Engagement & Retention project | Avaz Inc

Avaz AAC

Avaz is a robust Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app designed to empower individuals with complex communication needs. It functions as a digital voice, enabling users, especially children with speech and language disabilities to express themselves effectively.

Core Value of Avaz

Natural Frequency

The core value proposition of Avaz lies in enabling children with speech and language difficulties to express themselves using the app. In line with this, the natural frequency of communication—and therefore, the ideal frequency of app usage—should mirror how often a child typically communicates.
Natural Frequency = Multiple times a day

However, achieving this level of independent AAC usage is a developmental journey. For a child to effectively use Avaz to communicate throughout the day, they must first acquire a range of foundational skills (recognizing symbols, understanding cause and effect, and forming communicative intent)

The Role of the Communication Partner

This learning process is heavily dependent on the role of the communication partner—typically a parent, caregiver, or educator. Their engagement is crucial, as they must:

• Create consistent opportunities for the child to interact with the app.
• Model the use of AAC during everyday interactions.
• Reinforce usage with encouragement and support.

In this sense, the natural frequency of the partner’s use of Avaz becomes just as critical as that of the child. Without regular modeling and interaction, the child’s progress toward autonomous communication is significantly delayed.

Natural Frequency for the Partner

Real-world usage patterns among partners vary widely due to multiple influencing factors:

• Time constraints and competing priorities.
• Comfort and familiarity with AAC tools.
• Understanding of AAC strategies and their application in natural environments (e.g., mealtimes, play, routines).

To better reflect this variation, we can classify partners into three user types based on engagement frequency:

User Experience: How Avaz Delivers Its Core Value

Avaz promises to give a voice to children with complex communication needs. This core value is experienced directly in the app through intuitive, emotionally resonant interactions that empower both the child and the communication partner.

Voice Through Taps

The most immediate expression of Avaz’s value is through a tap that converts a symbol or word into speech. This moment—when a choice becomes a voice—is foundational.

• For the child, it’s converting a thought into expression via selecting icons or keys
• For the partner, it’s understanding their child's thought and connection.

Personalization and Relevance

Avaz allows deep customization - adding personal photos, routines, and vocabulary familiar to the child. This makes the experience relatable, increasing motivation and emotional engagement. The app becomes their voice, not just a voice.

Structured, Supportive Design

With consistent layouts, color-coded categories, and predictable navigation, Avaz scaffolds learning for both the child and the partner. It reduces cognitive load, encourages exploration, and builds a visual and motor memory of language.

Instant Feedback and Reinforcement

Every interaction is reinforced through immediate audio (speech output) and visual cues. This feedback loop builds confidence and clarity in the expression being communicated. No more guesses.

Engagement Framework for Avaz

Focus Areas: Frequency and Breadth

Effective engagement in AAC—especially with a tool like Avaz—is not about simply opening the app or tapping a few icons. It’s about building a consistent rhythm of meaningful interaction (frequency) and progressively exploring the app’s capabilities to personalize and empower communication (breadth).

In Avaz’s context, frequency helps both the child and the communication partner build familiarity and confidence with the tool, while depth enables customization that reflects the child’s unique needs, preferences, and environment.

Frequency of Use

Communication Partner (Parent) Frequency

• Why it matters: Like language acquisition, AAC learning thrives on consistent exposure. Using the app for 10 minutes daily is more effective than sporadic, intensive use (e.g., 45 minutes once a week).
• Impact: Frequent usage:
• • Builds the partner’s comfort with the app and its features.
  • Reinforces modeling strategies in natural environments (e.g., during meals, play).
  • Facilitates the rhythm for the child’s own learning and usage.

Communicator (Child) Frequency

• Why it matters: Regular opportunities to observe and try AAC help the child:
• • Build familiarity and reduce sensory or cognitive aversion.
  • Tolerate structured communication routines.
  • Transition from passive exposure to active participation.

Breadth of Use (No. of Features)

Personalization & Customization

• Why it matters: The more Avaz is tailored to the child’s preferences and abilities, the more likely they are to engage meaningfully.
• Key feature dimensions:
• • Visual layout (grid size, color coding, font size).
  • Motor accessibility (button spacing, navigation hierarchy).
  • Content customization (adding photos, familiar objects, names, routines).

