In most products, the activation moment is when a user directly experiences the core value proposition or the “job to be done.” For Avaz AAC, that core value is clear: the child communicates meaningfully using the device. However, for children with complex communication needs (CCN), this is not a singular event but a long, layered developmental journey. It is deeply impacted by the child’s disability profile, co-occurring diagnoses, and — just as critically — by the caregiver’s effort, learning curve, and consistency.

Unlike typical apps, where a feature use or action might signify activation, Avaz requires a pseudo-activation milestone — an upstream behavior or pattern that signals meaningful engagement and long-term potential. These are not "success moments" in themselves, but precursors that predict the likelihood of reaching success with the app.

These proxy milestones include foundational developments such as:

• The child’s acceptance and tolerance of the AAC device
• Shifting from non verbal cues to concrete expressive communication on the AAC
• Motor capability to navigate and select on an AAC
• Language acquisition
• Early exploratory taps or navigation attempts
• Caregiver-led modeling behaviors
• Evidence of parental persistence despite emotional or technical hurdles

Understanding activation in Avaz thus requires acknowledging the gradual nature of AAC adoption, the emotional labor it demands from caregivers, and the compounding effect of small, consistent actions that build toward the child’s eventual expressive communication.

Realistic Activation Metrics

Parent takes charge of the intervention at home within the first 15 days.

Context of validation : When parents take charge in the initial time frame, it is definite that they have clear realisation of the need / pain point and they are ready to take steps which shows tremendous commitment of effort and time
What needs to happen : Parent takes professional support (enrolls for sessions with an Avaz certified therapist) (or) joins a parent training course (or) seeks out for implementation strategies in parent groups within the first 15 days. This indicates that they have explored the app well enough (trial) to realise the value potential. Once these steps are taken it automatically ensures app usage.
Expected Impact : Portrays huge commitment from the parent, directly affects conversion.

Around 25 unique (from min 3 word types/categories) words tapped in the first 7 days.

Context of validation : Tapping unique words from different word types indicates capturing diverse use cases for communication (or) capturing diverse communicative functions. This leads to the user realising product value.
What needs to happen : User taps 25 unique words, from min 3 different word types (For ex : Verbs / Action words, Adjectives / Descriptives, Nouns / Things, Phrases) in the first 7 days itself.
Expected Impact : Portrays huge commitment from the parent, user realises potential of product.

10 - 15 app sessions in the first 15 days.

Context of validation : Through user interviews and conversations with professionals, we have clearly established that adoption success is directly related / dependent on consistent exposure / opportunity.
What needs to happen : User needs to have 10 - 15 app sessions within the first 15 days. This indicates patterns of habit creation which will impact adoption success.
Expected Impact : Portrays commitment from the parent, directly affects conversion.

Customises 5 unique words with personal info (in 5 unique word categories) within first 15 days.
(OR)
Saves 5 custom phrases in the favourite folder of the Keyboard within first 15 days.

Context of validation : Customising the app for the child is a direct indicator of commitment. Also the product adoption success is higher when the child sees personal / customised options reflecting their preferences or increasing relatability with the icons.
What needs to happen : Parent needs to customise 5 unique words with personal info - child's fav food / fav toy / fav activity, using custom images (camera / gallery upload). This is a committed effort from the parent side to encourage product adoption by the child.
Expected Impact : Portrays commitment from the parent, directly affects conversion.

Creates min 3 lowtech PDFs and shares them within the first 7 days

Context of validation : Creating low tech boards and sharing them out for printing is a great indicator of effort / commitment. Low tech boards statistically have a higher usage frequency than high tech in the initial adoption.
What needs to happen : Parent needs to create 3 lowtech PDFs in the app and do the Share event. This increases accessibility as well as opportunities for instant usage.
Expected Impact : Portrays commitment from the parent.

Customises 5 settings in the app to tailor the interface for the child within first 15 days

Context of validation : Customising the app for the child by changing the settings is a way of providing a tailored app experience to the child.
What needs to happen : Parent needs to customise 5 settings - theme / side nav bar / touch accommodations / grid size / text size / fav button / zoom setting. This is a committed effort from the parent side to encourage product adoption by the child.
Expected Impact : Portrays commitment from the parent.

