Measures of success
These success metrics ensure the Use experience helps customers incorporate the product into their regular workflows. They guide teams in accelerating basic and advanced feature adoption, strengthening early engagement, and improving long‑term retention in alignment with IBM and industry benchmarks.
Metric | IBM goal | |
|---|---|---|
Time to value | Basic feature adoption achieved within 72 hours of the aha moment | Hours to days, depending on usage depth |
Time to value | Intermediate or advanced usage achieved within 30 days of the aha moment | Hours to days, depending on usage depth |
Completion Rate - Basic usage | ≥60% of new users achieve basic feature adoption | ≥60% basic adoption |
Completion Rate - Advanced usage | ≥40% of users adopt at least one intermediate or advanced capability | ≥40% advanced capability adoption |
Completion Rate - Retention | ≥85% of users who achieve basic feature adoption remain active through 90 days | ≥85% 90‑day retention |
Key moments
Using the product is a series of moments that build habits, confidence, and deeper value.
Our job is to help users form lasting habits, expand their usage, and experience meaningful outcomes. Each moment should reinforce value, reduce friction, and guide users toward advanced capabilities, strengthening engagement, satisfaction, and long‑term retention.
When teams align on key value moments and design them together as a seamless journey, users progress smoothly, understanding deepens, and commitment grows.
Key moment | Definition |
|---|---|
Product experience | When users interact with the core product interface, features, and workflows that shape their day‑to‑day experience. |
NSM habit established | When users consistently perform the product’s North Star action, signaling that a durable habit is forming. |
Advanced usage | When users begin exploring intermediate or advanced capabilities that deepen value and expand their workflow. |
Email nurture | When users receive timely, contextual emails that guide them toward key actions, new features, or best practices. |
In‑product nurture | When users encounter in‑product prompts, tooltips, or recommendations that help them progress and discover value. |
Documentation | When users turn to documentation to learn, troubleshoot, or deepen their understanding of how to use the product effectively. |
AI assistant | When users rely on an AI assistant for guidance, troubleshooting, or accelerating their workflow inside the product. |
Error handling | When users encounter an error and the product provides clear, actionable guidance that keeps them moving forward. |
Feedback / surveys | When users share feedback or respond to surveys, offering insights that shape improvements and signal satisfaction or friction. |
First repeated use without guidance | When users return to complete tasks independently, demonstrating confidence and early habit formation. |
First expansion of use beyond initial task | When users explore new features or workflows, expanding their usage beyond the original reason they adopted the product. |
First time the product saves time, effort, or cost | When users experience a tangible benefit, such as efficiency, automation, or savings that reinforces the product’s value. |
First workflow interruption or confusion | When users encounter friction or uncertainty in their workflow, creating a critical moment for recovery, clarity, and trust‑building. |