"Customisation and Personalisation allows the communicator to see Avaz not as a generic tool, but as their own voice—adapted to how they see, move, and think."

Advanced Use by Communication Partner

• Beyond initial setup, partners who explore advanced features:
• • Create custom folders and words.
  • Incorporate items that resonate and make interaction tailored to the child's interest (e.g., adding their fav characters, GIFs or YouTube for generating interest and resonate with their visual learning style)
  • Customise settings to match the child’s visual and motor processing styles (e.g., themes, touch accommodations, font or image size etc).

This kind of usage ensures personalised and tailored usage opportunities ensuring and setting the child up for success.

Active User

In the context of Avaz, word taps are the most fundamental unit of interaction—and the clearest observable signal that the app is being used as intended. Taps provides an actionable, scalable way to measure engagement across a diverse user base.

Taps Indicate Functional Interaction with the Core Value of the Product

Avaz is built to help users generate communication through symbols and text. A tap is the primary action through which:

• A child explores or expresses meaning.
• A partner models words for learning.
• The system performs its central job: converting symbol selection into speech.

Every tap, regardless of intent, reflects engagement with the app’s core value proposition.

User Segmentation based on Frequency of use :

This behavioral segmentation categorizes users by how often they use Avaz, helping us design interventions that match their level of engagement—from occasional explorers to consistent, high-frequency users.

User Segmentation based on Communication mode used :

This feature-based segmentation reflects the user’s stage in their AAC journey—Picture Mode users are typically early communicators or visual learners, while Keyboard Mode users are likely progressing toward spelling, literacy, and independence.

Though this is a not a very primary segmentation, it suggests certain important mindset notions on using or adopting AAC

Picture Mode Users : use icons on a grid with picture support to communicate or express thoughts

Keyboard Mode Users : uses text to speech on a keyboard screen to communicate or express thoughts

User Segmentation based on ICPs and Personas :

This segmentation is based on user intent, context, and the type of support they require—ranging from self-driven parents to therapist-guided caregivers. It helps us tailor communication and features to the user's emotional and functional readiness.

Avaz Engagement Strategy: Designing for Consistency, Confidence, and Care

AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) adoption is a deeply emotional and developmental journey. One where success hinges not just on the child learning to use the tool, but on the communication partner (typically a parent) having the belief, capacity, and motivation to model consistently. The value of Avaz as a voice-building tool becomes tangible only through repeated, supported use. This journey isn’t just about app use, it’s about building trust, emotional resilience, and purposeful action in caregivers as they support their child’s communication development. Below is a layered engagement framework that builds that consistency and motivation through tailored product hooks and engagement campaigns, carefully sequenced across user emotional readiness.

Framework: Progressive Journey with Emotional Anchors

The entire journey is structured in four phases. Each phase reflects the emotional reality and the functional needs of the parent at that specific stage and introduces only the features necessary to support their readiness and growth.

[Day 1 - Day 15] Phase 1 : Early Days – Getting Started

“I’ve downloaded the app, but I’m unsure what to do... and my child isn’t using it yet.”

AAC is not really an out of the box solution especially when it comes to parents. When they land on the AAC home screen they are often lost. They are not sure what to do or what to expect.

Product Hooks

• Starter Pack Onboarding:
• • Goal: Help the parent feel “I can do this.”
  • Includes: 2–3 lightweight walkthroughs (e.g., “What is modeling?”, “How to introduce Avaz to your child?”)