Parameters to track the activation metrics:

• Event usage analysis
• WAU
• Free trial to Subscription conversion
• Subscription to Lifetime conversion
• Support Queries wrt training / info on usage strategies

What's the Problem we are trying to solve

"Imagine having a thousand thoughts but not being able to express even one"

For parents of children who are unable to speak or have severe speech delays, everyday communication can be a source of deep anxiety and frustration. These challenges are common across a range of developmental and neurological conditions — including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, global developmental delay, and childhood apraxia of speech. Children may experience a variety of speech impairments: some may be nonverbal (unable to produce spoken language at all), while others may have apraxia, reduced speech clarity, or limited expressive vocabulary that affects their ability to convey thoughts effectively.

The inability to understand or be understood impacts not just learning, but also emotional bonding, behavior regulation, and social inclusion.

The Solution

Avaz AAC is a robust symbol-based communication app built to address the multifaceted challenges faced by non-speaking or minimally verbal children. At its core, the app provides a structured visual vocabulary system, allowing users to form and speak messages through tap-based symbol selection. It is designed to support the principles of language development offering core vocabulary for everyday use, fringe vocabulary for specific needs, and grammatically adaptive sentence construction.

Who are our potential ICPs

Given the diversity of needs across disability profiles, segmenting our parent users isn't straightforward. To identify high-potential Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) where Avaz AAC can deliver the most impact, it's essential to go beyond broad labels and focus on nuanced criteria tied directly to adoption challenges and caregiver pain points.

ICP Prioritization

Scoring for Avaz AAC

1. Primary Metrics (heavily weighted):

• Adoption Rate
• Frequency of Use Case
• TAM

2. Secondary Metrics (moderately weighted):

• Appetite to Pay

3. Tertiary Metric (low weight, for future scale):

• Distribution Potential

Reasons for Prioritisation

Adoption Rate -- Highly Relevant

• Why it matters: AAC adoption requires commitment and consistency. ICPs with a higher likelihood of actually integrating the tool into daily life will deliver the most value. Not just in usage and retention, but in outcomes and word-of-mouth advocacy.

Frequency of Use Case -- Highly Relevant

• Why it matters: The more frequently AAC is needed and used in a child’s day-to-day communication, the faster the adoption of the product itself, leading to better retention and engagement

TAM -- Highly Relevant

• Why it matters: Our Product already has 2000 users, but during early scaling we lost retention and hence PMF, because previously the product served sufficient for Self Starters, who constitute to a low percentage of the parent segment and hence gained users as well as good WOM. But for other ICPs there is more support and scaffolding required in order to achieve retention and consequently PMF. Only then PMF will stand true for the future Early Scaling stage as well.

Appetite to Pay -- Moderately Relevant

• Why it matters less: The cost of current alternate solutions like Speech therapy, Behaviour therapy and Special Education in Tier 1 cities (our target geography) is extremely high (different range). Which makes appetite to pay a lower friction point as our product does not aim to fit that bracket range in terms of cost. For example : a typical Speech therapy session (1 session) costs around 800 - 1000 Rs in Tier 1 cities. Whilst, the monthly subscription of Avaz is 450 Rs per month (entire month)

Distribution Channel -- Less Relevant

• Why it matters less: All of the major sources of info or majority amount of time spent across all ICPs are in Social Media, Other therapies or Parent training courses. Sufficient influence or WOM exists in Social Media (no competitors for Avaz in AAC space in India) which is being done by Self Starters. Additionally Avaz's professional courses for SLPs and Spl Eds is ensuring that professionals are aware of the product benefits and how to intervene with the child. Hence, this encompasses the crucial channels my ICPs exist in. Especially being in Pre PMF stage, these deem sufficient and not a deal breaker for prioritisation of ICPs based on this.

While the core Job to Be Done for Avaz remains consistent across ICPs — enabling an alternative way for their child to communicate — the underlying motivation driving that job varies significantly.

For some parents, the goal is emotional connection; for others, it’s reducing behavioral outbursts and frustration; and for some, it's about improving their child’s overall quality of life.

These differences surfaced in how parents shared success stories, the metrics they used to define progress, and the types of questions frequently asked in parent groups.

