ow do you make customer education stick?

Building a customer academy or onboarding program is one thing. Making it effective is another. Too often, programs launch with great content but little consideration for how customers actually learn. The result? Low engagement, poor retention, and training that doesn’t move the needle on adoption or outcomes.

The key? Design training that taps into the brain’s ability to transfer knowledge into long-term memory. That’s exactly what the AGES model does.

‍

Why retention matters in customer education

For customers, training isn’t about ticking a box or finishing a course. It’s about:

• Mastering your product
  
  
• Achieving their desired outcomes
  
  
• Realising value quickly
  
  

If learning doesn’t transfer into action:

• Support tickets rise
  
  
• Adoption slows
  
  
• Churn risk increases
  
  

That’s why retention is everything.

‍

What is the AGES model?

The AGES model is a neuroscience-based framework that helps people learn in a way that lasts. It’s built on decades of research into how the hippocampus, the part of the brain that consolidates memories, works.

AGES stands for:

1. Attention
   
   
2. Generation
   
   
3. Emotion
   
   
4. Spacing
   
   

Let’s look at how each principle applies to customer education.

‍

‍

Attention: earn it and keep it

Customers are busy. Expecting them to sit through long onboarding sessions is a recipe for distraction.

How to design for attention:

• Break content into short, focused lessons
  
  
• Strip away unnecessary detail that creates cognitive overload
  
  
• Provide context and personalise examples
  
  

The more focused the training, the stronger the memory formation.

‍

‍

Generation: make it active

Passive learning doesn’t stick. Customers need to do something with the knowledge to make it their own.

How to design for generation:

• Include activities where they apply learning directly in your product
  
  
• Ask reflective questions: “How would you use this feature in your workflow?”
  
  
• Encourage peer-to-peer sharing in forums or community spaces
  
  

By connecting new ideas with existing knowledge, customers strengthen neural pathways and build confidence in using your product.

‍

Emotion: connect to what matters

Emotional experiences are more memorable. Training that sparks curiosity, excitement, or accomplishment is far more likely to stick.

How to design for emotion:

• Use storytelling and real-world examples to show the impact of features
  
  
• Build in small wins, like progress markers or badges
  
  
• Keep the tone encouraging and supportive
  
  

Positive emotions enhance creativity and openness, helping customers engage more deeply.

‍

‍

Spacing: reinforce over time

One-and-done onboarding is a common pitfall. Without reinforcement, knowledge fades fast.

How to design for spacing:

• Deliver follow-up microlearning sessions after initial onboarding
  
  
• Use in-app nudges, tooltips, or email refreshers to revisit key concepts
  
  
• Space reinforcement over weeks, not just days
  
  

Spacing gives the brain multiple opportunities to consolidate and recall information.

Bringing it all together

Customer education isn’t about pushing out content. It’s about enabling customers to succeed with your product.

By applying the AGES model, you can design learning experiences that:

• Capture and hold attention
  
  
• Encourage active engagement
  
  
• Connect emotionally
  
  
• Reinforce over time
  
  

The result? Customers who don’t just remember - they apply. That means higher adoption, reduced support costs, and stronger loyalty.

At HowToo, we’ve seen firsthand how powerful AGES is for customer education. When training is built with the brain in mind, it builds not just knowledge but also confidence, capability, and long-term success.

‍