – Leverage agentic onboarding to replace passive feature exploration with autonomous AI execution, doing the heavy lifting to deliver your product's aha moment within seconds of sign-up. – Use product UI tours sparingly, if at all — the best UIs are intuitive enough without a tour. |
Reach first value Can this actually help me? | When trial users achieve a meaningful outcome that demonstrates the product's value in the context of their goals. | – Contextual guidance – Recommended actions – AI assistance – Nurture communications – Aha milestones – Aha moment | – Make the aha moment easy to reach and recognize. – Reinforce why the outcome matters (impact, time saved, value). – Celebrate progress without interrupting workflow. |
Validate fit Will this work in my world? | When trial users assess how well the product fits their real workflows, data, integrations, users, and constraints. | – Real customer data – Integrations and connectors – Workflow configuration – Documentation and implementation guidance – AI assistant or product expert – Proof of concept (where applicable) | – Enable evaluation in real-world conditions, not simplified demos. – Support integrations, workflows, and real data where possible. – Provide guidance to help users extend beyond initial success. |
Decide what happens next What should I do next? | When trial users decide whether to purchase (or recommend purchase), continue evaluating, expand usage, engage with sales, or disengage. | – Upgrade prompts – Trial countdowns and usage limits – Pricing and packaging pages – Buy now / Contact sales CTAs – Product usage milestones – Personalized recommendations | – Make next steps clear and contextual. – Tailor actions based on behavior and value achieved. – Guide users toward trial conversion, expansion, or deeper engagement. |