My notes: A guide to effective mobile app onboarding

Summarized from a presentation by Marissa Hsu @ Phiture.

Watch the full presentation here. The presentation is titled "mobile app onboarding" but I believe these are valuable tips for any type of product.

Notes:

Onboarding =/= Activation

Activation is the user experiencing the value of the product for the first time, while onboarding is the process of getting them to that value

The most important point of onboarding is building trust with your users.

It all starts with acquisition and aligning the experience with the user’s expectations

• If promises are made of what the product can do, but then those promises aren’t delivered on, trust is broken

The core value prop should be reinforced with the first sessions of the app

• State it during acquisition, and keep reinforcing it throughout the onboarding flow

• Benefits, not features. Don’t list features, state how the user benefits from the feature so they can emotionally connect with the product

Tip: Add progress indicators and celebrate success as users move through the flow

Registration is best to do upfront in the app

• Users have higher motivation on the first app open and are more tolerant of friction

  • This is also because registering for products is so ingrained in consumer's behavior now that people do it almost automatically without thought

• Much easier to get someone to register when they first launch the app than at any time afterward

• Opportunity to capture email and re-engage users via CRM

Use pre-permission prompts (iOS specific) - push notifications opt-in

• iOS only allows showing the prompt once, so it’s essential to clearly communicate the value of the notifications and how it’s important for the product

• Gives the chance to ask for permission again

Should you ask users to go premium during onboarding?

• Timing the ask after the app value has been explained can be more effective

• Use visuals and copy that motivate purchase by highlighting the value of a premium account (again, benefits not features)

Tip: Asking more questions upfront during “in-take” and making onboarding longer can be okay as long as you’re using that information to personalize the experience

✨ Bonus onboarding content! ✨

Babbel is a language learning app and Nina Pollex has some other great tips for how to get a user to that activation moment or “Aha!” moment.

Watch the full presentation here.

• There should be a defined sequence of steps that lead users to build a habit around the app’s core value.

• These will vary based on the product, but defining the steps clearly and understanding how one leads to the next will allow for more focused and impactful marketing.

These can be thought of as:

1. Setup Moment

2. Aha Moment

3. Habit Moment

Focusing on only getting users to the next moment lets each piece of marketing (in-product or outside of the product) do less, and have one goal. A simple, clear, and specific marketing message with a single goal will usually always motivate users better than overloading them with everything under the sun.