A-ha! Moment In Digital Products

May 18, 2022

Let’s search for an “A-ha! moment” about the concept “A-ha! moment” in this article.

Understanding what that moment is and how to identify, recreate and measure it, assumed as the key to growth and success.

“A-ha moment” is one of these terms that does not have a certain definition type but it is one of the simplest ones. We all have an idea of what it refers to and the real meaning doesn’t surprise any of us. You know it when you feel it. Regardless of how clear the term is, it is worth thinking about since it plays a very critical role in a product’s success.

What is An “A-ha!” Moment?

The phrase “A-ha moment” refers to a psychological phenomenon. The Eureka effect in psychology refers to the psychological sense of sudden enlightenment after extensive research when the answer becomes evident. This phenomenon is described as an “A-ha moment” in the entrepreneur and product markets.

The “A-ha moment” in product design, development, and management refers to the second customer discovering the problem and solution. Yet, it’s not that simple. There are numerous definitions of the “A-ha moment”. Some describe it as a customer’s realization of the benefits of a product or service. Some say it is a feeling of understanding something.

For some, an “A-ha! moment” is an occasion that happens when the need of the customer is understood by the customer in a very subtle manner. It is nothing but a sudden understanding or realization that a customer has a problem or solution. 

“A-ha moment” is also known as magic moment, eureka effect, epiphany, and so on. It’s a moment when you suddenly realize or understand a problem, solution, or feeling. We could go on and on but it’s evident that several terms keep popping up in these definitions, an “A-ha moment” about the term.

  • Problem.
  • Solution.
  • Feeling.

So, conceptualizing the “A-ha moment” offers us a roadmap for product success. It allows you to measure how long it will take for the consumer to discover the problem or solution; how long they need to understand what you offer as a solution.

“Aha! Moments” of a Digital Product

From a digital product point of view, “A-ha! moment” explains why someone likes a product. It’s the moment the value proposition of the product is understood. It is something that happened in the onboarding process, of course.

It’s important to point out that the moment differs from user to user, cohort to cohort. These can be emotional reactions to discovering a new feature. Essentially, “A-ha moments” are the pleasant emotions that occur as a result of a user experience.  Shortly, they are subjective, personal, and emotional. However, it is possible to be definitive about it and measure it to become more data-driven.

How To Analyze “A-ha! Moments” With Milestone Analysis

The fundamental idea is to determine milestones and analyze how they affect your conversions. Generally, the one which is converted as a purchase or customer loyalty depends on your business model.

“A-ha moments” are different for each user. It’s important to consider it when you conceptualize it. There are always hidden paths in a user journey and they may find your product helpful for a completely new thing you’d never considered in the first place.

However, it does not mean that personal varieties are not predictable. Mostly there are schemas repeating if you are analyzing enough data. It’s basically the core of statistics. When you analyze a product’s right gathered data, you’ll see schemas, paths, and repeating behaviors.

You should look for behavioral patterns you can measure, create behavioral user segments, and determine how they affect the conversion.

Searching For An “A-ha!”

For example, let’s say you have a music player app with a freemium model. The main question is:

  • What are the common behaviors of the users who purchased premiums within a week?;

As we achieve these outcomes by analyzing conversion lift for behavioral user segments, we continue to assume:

  • Users who play a song within the first two hours of installing the app are 181% more likely to buy it than others.
  • Users who share a song during the first 48 hours after installing the app are 345% more likely than others to purchase it.

The list may be expanded to include a favorite song, viewing a certain webpage, selecting a genre, following an artist, and so on. But if we stick with these two findings, (and be super superficial like there is no other factor) we may argue that sharing a song is an “A-ha moment”.

“A-ha Moments”: Correlation or Causation?

We just found an “A-ha!”. Then, you probably ask the question:

  • How can we employ this behavior on new users?

Here things got confused. It is reasonable to think that if you make new users share a song, they will purchase a premium model. But nope, they are not. Or maybe they are but you cannot know that with that amount of information.

In the case of the example above, we assumed that we discovered an “A-ha! moment” through examining web analytics data, which most businesses most likely have. However, just because we know that sharing a song and purchasing our app are connected actions based on our dummy data does not suggest that there is an actual cause-and-effect relationship between the two.

Two components can be associated on any level, which indicates that they have a correlation, but correlation does not always equal causation. When there is a correlation between two variables but no causality, there are two possibilities:

  • The third variable: Probably there is at least one more factor that affects both of these variables separately and makes it seem like they are linked.
  •  Directionality. There can be really a causal relationship between these two variables but we’d never know which one causes the other.

So, What To Do About “A-ha” Moments? 

We are all so enthusiastic about magical tips, growth hacks, and success formulas. We mention everything as a magic wand and deep down we all know they are not and there are no formulas.

So, turn your retention data to insight, and keep it as an insight, not an overlooked aim.


Tell us an example! It could be yours or it could be a product you really love. 

You can contact us on Instagram

tio

tio

OUR E-BOOK

Startup Founder'sActionable Guide toDigital Products

Startup Founder’s Actionable Guide to Digital Products

SOCIAL @ INSTAGRAM

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

@tio.ist

ALSO ON TWITTER, LINKEDIN, YOUTUBE