A first impression really is everything. A smooth, engaging onboarding user experience can turn curious users into loyal fans.

Getting your onboarding right is crucial — it can be the difference between your product taking off or falling flat right after signup. A solid onboarding process shows your users the ropes and hooks them for the long haul.

At Userflow, we’re all about turning that first interaction into a lasting relationship. And we’ve worked with tons of companies to help them nail their product tours. So in this guide, we’ll chat about what makes for great onboarding user experiences, drop some best practices, and help you craft first impressions that really stick.

What is Onboarding UX?

Onboarding UX is the process of designing and implementing the initial user experience when a new user begins interacting with your product. It’s basically the way your product says ‘hello’ to new users. 

When you’re showing a friend around your favorite new app, you want to make sure they get the hang of it fast and see why you’re so hooked. That’s what onboarding is all about: helping people get comfortable and showing them the good stuff right away.

When someone first downloads your app, their onboarding experience speeds up their learning curve and ensures they don’t get lost. Be it a quick welcome screen, a step-by-step product tour, or little hints along the way about your product features — the whole onboarding process is about creating a smooth, easy journey that makes using your app feel like second nature. 

Why is Onboarding UX Important?

Nailing the onboarding user experience is what separates thriving products from those that fizzle out. Here’s why it’s a big deal:

1. Improved user retention: A smooth start from signup to getting started means users are more likely to stick around. Users are likely to stay loyal to businesses that takes the time to welcome and educate them right after they signup. Get onboarding right, and you’re already ahead in the game.
2. Increased user satisfaction: When people quickly "get" your product after they signup and see its value, they’re naturally happier. A good onboarding tour often leads to higher satisfaction scores and some solid word-of-mouth buzz — which is the best kind of marketing.
3. Reduced time-to-value: The faster your product clicks for users, the better. A quick understanding of value means they’re more likely to become paying customers and stick around.
4. Lower support costs: If you guide users well from the start, they’ll have fewer questions, which means fewer support tickets for your team to handle. It’s a win-win — users aren’t frustrated, and your support team can focus on more important stuff.
5. Higher conversion rates: Got a free trial or freemium model? A killer onboarding process can turn curious free users into loyal paying customers.
6. Better product adoption: Good onboarding is about helping people discover the best parts of your product. The quicker onboarding tours familiarize them with key product features, the lower the churn rate from the new user base.

The Key Elements of Effective Onboarding UX

What makes a good onboarding experience? If you want your onboarding checklist to really hit the mark, there are some key elements you shouldn’t miss:

1. Welcome Screens

For the user, your welcome screen is the front door to your product right after they signup. It’s the first thing users see, so it needs to make a great impression. Keep it clean, visually appealing, and to the point. Here’s what a solid welcome screen should do:

• Greet the user by name if you can
• Highlight the biggest benefits of your product
• Give a quick rundown of what’s coming up in the onboarding process
• Include a clear and simple call to action to get started

You might also want to spice it up with some animations or interactive elements to draw users in and make that first click feel special.

2. Tooltips and Guided Tours

Tooltips and guided tours during onboarding can help users navigate your product. They can:

• Point out important features and explain what they do
• Walk users through common tasks step-by-step
• Offer handy tips to get the most out of your product
• Adjust to the user’s progress, revealing more advanced features as they get comfortable

When designing these, keep tooltips short and to the point and ensure they don’t clutter the screen. For guided tours, consider using modals alongside tooltips and hotspots. Modals can be particularly effective for highlighting key features in an interactive, engaging way.

3. Checklists, Progress Bars, and Modals

Checklists, progress bars, and modals are great for keeping your user base motivated to complete the onboarding journey. They:

• Break the onboarding process into bite-sized steps
• Give users a sense of accomplishment as they move forward
• Show what’s left to do, so users don’t feel overwhelmed
• Can even add a bit of fun by gamifying the onboarding user experience

Think about adding a checklist or modal that walks users through key tasks and features. Pair it with a progress bar so users can see exactly how far in the onboarding process they’ve come.

4. Personalization and Contextual Guidance

When you tailor the onboarding user experience to fit each user's needs your UX has a higher potential to retain the new user base. Personalization can mean a few different things, like using modals or the signup process to highlight features that are most relevant. It can also include:

• Tweaking the onboarding flow to match the user's role or what they’re trying to achieve
• Highlighting features that are most relevant to their industry or use case
• Offering personalized tips and next steps based on what they’re interested in
• Adjusting the amount of guidance you provide depending on how experienced the user is

To pull this off effectively, try combining user input (like answers from a signup form or initial survey) with insights from product analytics. This ensures your onboarding UX stays tailored to individual user's needs.