• Silent Voice Calendar:
• • Goal: Create a quiet, reassuring sense of progress. Build early momentum while respecting irregular routines.
  • Includes:
  • • A dashboard visual monthly calendar quietly adds a ⭐️ for every time the parent shows up on the app, (gamification through reward but without pressure)
    • A very subtle progress indicator.
  • Stars accumulate passively - no streaks, no losses, no negative reinforcement.
  • Parents can glance back at their week and see effort made, even on difficult days.
  • 

• Home Screen Widget:
• • Goal: Keep Avaz top of mind in a non-intrusive way during the early, fragile habit-building stage.
  • Includes:
  • • A minimal, passive widget pinned to the home or lock screen.
    • Displays a simple prompt like: “Did you use Avaz today?” with a soft emoji or icon.
    • Tapping the widget opens the app directly
  • Serves as a visual anchor—reminds parents to engage without a push notification.
  • Helps overcome forgetfulness or low-priority framing in the early days.
  • 

Engagement Campaigns

• (Day 1– Day 15) Onboarding Nudges: (WhatsApp/email)
• • Goal: Achievable starting points to reduce overwhelm and encourage early interaction, instill motivation and hope
  • Includes:
  • • A 15-day series of gentle nudges sent via WhatsApp, push, or email (based on opt-in).
    • Messages include:
    • • Encouragement: “You’ve taken the first step. We’re with you.”
      • Micro-tasks: “Try tapping 1 word during snack time today.”
      • Success stories: Mini-stories from real users “Here’s what another parent saw after a week of showing up.”
      • 
  • Builds early momentum when motivation is low and confusion is high.
  • Provides emotional scaffolding without demanding high cognitive effort.

[Day 15 - Day 30] Phase 2: Activation – Building the Habit

“I’ve started modeling. I’m seeing moments of tolerance and small responses. Maybe this could really work.”

The notion has been built that it’s not impossible to use or learn the app. Parent might trust us by now that we are here for them and start seeing that many are travelling this journey together. And mostly some belief or hope is sparked by now on the impact the app might bring to their lives.

Product Hooks

• Lesson Plan Postcards: (Daily/weekly in app prompts)
• • Goal: Help parents build AAC modeling into real-life routines with simple, ready-to-use ideas.
  • Includes:
  • • Short, friendly postcard that appear in-app. New day new postcard.
    • Each includes a specific scenario-based task (e.g., “During coloring, ask your child to choose a color using Avaz & you model “give” to your child while giving the crayon” or “Help your child wind up to bed using a visual schedule and wish them “good night” using Avaz).
    • Focuses on functional communication goals (e.g., requesting, labeling, commenting, greeting).
      
  • Removes the cognitive load of “figuring out what to do.”
  • Builds confidence in parents by giving them small, doable, quick win-oriented actions.

• Voice Calendar with League Tiers:
• • Goal: Reinforce consistency and celebrate effort through a light, visual feedback system.
  • Includes:
  • • The calendar from Phase 1 continues accumulating stars for usage days.
    • Weekly cups awarded based on engagement:
    • • 🥈 Silver for 3+ days
      • 🥇 Gold for 5 days
      • “You showed up and that is what matters” for < 3 days
        
  • Visual celebration on the dashboard and optional nudges like: “One day away from Gold!”
  • Creates momentum through low-stakes progress—no penalties for breaks.
  • Encourages emotional reward and pride in showing up regularly.

• Child’s Journey Map:
• • Goal: Help parents visualize journey goals along with their child’s AAC development over time and see their own impact.
  • Includes:
  • • A visual, scrollable map showing key AAC skill milestones along a continuum:
    • 1. Tolerates AAC – Child doesn’t reject or resist the presence of the device.
      2. Explores AAC – Taps randomly, browses screens, shows sensory curiosity.
      3. Intentional Taps – Repeats specific words or shows purpose in selection.
      4. Choice Making – Uses symbols to choose between 2+ options.
      5. Two-Word Communication – Combines core + fringe (e.g., “want toy”).
      6. Sentence Construction – Builds full ideas (e.g., “I want to go park”).
      7. Spelling Typed Words – Begins spelling or typing phonetically/accurately.
      8. Independent Usage – Initiates communication without prompting.
    • Each milestone is accompanied by a parent celebration badge (“You helped unlock this!”).
      
  • Reframes the long AAC journey into visible, achievable steps.
  • Reinforces the parent’s role as facilitator, not just observer.
  • Reduces drop off caused by lack of clarity about what progress looks like.

