Cohorts that respect onboarding windows
Weekly signup cohorts hide weekend effects and release noise. Align windows to how people actually finish setup.
Default weekly cohorts are convenient, but onboarding often spans a few days of intermittent visits. A user who signs up Friday night may not finish setup until Monday—and should not be scored as a failure on Saturday.
Define an onboarding window that matches your product: forty-eight hours for lightweight tools, seven days for B2B setup with approvals. Score activation inside that window, then track retention separately.
When a release changes the setup flow, split cohorts by release rather than calendar week alone. Otherwise you will attribute a UI change to a marketing channel or seasonal dip.
Clear windows make stakeholder conversations shorter. Everyone can see whether activation moved because of product work or because the definition quietly shifted.