First impressions matter. That’s true in life, as with mobile apps.
You only have three days to get users to continue using your app. After that, as much as 77% of users leave, according to growth guru Andrew Chen.
Three days might seem like a long time. But in app retention, that’s mere seconds.
Fortunately, a well-executed onboarding sequence can help improve that grim statistic.
In this article, we’ll discuss how.
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What is mobile app user onboarding?
Onboarding is the welcome section of the app that greets first-time users. It has one goal: to get them using (and benefitting) from your app as fast as possible.
To do this, onboarding focuses on three key areas.
The first is education. This is perhaps the most well-known and most important role of onboarding.
Without proper education, the chances are high that users will feel lost in your app – a surefire recipe for abandonment.
The level of education in your onboarding will depend on your app’s nature. Apps with unique features or unfamiliar UI will benefit from a more involved tutorial-style onboarding.
For example, the YNAB app features a proprietary budgeting method that warrants a more detailed explanation and guidance during onboarding:
But not every app needs an onboarding process to be as involved as this. Most of the time, it’s enough to just educate users about the benefits they can get from using the app.
This is where a simple benefits-oriented onboarding sequence is helpful:
As you can see from the chart above, mere seconds can often double the chances that a user will drop out of your app.
A good rule of thumb is that the more complex or unique your app is, the more involved the onboarding process.
Here are some scenarios where that’s the case.
One is if your app uses unique gestures or UI elements. For example, the alarm app Rise has a minimalist UI that relies on unique gestures instead of traditional UI elements.
While the concept of to-do list apps isn’t new, Todoist has a different way of doing things than other apps of its kind, which requires a good explanation.
“If a customer doesn’t understand the context of your app, can’t immediately see its benefits, or has a bad initial experience (slow loading times, clunky interface, etc.), you’ve likely squandered your only chance from the get-go.”
Onboarding also allows apps to set up features that can improve UX.
For instance, push notifications can create trust and retention among your users. But the problem is that most people are wary of them because they can be easily overdone.
If we were to summarize the importance of onboarding in a single sentence, it’s this:
It helps users reach their a-ha! moment—the time when they instantly recognize the value of your app. And once they do, these people are much more likely to stay.
Different apps have different metrics for a-ha! moments, as you can see here:
But one thing’s for certain—onboarding was critical in helping these tech companies reach them. No doubt it will for your app, too.
Main strategies for onboarding mobile app users
There are three main approaches to your onboarding flows.
The first is benefits-oriented onboarding. Here, the focus is on the value that your app can give to users.
And, as we’ve covered above, helping people reach their a-ha! moment can deliver better engagement and retention.
This onboarding approach is common for health and finance apps or any app that involves habit formation. That’s because it’s a great way to build motivation.
Just look at how the Fastic app highlights the health benefits everywhere in their onboarding flow:
Another example is the YNAB app. The unique thing here is that the app doesn’t state the benefits explicitly. Instead, they use testimonials, giving the approach an air of authenticity.
The second onboarding strategy is features-oriented onboarding. This is similar to the benefits approach but with more emphasis on the app’s functionality.
It’s best for apps with a unique or advanced feature set as a selling point.
Most features-oriented onboarding feature a mini-tutorial that guides the user on how to use the app. Here’s an example from the social media management app Hootsuite.
Notice how each onboarding screen is focused on a particular functionality.
The last strategy is progressive onboarding. Also called an interactive walkthrough, this involves using pop-up dialogs and other elements at key moments.
For example, in Evernote’s case, helpful tooltips appear when users go to a screen for the first time.
The biggest benefit of progressive onboarding is that it doesn’t overwhelm your user. Thus, it’s fantastic for apps with unique features, a complicated UI, or complex functions.
Most importantly, progressive onboarding minimizes roadblocks that prevent people from using your app right away. This is called gradual engagement.
Luke Wroblewski, Product Director at Google, explains why it’s important:
“With gradual engagement, we can communicate what our mobile apps do and why people should care by actually allowing people to interact with them right away. We can capitalize on all the hard work it takes to get a download instead of turning 75% of our potential audience away with sign-up requirements.”
However, that doesn’t mean that all apps should use progressive onboarding. Like any development decision, your chosen strategy depends on the unique needs of your app.
After all, a calculator app shouldn’t need an interactive walkthrough.
Common components of mobile app onboarding flows
No two onboarding sequences are the same. However, they do share some common components. Here are three that you’ll encounter.
The first is instruction, the component responsible for teaching users how to use your app.
This is almost always a part of onboarding because education is vital for retention and, in some cases, responsible usage.
For instance, Robinhood Learning is fundamental for onboarding in the app. It educates users on how to minimize financial risks with the Robinhood app.
However, it’s important not to overwhelm users with too many customization options. Instead, only include what’s necessary to get the app up and running.
For example, asking for their bank details might be urgent, but tweaking UI colors might be best left for later.
Remember, onboarding is all about getting your users in-app in the quickest time possible.
What are the best practices for onboarding mobile app users?
Here are some tips and tricks to help improve your onboarding flows.
Focus only on the core features
If your app has multiple features and benefits, it’s best to focus only on a maximum of three during onboarding.
These should be the ones that can best represent the essence of your app.
A good example is Trip.com, with its short yet focused on core features:
Sometimes, consider if your app might be better without accounts at all. Still, even if you prefer to have them, delaying them for later is often much more beneficial.
Make onboarding optional
Onboarding is vital, but ironically, you should also make it optional for users.
The truth is that not everyone might need hand-holding. Expert users, for example, might feel insulted or annoyed.
Thus, you should always include a Skip button that lets users end your onboarding sequence.
But you should also provide the option to go back to your onboarding. Users might not feel like going through it now, but they might in the future.
It also gives people the chance to review your onboarding if they missed out on something.
Deliver what you promised
Onboarding should excite your users and prime them for action. However, it shouldn’t be at the expense of transparency and honesty.
Ensure you commit to any promises you made during onboarding. Not doing so is a surefire way to lose users.
Want to know more about onboarding?
We’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg in this article.
The truth is onboarding is a mammoth undertaking, more so than most developers give it credit for. It, therefore, deserves the same time and attention as the rest of your app.
If you’re interested to learn more about onboarding, you can check out more best practices here.
Mario makes every project run smoothly. A firm believer that people are DECODE’s most vital resource, he naturally grew into his former role as People Operations Manager. Now, his encyclopaedic knowledge of every DECODEr’s role, and his expertise in all things tech, enables him to guide DECODE's technical vision as CTO to make sure we're always ahead of the curve.
Part engineer, and seemingly part therapist, Mario is always calm under pressure, which helps to maintain the office’s stress-free vibe. In fact, sitting and thinking is his main hobby. What’s more Zen than that?
In this article, we will explain how onboarding can do more harm than good if not set up properly. In particular, we will go through the 6 most common app onboarding mistakes you should avoid.