Engagement Campaigns

• "You're Almost at Silver!" Nudges:
• • Goal: Motivate continued usage with positive, progress-based encouragement—without pressure.
  • Includes:
  • • Push notifications triggered when a parent is close to achieving a weekly milestone (e.g., 2/3 or 4/5 Voice Moment days).
    • Example message: “You're one Voice Moment away from earning your Silver Cup this week!”
    • Tone is always celebratory and empowering, not corrective.
    • The nudge time to evolve over time to match the usage timing of the user. Making it more relevant as a reminder.
      
  • Uses timely momentum reinforcement to encourage one more small action.
  • Helps reframe the journey in terms of effort already made, rather than what’s missing.

• Weekly WhatsApp Summary - Engineering Aha moment:
• • Goal: Reinforce consistency by reflecting their effort back to them
  • Includes:
  • • A personalized weekly message that begins with an acknowledgement of progress in the child’s AAC journey:
    • “This week, your child explored 4 new words and you were right there making it possible.”
    • Followed by a reflective affirmation of the parent’s role:
    • • “We see the effort you’re making - showing up on the hard days, modeling when it’s unclear if it’s working, and holding space for your child’s voice to emerge. It’s not easy, and yet you’re doing it. You are your child’s voice builder. And this journey wouldn’t move without you.”
        
  • Provides deep emotional validation, not just behavior-based feedback. Strengthens commitment by reinforcing the identity of “I am the kind of parent who shows up for this.”
  • Helps retain engagement even when external progress is slow, because the internal story is honored.
  • This becomes a space to introduce the Content Loop (designed in previous segment) as part of the weekly report to whatsapp - avoiding too much interruptions to ongoing communication and leveraging easy share options and at the same time recognising brag worthy moments.
    

[Day 30 + ] Phase 3: 1 Month Milestone – Customizing the Journey

“We’re using Avaz regularly. I’m ready to go deeper.”

Once a momentum is set & using AAC seems doable, parents are ready for commitment of effort. At this stage parents will start hoping for more real tangible results that show up in real life.

Product Hooks

• Chatbot Companion:
• • Goal: Provide personalized support to parents seeking tailored guidance after one month of consistent use.
  • Includes:
  • • Introduced as a reward at the 1-month mark—a sign of trust and recognition.
    • Offers:
    • • Strategy suggestions based on challenges (e.g., “How do I model when my child ignores the app?”).
      • Emotional coaching during breakdown moments (“It’s okay to pause. Communication is not linear.”).
      • Child-tailored ideas based on reported developmental stage or observed use.
        
  • Always uses empathetic language and affirming tone.
  • Helps parents move from generic actions to situational wisdom using principles of knowledge scaffolding
  • Recognizes parents' growing sophistication and deepens emotional loyalty to Avaz.

• Lesson plan Postcards (Phase 2) - Smart Postcards:
• • Goal: Help parents stay engaged by offering timely, contextualized ideas that feel highly relevant to their child’s current AAC usage. Setting the child up for success with personalisation
  • Includes:
  • • Daily in-app postcards cards suggesting activities linked to recently tapped categories or words.
    • • E.g., If “food” category was used: “At lunch today, try modeling ‘yummy,’ ‘eat,’ or ‘like.’”
    • Encourages expanding communication functions (requesting, rejecting, commenting).
    • Tips are short, visual, and action-oriented built to integrate into daily routines.
      
  • Shows the app is “responsive”, making it feel alive and adaptive.
  • Keeps modeling fresh and contextually relevant, reducing fatigue or creative blocks.
  • Reinforces a loop: “What I do with the app shapes what I receive next.”

Engagement Campaigns

• Child’s Journey Map (Phase 2) - Milestone Celebrations:
• • Goal: Graphical representation that gives a tangible way to measure success which directly impacts effort and commitment in the long term.
  • Includes (evolved) :
  • • Push or message when new child skill is logged. The push link takes you to the visual scrollable map as mentioned previously.
    • Triggered when a new child skill milestone is reached (e.g., “First two-word phrase” or “First independent tap”).
    • Delivered as a push notification or message:
    • • “Your child just built their first sentence. And you were the one who made that possible.”
    • Accompanied by graphical representation of the child’s achieved milestone on the overall journey map (e.g., ⭐ “2 word Tap Achieved”).
  • Provides immediate emotional reward for sustained effort.
  • Reinforces the message: “Progress is happening—even when it’s slow or invisible day to day.”
• • This becomes the right trigger to introduce the Referral system (designed in previous segment) as part of the journey map - which gives a very clear moment of experiencing value proposition.
    
