User Onboarding

The first 5 minutes determine if users stay or leave. Most churn happens before users experience your product's core value. Your job: get them to that 'aha moment' as fast as possible. The aha moment: The instant users understand why your product matters to them. For Slack, it's sending the first team message and getting a reply. For Dropbox, it's seeing a file sync across devices. For Figma, it's collaborating on a design in real-time. Find yours and build onboarding around reaching it fast. Onboarding flows: (1) Blank slate: Drop users into an empty product (intimidating but flexible). (2) Interactive tutorial: Guided tour with tooltips (can feel hand-holdy). (3) Templated setup: Pre-filled examples users can modify (reduces activation friction). (4) Progressive disclosure: Show features as users need them, not all at once. Best approach depends on your product complexity. Onboarding checklist pattern: "3 steps to get started: (1) Invite your team, (2) Create your first project, (3) Connect an integration." Progress bars and checkmarks trigger completion psychology. Notion, Linear, and Airtable do this well. Onboarding metrics: (1) Time to value (TTV)—how long until first aha moment. (2) Activation rate—% of signups who complete onboarding. (3) Feature adoption—which features new users discover. (4) Day 1/7/30 retention—are onboarded users sticking? Common mistakes: (1) Asking for too much info upfront (every field in your signup form kills 5-10% of users), (2) Explaining features instead of benefits (users don't care how it works, they care what it does for them), (3) No clear next action (users don't know what to do after signup), (4) Delaying value (if users wait 3 days for account approval, they've forgotten why they signed up).

Duolingo's onboarding doesn't explain gamification mechanics—it drops you into your first lesson in 30 seconds. You experience the product immediately. Loom lets you record a video in 2 clicks without reading docs. Value before explanation.