What is User Onboarding

When users first sign up for your product, you can either send them right to the app and let them figure it out, or, guide them through the product. This guidance process is called User Onboarding, and you may have encountered it on products you use yourself. Onboarding will look different depending on the type of app or product you have, but the overall goal is to get the user setup and familiarized with the tool.

Why should I onboard users?

Some might question the onboarding process, and wonder if it is even necessary. Let's look at some major reasons why the onboarding process is important:

• Preventing Churn

  This is probably the most important reason to have an effective onboarding. You have already convinced the user to sign up or try your product. If they cannot figure out how to use the product, they will most likely churn. This is why it's cruclal to guide them through your product, explain the features, and also show them where they can get more help (e.g. documentation page, or support chat).

• Customize the User Experience with data

  There is also a data-driven approach to the onboarding process, which involves surveying the user to understand their demographic and use case. This means that on the first use of your product, you prompt the user with some onboarding questions, such as e.g. size of company, experience with similar products, and what is your main use case?

  This will help you create a user profile at the start of their usage and tailor your product for them. This feedback also helps you understand the reason why users want to use your product, which helps you enhance your product.

Overall, the benefits of onboarding are long term user retention and engagement. Far too often SaaS apps have "dead users" who have signed up, and never used the product at all.

What does an effective onboarding look like?

Here are some tips for building an effective onboarding process to teach users how to use your app:

• Interactive Guides

  

  By far, the best way to explain your product to a new user is with an interactive guide See an example here. Teaching users right on top of your app is the most effective method as it is interactive and doesn't require them to leave the app to learn. This increases retention and prevents them from leaving the page to read documentation or watch a video.

• Video Demo

  Video demos also have a time and place. It can be easy to just record yourself using the app and let users learn by watching. It can be effective to show this recording during the onboarding process.
  However, there is a huge risk of drop off. Your user is coming to your product with a particular goal, something they want to do as soon as they can. Many visitors will simply drop off before watching the entire video. Even those who watch the video may have to keep coming back to reference it.