You've just nailed a training call with a new customer. They're looking forward to using the product. They seem engaged. Everything is lined up as planned.

Fast forward one week. They log in and they’ve forgotten how to use that feature you showed them.

Two weeks later. They’ve been so busy, they haven’t had time.

One month in. They don’t reply to emails. You can’t get them on a call. They aren’t logging in anymore.

What happened?

Well in all honesty, it could be a number of things. But what if it’s something you can easily fix?

It could just be a matter of merely forgetting the valuable information.

The more you scroll, the more you remember. ↓

🧠 The Theory: Forgetting Curve

The very dapper looking Hermann Ebbinghaus created the Forgetting Curve. The idea was to illustrate the decline of memory retention over time when there is no attempt to actively recall the learned information.

The forgetting curve depicts that memory retention drops sharply in the first few days after learning and the rate of forgetting slows down over time.

Without reinforcement, people can forget up to 70% of what they've learned within a day.

This means that even if your customer onboarding is initially promising, users may quickly forget how to use your product effectively.

Especially, if it’s a complex product.

It’s important to understand to create long-term user adoption and retention.

👀 The Example: Dreaded Exams

I was crap at exams at school. In reality, I was crap at memorising.

Although, I had repeated biology lessons on mitochondria and homeostasis, when it came to exams, that information disappeared from my brain.

Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to physically apply biology in a school setting. If I could apply what I was learning in real time rather than just theorising perhaps my memory would have improved and I’d be a world renowned biologist…

Looking back, I think that’s why I did so well when I completed my music degree. We learnt theory and then we always performed the theory each week. I played guitar constantly. I actioned what I learnt.

I was a professional musician for 15 years.

I was never a biologist.

🧪 The Project: Spaced Repetition Learning

Use this project to enhance your high touch customer onboarding experience. Understanding, confidence, and adoption are achieved through repetition. Set up consistent interactions with your users to solidify the process. Use it as a way to reinforce their education.

Step 1: Create a key concepts library

Identify the most crucial concepts or features of your product. Create short, engaging explanations for each one (30-second videos or brief, illustrated guides).

You can include this in your existing knowledge base or create a new space to hold the content. It’s helpful for these most crucial steps to be delivered in different formats. Some people like to read instructions and others like to watch video.

You’ll likely cover these features in your usual user training. But don’t skip this step. The idea with this library is easy access repetition. Don’t make a user rewatch an hour long training session. Give them specific information.

Step 2: Implement a spaced repetition schedule

The key to battling the forgetting curve is repetition. Set up an automated email or in-app notification series that re-introduces your key concepts over time. Take into account your onboarding timeline, including any milestones.

Here’s an example:

This repetition schedule needs to supplement your existing training and calls. Make it specific to your onboarding process and fit it in where most appropriate.

Step 3: Encourage active recall

So, now you have the key concepts readily available and you prompt them at regular intervals. What good is that if they don’t actually use the knowledge?

Encourage the user to experiment with the new features. We expect this to happen naturally but there is always potential for users to go AWOL during onboarding.

If they action the concepts in the product, then it reinforces their learnings. Create encouraging prompts to move them along the journey.

For example: "Now that you've learned about X, try creating your first X in the app!"

Step 4: Provide context-sensitive help

Where you can, implement tooltips or small pop-up helpers within your app that remind users how to use features as they encounter them. You can make use of your content library here. This just-in-time learning reinforces concepts right when users need them. You can use tools like Pendo, Userpilot, or Intercom for this.

In-app notifications give users a sense of support whilst actively using the product. It’s a highly valuable way to interrupt the forgetting curve.

🤓 The Analysis: Make it Unforgettable

The forgetting curve will happen. But if you use the project above, you will interrupt and slow down the curve long enough for the product to stick during onboarding.

Keep it consistent and space the reinforcement of key concepts over the onboarding period. This approach transforms the typical "one-and-done" training model into a structured, scientifically-based learning journey.

Here's what you can expect from this project:

• Faster product proficiency

• Reduced need for repeated training sessions

• Increased onboarding engagement

• Reduced support burden