Time to Activated
How fast a new signup reaches first value — and why speed to the aha moment decides everything after it.
What is it?
Time to Activated is how long the typical new signup takes to reach first realised value — the aha moment where the product first does something useful for them. It is measured as a median, from signup to that first milestone.
Speed here is destiny. The faster a new user reaches value, the more likely they are to activate, convert and stay; a long time-to-activated is usually where trials quietly die before they ever convert.
How to calculate?
For each new account, measure the time from signup to the defined activation event, then take the median across the cohort. The median matters — a few power users who activate instantly should not mask a slow experience for everyone else.
The definition of the activation event is everything: pick the action that genuinely signals value, not a superficial step like completing a profile, or the metric will look healthy while users churn.