    
• Weekly WhatsApp Summary - Engineering Aha moment (Phase 2):
• • Goal: Reflecting nuanced usage patterns to motivate parents to keep growing—without pressure.
  • Includes (Evolved):
  • The reports now become more nuanced as generic motivation is no more sufficient though the tone still maintain empathy and acknowledgement.
  • • Weekly or biweekly WhatsApp messages that reflect:
    • Word diversity (“You modeled 6 unique words this week!”)
    • Session consistency (“You opened the app 4 different days—great rhythm!”)
    • Feature exploration (“You tried a new category—‘Feelings’. That’s a big step.”)
    • Followed by a reflective affirmation of the parent’s role.
      
  • Introduces the benefits of community at this stage and nudge parents to join and participate in the whatsapp community group.
    
  • Keep them updated about upcoming webinars or ask me anything sessions conducted by the brand

Rationale

Here, we deepen personalization—because confidence invites complexity. The bot feels like a reward for consistency. Weekly nudges shift from activation to growth coaching.

[Day 60+ ] Phase 4: Early Independency – Emerging Success & Advocacy

“My child is initiating or starting to use Avaz independently.”

Once the child starts initiating product usage, immaterial of complexity of communication achieved or not (simple emotions or complex sentences) the parent becomes self driven to use the app now motivated by child’s initiation. Hence, need for push reduces. Drive to search solutions and partner/ collaborate with other professionals begins.

Product Hooks

• Parent Achievement Badges: "AAC Guide," "Core Word Builder" etc., triggered through Journey Map.
• Introduce “Parent Hero” tier - ongoing recognition as a skilled communicator guide
• Reflective Journaling Prompt: Optional journaling space, unlocked after milestone.

Engagement Campaigns

• Invite to Share Story: Gentle opt-in to share their journey.
• Community Welcome (Optional): If offered, user may join an advanced support/mentor group.

Rationale

Not every parent becomes an advocate—but every parent deserves to feel like they’ve made a difference. This phase celebrates their quiet victories and transitions them into potential role models = WOM.

Engagement Without Pressure

Each element in this plan is intentionally progressive, emotionally calibrated, and designed to meet the parent where they are. Rather than drive usage through urgency or competition, we create a gentle rhythm of presence, reflection, and recognition.

This is not about streaks or dashboards. It’s about giving parents the emotional and strategic infrastructure to help their child build a voice—one tap, one day, one "Voice Moment" at a time.

As Avaz continues to evolve toward Product-Market Fit (PMF), our current retention metrics reflect the early-stage realities of a complex, behavior-dependent product. Avaz serves a niche but deeply meaningful use case—supporting communication for children with complex needs—where adoption requires not just feature satisfaction, but habit change, skill development, and emotional alignment from both the child and the caregiver.

Our retention data, as seen in Mixpanel, shows that we are still in the pre-PMF stage, where the core value is not yet being experienced consistently or deeply enough by the majority of new users. This is not unexpected. AAC adoption is a long, non-linear journey, and our current product experience does not yet provide the scaffolding needed to turn early intent into sustained engagement.

This section outlines our retention trends, the barriers currently contributing to drop-off, and how the engagement and onboarding strategies proposed earlier are designed to address these challenges head-on.

Weekly Retention in Avaz

Although Avaz is designed for daily use—reflecting the natural frequency of communication and the ideal modeling rhythm for AAC—the reality of our current user base presents significant barriers to achieving this. Factors such as lack of training, limited time availability, and a range of emotional and motivational constraints impact how consistently parents engage with the tool.

Given these early-stage challenges, daily retention is not yet a reliable or meaningful benchmark for us. Instead, we are currently focusing on weekly retention, which provides a more realistic and behaviorally appropriate lens to understand early engagement trends and identify intervention opportunities.

