Definition
User onboarding is everything that happens between sign-up and a user's first real success: setup, guidance, sample data, emails and in-product help. Its goal is activation, not finishing a tour.
What works
- Remove steps before the first value moment.
- Lead with one action, the one retained users take first.
- Use real data early, or good sample data.
- Follow up with people who stalled, based on what they did.
How to measure it
A funnel from sign-up through each onboarding step to the activation action, with the time each step takes. The biggest drop is the first thing to fix.