No activation event: engineering solution

Instrument the activation outcome approved by product and data owners when no existing event accurately represents the outcome. Data Assistant can't add the signal. An analytics-only workaround works only when existing events already encode the complete outcome. Start with the activation outcome defined in the audit.

Define the event contract

1. Use the outcome and acceptance criteria from the audit.
2. Add the event to the tracking plan with a precise trigger, owner, source, and description.
3. Add only properties that support a known analysis question. Mark required properties in the plan.
4. Decide whether the outcome occurs once or can repeat. Track the actual behavior consistently. Don't suppress legitimate repeats to force a once-per-user count.

Implement and validate the event

1. Track the event after the product confirms the activation outcome.
2. Include the canonical User ID for authenticated people and the approved event properties.
3. Prevent duplicate callbacks or retry loops from sending the event more than once.
4. Trigger the activation journey with a test account.
5. Confirm the event, User ID, properties, and timing in Event Explorer.
6. Confirm that Observe reports the event as valid.
7. Rebuild the activation funnel and retention comparison with the new event after enough representative data arrives.

Use a custom event when existing events qualify

If any of several existing events represents the full activation outcome, a custom event can combine the events with an OR condition without an application release. A custom event can't create missing raw telemetry or combine an ordered sequence of actions into a new event.