What is “The Magic moment”? Why is it important in the product development process?

 

So, what is the meaning of “the Magic moment”? Why is it important? How to incorporate it into the product development process? Let's go together ThinkZone Find out in the article below.

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WHAT IS “THE MAGIC MOMENT”? WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT IT?

Simply put, “the Magic moment” (also known as “the Aha moment”, “the Wow moment”) is the moment when customers realize that your product truly brings value to meet their needs, the first time they use the product.

You can imagine the product usage process of a new user as follows: They come across your product on a certain media channel → Curiosity goes to the website/fanpage to find out information → Try creating an account/ downloading the app to try → Performing onboarding steps, tinkering with how to use it, and... "wow this is cool!", they realize the product really meets their needs.

That is "the Magic moment", the moment when you have a new active user.

Briefly explained above, we can see why every product development team needs to care about "the Magic moment": The moment a customer reaches "the Magic moment", the rate at which they become active user rise higher, churn rate (churn rate) reduce, customer lifetime value (Lifetime Value – LTV) increases accordingly, increasing revenue and profits for the company.

In particular, if your product is in the process of user growth, it is important to ensure new users reach “the Magic moment” as quickly as possible, because it will increase conversion rates from registered user (registered user) wall active user, and possibly also paid users (paid users).

Andy Johns, Vice President of Growth at Wealthfront, and former Product manager at Facebook, Twitter and Quora, has included “the Magic moment” as one of the three elements that create sustainable growth for a product, alongside Top of Funnel and Core Product Value.

* ThinkZone will have a separate article sharing Andy Johns' product growth mindset.

HOW TO INCLUDE ‘THE MAGIC MOMENT’ INTO THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?

Determine the core value of the product

First, and most importantly, you must define “the Magic moment” for your product. The question is: What is the moment that makes customers wow and feel satisfied with the value my product brings?

How to answer this question? Make assumptions and test them with customers. At this stage, you will have to ask yourself what are the core values ​​that make users use my product. And many times, this question causes headaches because your product often brings more than one value, and you are not clear which is the main value that attracts customers.

Do people use Facebook to post statuses and photos, or to update news, or to text with friends? Do people join your community group to connect, or to learn knowledge?

Let's test the above assumptions one by one, and determine what is the main value that customers expect from you, and then choose the most suitable definition for "the Magic moment" of the product.

For example, Facebook defines their core value as connection, and they define their “the Magic moment” as when a user has their first 10 friends, and they build the user experience to ensure every new user using Facebook will have at least 10 friends within 14 days. Why 10 and 14? This number is drawn from data, where an average user with 10 friends in 14 days has a churn rate at the minimum level that Facebook expects.

“The Magic moment” can be applied to any business model. With Netflix, if a new user signs up, but doesn't watch any movies, sooner or later they will cancel their subscription. Thus, with Netflix's business model, we can imagine that "the Magic moment" will be the time when a new user watches a certain number of movies in a certain period of time, for example 2 movies/month.

Verify assumptions

For each of your definitions for “the Magic moment”, build a product version that helps users achieve “the Magic moment” in the shortest time (simple version, keeping the lean startup spirit). Ask yourself carefully why you think this is “the Magic moment”? Why does it make customers continue to use the product? How do you collect feedback/data from customers to know you are defining “the Magic moment” appropriately?

For each version above, test it with users, to determine the maximum amount of time it takes for users to reach “the Magic moment”: 14 days, 1 week, or 1 month? In a landscape of product saturation that distracts users' attention, this time period is becoming increasingly shorter, often measured in days, weeks, or even minutes.

Once you have determined that time period, build customer experience (UI, customer journey,…) so that they reach “the Magic moment” within the time you set.

Continuously analyze and optimize

To find the right “the Magic moment” for your product, you will need to continuously collect user data, analyze and adjust. Adjustments here include adjusting both the definition of "the Magic moment" and the user journey so that they achieve "the Magic moment" as smoothly and conveniently as possible.

Does a 14-day period significantly increase the number of active users? Should it be reduced to 10 days? Are the registration and login steps convenient enough? Those are questions that Facebook must continuously answer for its definition of "the Magic moment".

SUMMARY

Considering “the Magic moment” in the user's product experience journey helps you keep a customer-centric mindset in mind. (thinking around users), navigate every element and feature of the product to help users get the value they need as quickly as possible.

→ So, what is “the Magic moment” for your product? Start thinking about it today!