To truly drive activation and long-term retention, it's essential that we recognize and respond to these intrinsic motivations and not just the functional need.

To gain a deeper, real-time perspective on the onboarding experience, I conducted exploratory calls with 12 users who had downloaded the app within the past 1–2 days. These conversations focused on capturing early impressions, friction points, and emotional responses during the first interaction with the product.

User Calling Experiment: First Impressions from New Avaz AAC Users

Goal : Understanding how new users find, sign up for and start using Avaz, as well as how they interact with the available support resource. Our goal was to find behavioral patterns, friction points by examining user responses across key onboarding touchpoints, such as the discovery source, registration experience, first app interaction and support channel usage.

Onboarding Journey Mapping

Insights :

• Discovery : Therapist recommendations and word-of-mouth (including support groups and social media like YouTube/Instagram) are the most common discovery channels. In one case, hospital staff installed the app directly.
• Registration Experience : Most users had a smooth registration process, though a few noted issues with registration length or vocabulary download. One family couldn't proceed due to a language barrier, which probably indicates a need for multilingual onboarding support.
• App Exploration : Some users immediately explored or customized the app, others relied on therapists to set it up. Customization and Pic mode usage suggest motivation when guided. Guidance from family or SLPs improves initial engagement.
• Resources / Support look out post registration : YouTube and WhatsApp groups are commonly used for self-learning. There’s a clear opportunity to enhance visibility of FAQs, support channels and explainer videos.

Currently, Avaz does not offer a targeted onboarding experience tailored to the emotional and functional journey of its users. What exists today is primarily a registration flow and basic app setup. However, insights from our recent user calling experiment reveal that parents engage with the product through a broader set of interactions — both before and after onboarding — that significantly shape their perception and usage. In the teardown below, we map the complete customer journey, connecting parent emotions at each stage with the specific touchpoints they encounter, in order to surface deeper gaps and opportunities beyond the initial setup flow.

Onboarding Teardown

Avaz AAC_Onboarding Teardown_Final.pdf

Conclusive Insights: Gaps Across the Avaz AAC Onboarding Experience

Onboarding Journey Lacks Emotional Priming

Across the initial screens, there is minimal acknowledgment of the parent’s emotional state — often anxious, uncertain, or overwhelmed. This leads to a transactional experience, where sensitive decisions (e.g., choosing a voice or grid size) are made without context or confidence-building.

E.g., Pages 9–11 show language and voice selection screens with no messaging on how this personalizes the experience or helps the child.

Lack of Personalization and Guidance

Despite capturing the child’s name or details, there’s no visible personalization reflected in subsequent steps. The journey also lacks scaffolded guidance or progress indicators, making the user feel lost or unsure of what’s ahead.

“Get Started” appears prematurely and misleadingly (page 11), while the absence of a progress bar across screens adds to confusion.

UI Shortcomings Reduce Clarity and Confidence

The UI has flat visual hierarchy, low contrast in critical areas (e.g., footnotes, CTA buttons), and inconsistent labels (“user” vs. “communicator”) — all of which reduce user trust and hinder navigation.

(Page 10) shows low-contrast footnotes, and multiple screens highlight inconsistency in button styling and copy tone.

Unclear Onboarding Outcomes & Next Steps

After reaching the home screen, users are not explicitly told what to do next. There’s no guided walkthrough, no motivational messaging, and no hand-holding to introduce usage routines — especially crucial for a niche, high-friction product like AAC.

(Pages 12–13) reveal a sudden transition into app UI with no explanation or orientation.

Support Pathways Post-Onboarding Are Under-Communicated

Once inside the app, the pathway to finding support (especially WhatsApp or live help) is not prominently surfaced. Parents often turn back to external communities due to poor visibility of in-app help options.

(Page 14) shows support buried in a dropdown menu — not ideal for overwhelmed users.

Post-Purchase Drop-off Risk Is High

As seen in community conversations (pages 16–17), many parents buy the app but fail to activate or continue usage due to unclear setup, inconsistent early wins, or absence of feedback mechanisms — pointing to a retention and success gap.

Comments across months show users struggling to get started or unsure how to judge progress, with usage often fading out.