There could be delayed steepness, but I think most people would use "steep" to refer to those moments of struggle and effort along the way, rather than the "aha

There could be delayed steepness, but I think most people would use "steep" to refer to those moments of struggle and effort along the way, rather than the "aha" feeling of suddenly elevated knowledge after the jump. I don't think there's a term for the latter, except maybe a "satisfying" learning curve.