Samuel Hulick (Founder at UserOnBoard - User Onboarding Consultancy) and talks with Shamanth Rao (Founder of RocketShip HQ) about how crucial user onboarding is - and outlines how to improve both upstream and downstream user retention dramatically by improving your app’s user onboarding experience.
Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think of your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Tooltip tours and little hotspots showing users what to do often get into the way of what users are trying to do. Do not interrupt the user and do not break up the flow. Focus on making the user think they are in control.
If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
Pay respect to the onboarding that is already in place if you're already generating sign ups. First analyze the data to see how it is performing and make surgical iterations instead of trying to change everything. Look at the numbers to set the strategy.
Customize the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think of your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Tooltip tours and little hotspots showing users what to do often get into the way of what users are trying to do. Do not interrupt the user and do not break up the flow. Focus on making the user think they are in control.
If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
Pay respect to the onboarding that is already in place if you're already generating sign ups. First analyze the data to see how it is performing and make surgical iterations instead of trying to change everything. Look at the numbers to set the strategy.
Customize the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think of your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Tooltip tours and little hotspots showing users what to do often get into the way of what users are trying to do. Do not interrupt the user and do not break up the flow. Focus on making the user think they are in control.
If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
Pay respect to the onboarding that is already in place if you're already generating sign ups. First analyze the data to see how it is performing and make surgical iterations instead of trying to change everything. Look at the numbers to set the strategy.
Customize the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
Notes for this resource are currently being transferred and will be available soon.
First elements to look for when analyzing an onboarding experience:
[💎 @04:22] Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
One of the bigger things is that a lot of people think about their product as being inherently valuable.
[💎 @06:38] Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think at your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Commonalities of good flows:
Be very thoughtful about the order in which you're putting things.
[💎 @13:15] If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Analogy of putting pills in a meatball for your dog.
[💎 @16:15] Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
In general, try to be clear on what the purpose of each screen is to help define the CTA(s) you want.
Where to begin:
Look at your CAC and all the acquisition efforts like something you're trying to recoupe.
You can look at the payback window or use a proxy if it's too long.
Look at the Points of Payoff:
You can use weekly cohorts to see who reaches these value milestones.
[💎 @27:19] Customizing the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
First elements to look for when analyzing an onboarding experience:
[💎 @04:22] Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
One of the bigger things is that a lot of people think about their product as being inherently valuable.
[💎 @06:38] Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think at your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Commonalities of good flows:
Be very thoughtful about the order in which you're putting things.
[💎 @13:15] If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Analogy of putting pills in a meatball for your dog.
[💎 @16:15] Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
In general, try to be clear on what the purpose of each screen is to help define the CTA(s) you want.
Where to begin:
Look at your CAC and all the acquisition efforts like something you're trying to recoupe.
You can look at the payback window or use a proxy if it's too long.
Look at the Points of Payoff:
You can use weekly cohorts to see who reaches these value milestones.
[💎 @27:19] Customizing the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
First elements to look for when analyzing an onboarding experience:
[💎 @04:22] Look at the actual sequence of steps users take to arrive at a valuable outcome for themselves as well as arriving at a valuable outcome for your business. Example (invoicing app): how does a user go from signing up to creating an invoice + how does a user becomes a paying user.
One of the bigger things is that a lot of people think about their product as being inherently valuable.
[💎 @06:38] Don't think of your software and features as inherently valuable. You need to think at your product like a service that is doing something for the user. How many people that go through it get the outcome they are looking for?
Commonalities of good flows:
Be very thoughtful about the order in which you're putting things.
[💎 @13:15] If you need to ask users for a lot of things (e.g. finance apps), front-load the experience with the things users care about the most first so they feel like they're making progress. Also try to be clear on why you ask for each piece of information, especially when that creates friction.
Analogy of putting pills in a meatball for your dog.
[💎 @16:15] Focus on behaviors when determining user segments. Don't refer to users as the kind of persons they are (mom vs. dad) but instead by what they are trying to do.
In general, try to be clear on what the purpose of each screen is to help define the CTA(s) you want.
Where to begin:
Look at your CAC and all the acquisition efforts like something you're trying to recoupe.
You can look at the payback window or use a proxy if it's too long.
Look at the Points of Payoff:
You can use weekly cohorts to see who reaches these value milestones.
[💎 @27:19] Customizing the experience based on information collected early on in the process. Example 1: Call Of Duty brand new players that are matched up with bots (that look like real players) that are beginners first then getting better. Example 2: guitar app asking people their skill level and providing a separate experience.
