User onboarding is broken
Hey there, and welcome to the 7th edition of the "It Depends" newsletter.
If you're new here, every week we explore topics around Product, Growth and Startups. This week I've been thinking about user onboarding and what we're trying to do during this process...
let's go ??
Onboarding
Many SaaS companies get user onboarding wrong.
They flood their users with tutorials and guided flows explaining every part of the product.
"Here's what this does... And click here to open this... and..."
This feels extra, pointless, and in the way.
That's because user onboarding is not really about helping your users become better at using your product.
Your users are there to achieve something. Whether that's to be more productive and work with people ( Slack ), Manage complex work ( Asana ) or Edit a video quickly ( Descript ).
The end goal of user onboarding is to help people become better at what your product helps them to do.
Your product is just the tool to get them there.
It's not about your product, but about how your product helps them in what they're trying to do.
Subtle difference, but very important.
So, with this in mind here are a few ideas to consider for your onboarding:
This way, they will get the obvious benefits that you're giving them and how you're making their life better.
And this leads to better Retention, Renewals, Growth, and eventually word-of-mouth, testimonials and increased CLV.
All things which we'd like to see more of!
Help users become better at their job not at using your tool.
Just for fun and some stuff to click on
???Back to listening to Polyphia this week.
?? Reading How to kickstart and scale a consumer business.
???Ahsoka's first 2 episodes are going to be released today!
?? Super proud of the?Onex?team for closing a $1.2m funding round! I've been working with them as an Advisor. Read more about it
?? I'm mentoring at the?PitchBlack startup competition. Top Prize of €110k in services. Aug 28th is the deadline to apply.
领英推荐
Content recap
Some content from the past few days.
Growth is the result of a great product, not the precursor. Before going all-in on scaling your product and team, make sure you've got something people actually want. Continue reading
Where do I start? This is one of those questions which often lands in my inbox. It is usually a variation of: "I have an idea for a product but I don't know how to code. Where do I start?" Continue reading
Carousel: 10 thoughts on Product Management. What I've learnt from 5 years mentoring PMs. Continue reading
Everything is urgent. Everything is important! That's one thing which startup founders often tell me that's constantly on their minds. And it's a difficult situation to be in... Continue reading
Your Value Proposition is at the intersection between what people care about and what's unique about you. It is what they are getting from you that is of value to them.??Continue reading
Work with me
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
Send me a note?if there's anything else I might be able to help you with [email protected]
That's all for today. My inbox is open if I can help you.
speak soon ??
Matthew