5. Interactive Demos and Walkthroughs

Interactive demos and walkthroughs can be incorporated during signup to let users explore your product without any pressure. They can include a progress bar to show users how far they are in their onboarding journey. This keeps them aware of their progress and encourages them to complete the onboarding process. They could include things like:

• Sample projects or data sets that users can play around with
• Step-by-step tutorials that walk them through common tasks
• Simulations of key features that users can interact with
• Video demos with easy-to-follow text explanations

Tools like Userflow make it easy to set up these interactive onboarding experiences without needing a ton of coding or development work.

Best Practices for Onboarding UX Design

Want to create an onboarding UX that stands out? Here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep It Simple and Intuitive

Don’t overload new users with too much information or complicated designs during onboarding. Focus on:

• Clean, clutter-free UI
• Clear and concise messaging
• Easy-to-navigate flows
• Introducing features gradually

The idea is to use onboarding time to get users comfortable with your product quickly, not to show off every bell and whistle right away.

2. Make It About the User

Use in-app prompts to guide users through features based on their specific needs and goals. Your onboarding checklist and UX should align with what users want to achieve. Here’s how:

• Start by understanding their pain points and goals
• Highlight features that solve their problems
• Segment your users and customize onboarding flows for each segment
• Show them how your product makes their life easier

Consider creating user personas to help you design an onboarding user experience that speaks to different types of users.

3. Introduce Features Gradually

Avoid overwhelming users during onboarding. Instead, roll out features and information bit by bit. You can:

• Start with the basics and layer in more advanced product features over time
• Use tooltips and pop-ups for just-in-time guidance
• Offer ‘learn more’ links/pop ups for users who want to dive deeper
• Adjust the level of detail based on the user’s journey and engagement

This approach helps users feel in control and less overwhelmed as they explore your product. Introducing features gradually can be more effective when paired with a progress bar that tells users where they stand in the onboarding process.

4. Collect Feedback and Keep Improving

Creating the perfect onboarding user experience is hardly ever a one-and-done process. For an enhanced onboarding, keep it evolving by:

• Using in-app surveys or feedback tools to gather user insights
• Tracking user behavior and where they drop off with analytics
• Running user tests and interviews
• Regularly tweaking and updating based on what you learn

Tools like Userflow’s analytics can help you understand how users interact with modals and other elements of your onboarding user experience.

5. Optimize for Mobile

With so many users on mobile devices, make sure your onboarding UX shines on smaller screens too. Think about:

• Designing for touch (swipe gestures, for example)
• Simplifying layouts and cutting down on text
• Using responsive design to keep animations, pop ups, prompts, and demos consistent across devices
• Tapping into mobile features like push notifications and pop ups for re-engagement

6. Make Help Easy to Find

Even with a great onboarding user experience, users might still have questions. Make sure they can find answers easily to reduce churn. This can be done by:

• Creating an in-app resource center or knowledge base
• Offering quick chatbot support for basic queries
• Linking to video tutorials or webinars for deeper dives
• Making it simple for your user base to contact human support when needed

Types of Onboarding Patterns

Different products and users have unique needs, so there are various ways to conduct onboarding effectively. Here are some popular approaches:

1. Nickel Tour

A quick tour gives users a fast overview of your product’s main features and layout. This onboarding pattern is perfect for:

• Products that are easy to navigate without a lot of explanation
• Users who like to explore on their own but appreciate a basic introduction
• Highlighting the key parts of your product without getting too granular

2. Coach Marks

Coach marks are those little pop ups that show up on specific parts of the UI interface, explaining what they do. These pop ups work best with modals and can help improve UX when:

• You need to highlight features that might not be immediately obvious
• Users could use some guidance in the right places while exploring the UI
• The general interface or workflow is more complex and requires a bit of hand-holding

3. Guided Task Completion

Step-by-step guides walk users through completing a specific task or workflow within your product. This onboarding method can enhance UX, especially for:

• Products with complex or multi-step processes
• Ensuring users quickly experience the main benefits of your product
• Building user confidence by helping them achieve something tangible early-on

4. Out-of-the-Box vs. Progressive Onboarding

Some products throw everything at you upfront (out-of-the-box onboarding), while others introduce features as you go (progressive onboarding). Here’s when to use each:

• Out-of-the-box Onboarding: Ideal for products with a steeper learning curve or ones where users need to see all the features right away to get the full picture.
• Progressive Onboarding: Better for products with lots of features or when users can get started with the basics and explore the advanced stuff in later tours.

