Treat Your Customer Journey Like a Game—And Watch Your Users Level Up

In the world of B2C, guiding your users through their journey with your product is a lot like leading them through a game. Whether you’re developing an app, a subscription service, or any digital product, your users start at level 1—completely new, unsure, and just taking their first steps. As they explore and learn more, they advance to higher levels, gaining confidence and becoming more engaged. But here’s the key: just like in a game, you can’t throw the hardest challenges at them right away. The journey needs to be gradual, rewarding, and perfectly paced.

Level 1: Sign-Up—The First Step in the Journey

Think about the beginning of any game. The first level is all about getting the player comfortable with the controls, the environment, and the basic mechanics. The same applies to your users. When someone signs up for your product, they’re at level 1. They don’t know much yet, and it’s your job to guide them through those first steps. Bombarding them with too much information or complex features right away can overwhelm them, leading to frustration or, worse, abandonment.

Instead, focus on simple, clear actions that help them understand the basics. This could be a tutorial, a quick start guide, or an easy task that shows immediate value. The goal is to get them to level 2—activation—where they start to grasp how your product works and want to explore more.

Level 2: Activation—Gaining Confidence

Once users have successfully navigated level 1, they’re ready for more. At this stage, they’ve started to understand the core features of your product and are beginning to see how it can benefit them. In gaming terms, they’ve learned the basic controls and are ready to take on some simple challenges.

Here, your focus should be on reinforcing their understanding and building confidence. Introduce them to more features, but do it gradually. Let them experience small wins that keep them motivated to continue. The goal at this stage is to move them towards level 3—value creation.

Level 3: Value Creation—Seeing the Benefits

When users reach level 3, they’ve started to experience the real value of your product. They’re using it regularly, seeing the benefits, and are much more likely to convert into paying customers or loyal users. In game terms, they’ve mastered the basics and are now enjoying the game, fully engaged and ready for more complex challenges.

At this point, you can start introducing more advanced features and encouraging them to explore deeper. However, just like in a game, these challenges should still be appropriate for their level. You wouldn’t throw a boss fight at a player who’s just started, so don’t overwhelm your users with too much complexity too soon.

Why Many Companies Get It Wrong

Unfortunately, many companies fail to treat the customer journey with this level of care. They blast new users with all the advanced features right after sign-up, hoping to showcase everything the product can do. But this is like dropping a player into the final level of a game without any preparation—it’s confusing, frustrating, and often leads to them giving up.

To succeed, you need to match the right action to the user’s level. Just like in gaming, where the difficulty gradually increases as the player improves, your product should introduce new features and challenges as the user becomes more familiar and engaged. This keeps them motivated, engaged, and moving forward in their journey.

How Coho AI Can Help You Guide Users to Success

This is where Coho AI comes in. Coho AI helps you understand where each user is in their journey and what they need to progress to the next level. With automated user segmentation and real-time insights, Coho AI allows you to tailor the user experience to match their level of engagement. Whether it’s guiding new users through the basics or introducing advanced features to seasoned users, Coho AI ensures that every user is on the right path to success.

By treating your customer journey like a game and using Coho AI to guide users through each level, you can create an experience that’s not only enjoyable but also highly effective at turning new users into loyal customers.