User Experience Content Strategies For Onboarding

When I was head of growth, our team reached 40% activation rates, and onboarded hundreds of thousands of new users. Without knowing it, we discovered a framework. Here are the 6 steps we followed. 1. Define value: Successful onboarding is typically judged by new user activation rates. But what is activation? The moment users receive value. Reaching it should lead to higher retention & conversion to paid plans. First define it. Then get new users there. 2. Deliver value, quickly Revisit your flow and make sure it gets users to the activation moment fast. Remove unnecessary steps, complexity, and distractions along the way. Not sure how to start? Try reducing time (or steps) to activate by 50%. 3. Motivate users to action: Don't settle for simple. Look for sticking points in the user experience you can solve with microcopy, empty states, tours, email flows, etc. Then remind users what to do next with on-demand checklists, progress bars, & milestone celebrations. 4. Customize the experience: Ditch the one-size fits all approach. Learn about your different use cases. Then, create different product "recipes" to help users achieve their specific goals. 5. Start in the middle: Solve for the biggest user pain points stopping users from starting. Lean on customizable templates and pre-made playbooks to help people go 0-1 faster. 6. Build momentum pre-signup: Create ways for website visitors to start interacting with the product - and building momentum, before they fill out any forms. This means that you'll deliver value sooner, and to more people. Keep it simple. Learn what's valuable to users. Then deliver value on their terms.

I spent 5 years scaling Superhuman's white glove, concierge onboarding. …and another 2 years rebuilding it in product. My biggest lessons on effective product onboarding: It must be *opinionated*, *interruptive*, and *interactive*. ••• 🧐 Opinionated There's a million ways to use Superhuman, but only one correct way. We had unopinionated steps in the onboarding, like teaching "j" and "k" to navigate. But what really matters is Inbox Zero. Marking Done. Our most extreme form is Get Me To Zero — a pop-up that practically coerces you to Mark Done *everything*. This experience gets an astonishing 60% new user opt-in. New users want to experience something different; they want to learn. We pruned away the bland, and left behind pure, unfiltered opinion. Exactly what made our concierge onboarding effective. 💥 Interruptive We've all seen them before: checklists, tooltips, nudges. Inoffensive growth clutter that piles up in the corners of your app. We shipped all this and more. But it had precisely zero impact. Our most impactful changes were interruptive: on-rails demos, full-screen takeovers, product overlays. Arresting user attention is critical: if an experience is tucked away in the corner, it will be ignored. If it's ignored, it may as well not exist. 🕹️ Interactive You can't be Opinionated and Interruptive without being Interactive. It's a crime to force users to engage with non-actionable information. Instead, provide functionality: an action to take, setting to toggle, CTA to click. It's more fun AND users build muscle memory. There is something to do in every step of our onboarding. Perhaps that's how we get away with an onboarding nearly 50 screens long 🤭 ••• Final thought: if you're struggling with this flow, simply watch new users. Note all the places you want to jump in — there's your onboarding 👌 s/o to the very thoughtful Superhumans building this: Ben ✨Kalyn Lilliana Kevin Peik Erin Gaurav 💜 #plg #onboarding #activation

If you’re not educating your customers, you’re failing them. 🔥 An informed user base is your greatest asset. Most fintechs spend millions on user acquisition—ads, influencer partnerships, referral programs—but forget the most important thing: 📌 Educated customers stay. Confused customers leave. • If your users don’t understand your product, they won’t trust it. • If they don’t trust it, they won’t use it. • If they don’t use it, your churn rate skyrockets, & your LTV tanks. Finance is complex. Throwing buzzwords like “DeFi,” “yield farming,” or “embedded finance” at users won’t make them stay. ✔ Users need clarity, not complexity. A confused mind always says no. ✔ Customers who understand your product use it more—& refer others. ✔ The fintechs that dominate are the ones that simplify, not complicate. If your approach to customer education looks like this, you’re already losing users: • You rely on FAQs instead of real education. (Nobody reads 15-page help center articles.) • Your onboarding is a speed bump instead of a launchpad. (Customers should feel empowered, not lost.) • You assume customers will “figure it out.” (They won’t. They’ll just switch to a competitor that makes it easier.) • Your product is intuitive—to you, not to them. (Users aren’t fintech experts. Stop expecting them to be.) If you want loyal customers who actually understand & trust your product, do this: 1. Educate in the onboarding, not just the blog. Show, don’t tell. 2. Use plain language, not fintech jargon. If a 12-year-old can’t understand it, rewrite it. 3. Turn education into engagement. Gamify learning, offer rewards, & make it interactive. 4. Leverage social proof. Use case studies & testimonials to show how real users benefit from your product. 5. Invest in customer success teams. A chatbot won’t replace a human when a customer needs real help. If your customers don’t understand what you do, you haven’t earned their trust. So, ask yourself: Are you just acquiring users, or are you empowering them? #Leadership #Management #Compliance #Fintech #FinancialTechnology #FinancialServices #Business #Innovation #Customer #Customers #Finance #FinancialLiteracy #CustomerExperience #UserEducation #CustomerSuccess #DigitalTransformation #Trust