Great Onboarding UX Examples

Let’s dive into some real-world onboarding UX examples done right:

1. LinkedIn

The LinkedIn app's UI design nails the onboarding checklist with a blend of personalization and smart step-by-step guidance. Here’s what they do well:

• They kick things off with a welcome screen that clearly spells out the core value.
• The UI includes a handy progress bar as you fill out your profile. This progress bar ensures the user always knows where they stand.
• Right from onboarding, the platform suggests connections based on your background, making networking a breeze.
• Features like job search and content creation are introduced gradually, so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

Why it works:

• The LinkedIn app onboarding user experience shows the user how they can build their professional network quickly.
• It uses social proof to showcase its core value, building trust.
• The experience highlights how the app fits the user's industry and career goals throughout the user journey.

2. Slack

Slack’s onboarding checklist is all about getting you up to speed quickly while showing off Slack's best features:

• The Slack UI interface and animations are clean and welcoming, with clear instructions on what to do next.
• It starts off with a signup form, after which you’re guided through setting up your workspace step by step with Slack's tooltips and prompts.
• There’s an interactive tutorial that walks you through sending messages and using Slack channels.
• Slackbot pops in as a friendly guide and resource center, showing you how integrations and automation work in Slack.

Why it works:

• Slack's UI design gets you set up and seeing value right away.
• Slackbot is a great example of how the app’s integrations and automation can make life easier for employees.
• You’re encouraged to explore Slack, but there’s always help available throughout the user journey.

3. Duolingo

Duolingo’s onboarding UI is engaging and instantly shows why the app is worth your time:

• You start by setting personalized goals and picking your course.
• The app's UX gets you learning right away with interactive lessons and tooltips.
• Gamification is front and center, with streaks and rewards keeping you motivated.
• Progress tracking is clear, so you always know how far you’ve come.

Why it works:

• Duolingo has you learning within minutes of signing up.
• Gamification keeps the UX engaging and gets users to come back.
• The onboarding experience is tailored to your goals and learning preferences.

How to Create the Best Onboarding Experience with Userflow

At Userflow, we’ve made it super easy for you to create top-notch onboarding user experiences—no complicated coding or dev work needed. Here’s how you can use Userflow to up your onboarding UX:

1. Create interactive walkthroughs: With our simple drag-and-drop editor, you can build step-by-step guides that walk users through your product’s key features, making them feel right at home.
2. Implement contextual tooltips: Drop in helpful tooltips that pop up at just the right moment, giving users the info they need as they explore your product.
3. Build engaging checklists: Design interactive checklists that guide users through essential tasks and let them see their progress.
4. Personalize the experience: Tailor the onboarding process to fit each user’s needs with our segmentation and targeting features.
5. Analyze and optimize: Keep an eye on how users are engaging with your onboarding flow using our analytics dashboard. Spot where they might be dropping off and keep fine-tuning until it’s just right.

With Userflow, you can create engaging walkthroughs that kick off right from the signup stage.

How Stacker Delivers a Seamless First-Time Experience with Userflow

Stacker, a no-code platform, helps users build custom software effortlessly. To guide new users and improve feature discovery, the team at Stacker sought a seamless onboarding solution. After exploring various options, they chose Userflow for its exceptional user experience and intuitive flow builder.

Userflow's allows the Stacker team to easily create engaging product tours while iterating confidently through its environment control and version management. This has led to immediate improvements in user engagement and first-session success, empowering users to build software without needing developers.

Userflow's built-in analytics continues to help Stacker track key metrics, including user engagement, tour completion, and subscription conversion, driving their ongoing growth.

Measuring Onboarding Success

How do you know if your onboarding tour is hitting the mark? Keep an eye on the right UX metrics and understand how users are interacting with your product. To do this, here’s what you should be tracking:

• Time to First Value (TTFV): How quickly do users start seeing the benefits of your product?
• Onboarding completion rate: How many users make it all the way through your onboarding process?
• Feature adoption rates: Which features are users diving into the most during and after onboarding?
• User retention: How many users stick around after 7 days, 30 days, and 90 days of onboarding?
• Conversion rate: For freemium or trial-based products, how many users switch from free to paid?
• Net promoter score (NPS) or Customer satisfaction scores: How happy are your users with the onboarding experience?

Make use of product analytics tools to collect this data and tweak your onboarding process based on what you find. Also, don’t forget to run regular UX tests and ask for feedback to spot any bumps in your onboarding user experience and figure out how to smooth them out.

Ready to Level Up Your Onboarding UX? 

Creating a standout onboarding UX goes beyond checklists and popups and giving users a basic tour of your product. It sets them up for long-term use and educates them about how your product can benefit them. Focus on making your onboarding user experience simple, personal, and easy to grasp, and you’ll turn first impressions into lasting connections.

Onboarding is something you’ll want to keep tweaking and improving. With tools like Userflow and by staying tuned into what your users need, you can create onboarding user experiences and demos that really set the stage for long-term customer journeys.

Give Userflow a try and start crafting personalized onboarding user experiences that make people stay.