Thread by @anitaycheng

Next (and before #AEASF lunch LOL) is @kryshiggins about designing better onboarding. How do you balance understanding with “engagement” and features and prompts?

If we act on our fear (that our users will miss something!) then it can lead to unhelpful solutions! If you front-load instructions, they’re hard to remember, out of context, and have questionable value. @kryshiggins #AEASF

And framing is important. If you give people ALL the instructions up front, it can give the impression that a task must be super hard! Plus they’re costly to maintain. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Better onboarding is about guided interaction, not front-loaded instructions. It means:
- Anchoring info to action in context
- Onboarding users at their own pace
- Integrating guidance authentically instead of tacking it on

@kryshiggins #AEASF

Guided interactions can mean putting call to actions in context, when your user can truly understand what they can get. Ex: @canva encouraging signups only after a new user has made and saved a graphic, so they can edit later. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Consider how you’re measuring onboarding success. Less signups and clickthrus, more retention and engagement. Onboarding ends when core use begins, when a user sustains their needs while contributing to the product. @kryshiggins #AEASF

You’ll need to figure out what actions define “core use,” then create a user journey with actions. Determine the prompt for an action, what work they’re doing, and what sort of follow-up they need. Think about what guidance the user might need at each stage. @kryshiggins #AEASF

When you create guided interactions in context, this gives users way more flexibility in how they use your product! And remember that a better onboarding experience comes from a good product design. It’s not just something tacked on that fixes everything. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Remember the basic of good product design before you consider extra fancy UI patterns: concepts, content, navigation, affordances, tutorials. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Beware onboarding overlays. If they interrupt a task, 90% of users will just ignore them! Plus overlays are likely to collide with each other since they’re designed in isolation. (Not to mention a mess for screenreaders!) @kryshiggins #AEASF

Ex of guided interactions just for new users: an in-field prompt to “tab” for Gmail smart replies, along with a tooltip off to the side of your composer window. The longer you use Gmail, eventually the prompts disappear. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Guided interactions can also help users of all levels. Brand new Notion users are shown a particular blank page template, with prompts. But even experienced users never encounter a wholly blank page. The default new page look different depending on user needs. @kryshiggins #AEASF

To get your team on board with better onboarding (harhar), define core use and break down *any* action they care about right now. Can try reducing overlays or front-loaded instructions, or improving an empty state. @kryshiggins #AEASF

Also try new user perspectives! Get your team using private browsing modes for a bit. Journal new experiences, and include new users in research plans. @kryshiggins #AEASF

We also need to get out of the “user education” mindset. We frame ourselves as the experts, and whyyy are new users not getting what we designed?? But we have to build products that adapt to our users! @kryshiggins #AEASF

Remember to build in ways to recover from errors. You cannot stop people from running into problems, but you can make easy ways to undo or recover from it. @kryshiggins #AEASF