🧠 The Psychology Behind Successful Customer Onboarding A hard truth I've learned as a CS leader is that perfect features mean nothing if your onboarding fails. Another hard truth: Psychology matters more than process. You must focus on human behavior rather than just feature adoption. Here are my three principles to live by in onboarding: The Momentum Principle: We discovered that customers who achieve value in the first 48 hours are 3x more likely to become long-term advocates. So we redesigned our onboarding to focus on quick wins before complex features. By breaking down the journey into smaller, achievable milestones, we create a pattern of success that builds confidence and momentum. The Ownership Effect: When customers invest time in customizing their setup, they're significantly more likely to stick around. We now encourage early personalization through guided setup sessions. Rather than doing it for them, we coach customers through the process. This has increased product stickiness by 47% and reduced early-stage churn by 34%. The Contextual Learning Framework: We stopped treating onboarding as a linear checklist. Instead, we now adapt the journey based on user behavior and role. Our data shows that contextual learning – delivering guidance at the moment of need – increases feature adoption by 68% compared to traditional training methods. The results speak volumes: Time-to-value was reduced from 45 days to 15 and adoption rates increased by 56%. Successful onboarding is about building confidence and creating habits. Every friction point isn't just a technical issue; it's a psychological barrier waiting to be understood and removed. Are you designing your onboarding for features or humans? #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #Onboarding #CustomerExperience

𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀. Your onboarding is the user’s first impression of your app, and like it or not, it’s 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. You could have a revolutionary product, but if the onboarding isn’t spot on, you’re practically inviting users to walk away. Here’s what to consider when building your flow: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁? The KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is key for product onboarding. If your grandma would struggle with your flow, it’s probably too complicated. This doesn’t mean removing all the friction. The goal is to make the process simple enough so users can complete it without bouncing. 𝟮. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘆? A good onboarding flow guides users through the essentials without boring them. It excites and builds anticipation. A longer flow is sometimes necessary to deliver the app’s “aha” moment, but if it drags or repeats, you risk losing users before they even get started because of boredom or frustration. 𝟯. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹? The era of one-size-fits-all onboarding is over. The purpose of onboarding is to show users that your product is exactly what they need, and personalization is a powerful weapon for that. Tailor the flow based on different data points like how users discover your product and their specific goals. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸? Users should know why they can’t live without your product 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟯𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀. Understand your audience’s problems, identify your product’s top value proposition, and make it front and center during onboarding. 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙥: 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙥 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝟱. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆? A great onboarding flow leads users to the product's "aha!" moment early. Find ways to get users invested quickly: First actions, quick wins, rewards, or anything else that encourages them to return. 𝟲. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹? Onboarding should be so smooth that users don’t even realize they’re being onboarded. Remember, it is not separate from the product, but an integral part of the overall experience. 𝟳. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲? The best onboarding flows weren’t built overnight. They’re the result of countless iterations. Keep refining your process as you gather more data, and make sure your onboarding flow can evolve without needing a complete design or code overhaul. Remember, in the end, it's all about getting users to that “holy sh*t” moment as fast as possible. Nail this, and you've won half of the battle. Follow me for more insights on product design, startups, and entrepreneurship!

Most apps lose 80% of users in the first 3 days. Users decide to stay or delete faster than you think. One of the main reasons is your onboarding. Here are 8 onboarding tips we use to boost apps retention to 40%+ 👇 1/ Show value before asking for anything TikTok starts playing videos immediately - no sign-up required. Users experience the core value (entertainment) within 3 seconds. Only after they're hooked does TikTok ask for an account. Lead with value, follow with commitment. 2/ Use progressive onboarding, not feature tours Slack doesn't explain every feature upfront. Instead, it guides users through sending their first message. Advanced features appear contextually when users need them. Teach through doing, not through talking. 3/ Personalize from the first interaction Spotify asks for music preferences during signup. This data immediately customizes the experience. Users see relevant playlists instead of generic recommendations. Personalization makes users feel understood from day one. 4/ Create quick wins early Duolingo lets users complete their first lesson in under 2 minutes. The immediate success builds confidence and momentum. Users experience achievement before encountering difficulty. Early wins create psychological investment in continuing. 5/ Ask for permissions at the right moment WhatsApp doesn't request contacts access during installation. It waits until users try to message someone for the first time. Context makes permission requests feel helpful, not invasive. 6/ Set expectations with progress indicators LinkedIn shows profile completion percentages. Users see exactly what's needed to finish setup. The progress bar creates a clear goal and path forward. Gamify completion to increase follow-through rates. 7/ End with a clear next step Notion's onboarding concludes with creating your first page. Users don't finish setup wondering "what now?" The final action becomes the bridge to regular app usage. Great onboarding transitions into the core experience seamlessly. 8/ The best onboarding should feel invisible. Users accomplish something meaningful without realizing they're being "onboarded." When first-time experience creates immediate value, retention follows naturally. As always, I hope this was helpful. Appreciate all the likes and comments. Enjoy your day! 👋