The first few minutes with an app or a service decide a great deal. People who download an application and do not quickly understand what it is for or how to use it often abandon it without giving it a second chance. Onboarding is everything that happens in those first minutes: sign-up, setup, explanations, the first task completed.
The goal is not to show every feature. It is to bring the person, as soon as possible, to the moment when they experience the value of the product.
Value before sign-up
Many services ask you to create an account before showing you anything. For the user it is like having to sign a contract before entering a shop. Where possible, it is better to let people try the product and ask them to sign up only when it is really needed, for example to save their work or complete a purchase.
Concrete examples:
- a recipe app can let people search and read recipes freely, asking for an account only to save favourites;
- an online shop can allow guest checkout, offering to create an account after payment, with the details already filled in;
- an editing tool can let people try the editor, asking them to sign up when they export.
When sign-up is needed, keep it light: few fields, the ability to paste passwords and use password managers, no data requested «because it might be useful one day».
Permissions at the right moment
Mobile apps often ask, all at once on launch, for access to location, notifications, camera and contacts. Users, who do not yet know what these will be used for, tend to refuse. And on iOS and Android, once denied, a permission often cannot be requested again with the same dialog: the user has to go into the settings.
It is much better to ask for each permission in the context where it is needed:
| Permission | Wrong moment | Right moment |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | When the app launches | When the user taps «Scan document» |
| Location | On first opening | When the user searches for «shops near me» |
| Notifications | Before any use | After the user has booked something, to alert them to changes |
| Contacts | During sign-up | When the user wants to invite someone |
A short screen explaining why, shown before the system prompt, helps the user make an informed decision. And if permission is denied, the app should keep working as far as possible, offering an alternative, such as typing an address manually instead of using location.
Tutorials: less is more
Sequences of introductory screens to swipe through before you can use the app are very common and often not very effective. People tend to skip them, and even those who read them soon forget what they saw without having put it into practice.
These work better:
- contextual tips: a small hint that appears the first time you reach a feature, next to the element it refers to;
- learning by doing: a first guided activity with sample data, such as a ready-made first project to edit;
- self-explanatory interfaces: clear labels and icons accompanied by text reduce the need for instructions.
If you do choose an introductory sequence, keep it short, make it always possible to skip and allow it to be viewed again later.
Empty states
On first access, many screens are empty: no documents, no messages, no projects. An empty screen saying only «No items» is a missed opportunity. The empty state should:
- explain what will appear in that space;
- offer a clear action to get started, such as «Create your first project»;
- possibly suggest an example or a ready-made template.
Accessibility of onboarding
Onboarding is often built with special components, such as carousels, overlays and animated tips, that escape the checks carried out on the rest of the product. It is worth checking that:
- the introductory screens can be navigated and closed with the keyboard and with screen readers;
- overlay tips do not trap focus and close with Esc;
- carousels do not advance on their own;
- welcome videos have captions and do not start with sound.
Measuring whether it works
Good onboarding shows in behaviour, not impressions. Useful questions to ask, with usage data or tests with real users:
- How many people complete sign-up after starting it, and where do they stop?
- How long does it take before a new user completes the first meaningful task?
- How many come back to use the service in the following days?
- In a usability test, what do people opening the app for the first time ask about or look for?
In my work I have often seen that the most effective improvement is not adding explanations but removing steps: one field fewer, a permission asked later, a screen taken out.
In short
- Onboarding should bring the user to the product's value as soon as possible.
- Postponing sign-up and keeping it light reduces drop-off.
- Permissions should be requested in the context where they are needed, explaining why.
- Contextual tips and guided activities work better than long introductory sequences.
- Welcome screens and tips must be accessible too.