Over this 6-month period, Avaz saw onboarding from 153 new user profiles. However, our weekly retention trends indicate a steep drop-off in the initial stages of the journey:

• Only 49 users returned by Week 1, reflecting a Week 1 retention rate of ~32.6%.
• The retention continues to decline gradually over subsequent weeks.
• The curve stabilizes around Week 10, with a consistent average of 15 retained users, indicating our current ceiling for sustained usage.

This trend confirms that while initial curiosity or intent is high (89.9% use within the first week), continued engagement is significantly impacted by barriers to habit formation—likely due to the absence of early wins, unclear next steps, or overwhelming first-use experiences.

Which ICPs drive the best Retention?

Analyzing the user profiles of those retained beyond Week 10 on the Mixpanel retention curve reveals the following segmentation by ICP (Ideal Customer Profile):

• ICP 1 – Parents with high session frequency and irregular usage times (likely attempting spontaneous or self-led modeling):
  ~15% of retained users
  
• ICP 2 – Parents using Avaz consistently at the same time on a weekly basis, often in coordination with a therapist:
  ~30% of retained users
  Though therapist-facilitated routines and external scaffolding significantly improves sustained engagement, this usage drops starkly at home. Hence, limiting the usage to therapy centers.

• ICP 4 – Parents with low session volume but repeated attempts to re-engage:
  ~50% of retained users
  Despite low consistency, these users display persistent intent and emotional commitment, even if they struggle to build a sustainable habit.

This suggests that retention is not strictly driven by frequency or volume, but often by external structure (like therapy) and persistent motivation, even when usage is inconsistent. ICP 2 users have great potential to be our strongest candidates for long-term retention, while ICP 4 shows latent potential that could be unlocked with more supportive onboarding and reinforcement loops.

Which channels drive the best Retention?

Preliminary retention analysis suggests that Word of Mouth (WOM) referrals from professionals—specifically speech-language therapists and special educators—are strongly correlated with our most retained user segments.

These referrals typically come from:

• Therapists who actively recommend or use Avaz during sessions
• Avaz Certified Professionals who are trained in AAC and promote it as part of structured intervention plans

This trend is also reinforced by the fact that WOM is currently our primary acquisition channel in India, with no paid or organic digital acquisition campaigns active. The absence of other acquisition channels makes this correlation especially meaningful, as it isolates professional advocacy and parent advocacy as the main drivers of acquisition.

What features drive the best Retention?

Retention data from Mixpanel reveals that users who engage with customization and core communication features tend to return more consistently over time. These features appear to anchor users by providing both functional depth and a sense of ownership.

Key features associated with higher retention:

• Keyboard + Saved Phrases
  Used by advanced users or therapists, this feature supports text-based communication and allows for quick-access phrases—ideal for repeat use in real scenarios. Its usage is a strong signal of users progressing toward independent or semi-independent communication (or) early literacy.
• Add Word / Edit Word in Picture Mode
  Customizing the vocabulary makes the app feel personal and relevant. Users who add or edit words are more likely to internalize the app as their child's voice, increasing their emotional and functional commitment.
• Tapped Word Events (Highest in Picture Mode)
  The most frequent interaction across retained users. This suggests that picture-based vocabulary remains the most accessible entry point for families and children starting their AAC journey.
• App Settings Adjustments
  Retained users often modify settings such as:
  These changes signal intent to personalize the experience to suit the child’s sensory and motor needs, indicating a higher level of investment and intention to continue using the app.
• • Voice selection
  • Grid size
  • Side Navigation Bar
  • Font size / height

In summary, retention is strongly tied to personalization, core communication interaction, and setup adjustments—features that either improve usability or deepen the connection between the child and the tool.

Top reasons for churn

Retention metrics tell us what is happening—but not always why. To bridge this gap, we initiated a focused tele-calling experiment aimed at understanding the lived experiences behind user cancellations. This qualitative deep dive complements our analytics by surfacing the emotional, functional, and contextual reasons users drop off—reasons that rarely show up in dashboards.

Over the span of a week, we reached out to a curated list of 213 profiles identified as “cancelled” based on subscription expiry or disengagement patterns. From this, we spoke in detail with 30 users. The goal was not to re-sell or re-activate, but simply to listen, understand, and map the real drivers of churn—whether emotional (overwhelm, guilt), behavioral (lack of guidance, inconsistent usage), or technical (bugs, missing features).

Find the detailed analysis of the initiative below

Based on this Cancelled Users - Calling Initiative these were some of the most primary reasons for cancellation

Primary Cancellation Reasons :

Key Observations:

• Guidance Gap Is Critical: Over one-third of users canceled simply because they felt lost. They weren’t rejecting the tool—they just didn’t know how to get started. This highlights the need for stronger onboarding and humanized support.
• Professional Influence Matters: A small but notable segment canceled due to lack of endorsement by their therapist, showing how essential our professional advocacy network is to conversion and retention.
• Willingness to Engage: Even churned users were happy to talk, indicating that trust hasn’t eroded—there’s still emotional goodwill and interest in the product’s promise.
• “Other” Reasons May Mask Discomfort or Uncertainty: The wide-ranging nature of responses categorized as “Other” (27%)—such as “child fell ill,” “will upgrade later,” or “didn’t realize app is paid”—suggests that many could be surface-level justifications. These may mask underlying issues like guilt, overwhelm, or confusion that users are unable or unwilling to articulate clearly. This group likely represents high potential for reactivation with empathetic, low-pressure re-engagement.

Negative User Actions & Anti-Engagement Signals

In Avaz, disengagement doesn't always arrive with a dramatic exit—it often creeps in subtly through missed moments, dropped habits, and fading emotional connection. Understanding these signals is key to identifying users at risk and designing thoughtful interventions.

Negative User Actions (Definitive Churn)

These are clear indicators of churn and signal strong user intent to discontinue:

• Account deletion
• App uninstallation
• Monthly / Subscription Cancelled

These are end-stage events in the user journey and typically follow a prolonged period of dissatisfaction, overwhelm, or unmet expectations.

Anti-Engagement Signals (Early Risk Indicators)

Unlike definitive churn, anti-engagement signals are layered, nuanced, and often influenced by contextual life factors—such as illness, therapy cancellations, or emotional fatigue. While the reasons behind disengagement may be complex, certain patterns consistently emerge as red flags:

1. Drop in weekly app session count
   A noticeable dip in how often the app is opened suggests declining interest, motivation, or opportunity to engage.
2. Reduction in average communication events per session
   Users may still open the app, but tap fewer words—signaling that usage is becoming ritualistic or unproductive rather than purposeful.
3. No customization activity for 30+ days
   Customizing vocabulary is a strong engagement signal. A complete halt in personalization often reflects stagnation in emotional or functional investment.
4. Drop in usage of previously high-engagement categories
   If categories that were frequently tapped earlier (e.g., “Food”, “Emotions”) show sustained decline, it may indicate that the child is disengaging or the parent is no longer modeling those interactions.

Not every parent’s AAC journey is a straight line. Many begin with optimism, make genuine effort, and then quietly fade out—overwhelmed by uncertainty, unsure if they’re doing it right, or disheartened by the absence of immediate results. At Avaz, we recognize that disengagement is not disinterest—it’s often exhaustion, confusion, or unmet need for support.

Our resurrection strategy is not about pulling users back at any cost. It’s about meeting them where they emotionally and functionally paused, and offering a gentle, respectful bridge back to the vision they started with: giving their child a voice.

These campaigns avoid pressure or guilt. Instead, they:

• Reconnect parents to their own past efforts (customizations, sessions, routines),
• Offer emotional validation ("the dip is normal") and stories of others who paused and returned,
• Provide concrete, low-effort starting points, so restarting feels doable, not daunting,
• Introduce live human help (teletherapy / customer success calls) where self-motivation may not be enough.

Each campaign is rooted in the belief that parents want to show up—but sometimes they need clarity, encouragement, and a little handholding to do so.

What follows are five resurrection campaigns, each tuned to a distinct parent persona and moment of drop-off. Together, they form a soft reactivation engine built on empathy, progress, and possibility.