user onboarding: patterns and anti-patterns explored
TRANSCRIPT
USER ONBOARDINGPatterns and Anti-Patterns Explored
Paul Sherman
UXPA ClevelandJune 23, 2016
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Ever start a new app and see something like this?
You just got onboarded.
In this case, poorly.
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What is this onboarding thing?
Why is it so important?
A model for adoption-abandonment.
Onboarding principles, patterns, and some anti-patterns.
OBJECTIVES
http://bit.ly/28LWXFs 4
Trained as an aviation human factors researcher.
I’ve built small and large UX teams.
Teach at Kent State’s UXD program.
Provide user experience research and design consulting.
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ME
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I’m also a Pixar plot device.
Onboarding
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The process of getting people to adopt your application or service.
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When you’re onboarding the user, you’re trying to get them to like and want your product.
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http://bit.ly/28MV6Ephttp://bit.ly/28T2blZ
Random cuteness
You know onboarding is important.
How important is it?
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It’s quite literally a matter of survival.
The average app loses 95% of its user base within a few months.
11Andrew Chen & Ankit Jain, http://bit.ly/1Hq53AR
Perc
enta
ge o
f use
rs s
till a
ctiv
e
Days since app install
“Users try out a lot of apps but decide which ones they want to stop using within the first 3-7 days.”
“The key to success is to get the users hooked during that critical first 3 - 7 day period.”
- Ankit Jain
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A model for adoption vs. abandonment
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Users are constantly - and somewhat consciously - assessing a product on two dimensions.
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High
Time investmentNone
Perc
eive
d va
lue
Abandonment zone
Adoption zone
MY HYPOTHESIS
What is value?
“The worth of a good or service as determined by people’s preferences and the tradeoffs they choose to
make given their scarce resources.”
- Investopedia.com
15http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economic-value.asp#ixzz4CK5qPTFt
“People don't buy products; they buy better versions of themselves.”
“When you're trying to win customers, are you listing the attributes of the flower or describing how awesome it is to throw fireballs?”
- Sam Hulick16http://www.useronboard.com/features-vs-benefits/
If people feel like they’re nearing better versions of themselves, they’ll adopt your product.
If that better version of themselves appears too far away - or unattainable - they’ll abandon it.
17http://bit.ly/28QuLFS
Some Common Onboarding Patterns
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Not many advantages. It’s out of context. People don’t really remember.
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MODAL STEPPED TUTORIAL
Probably better than the modal stepped pattern.
It draws the user’s attention to key areas and provides concise, clear explanations.
But how do you see it again if you wanted?
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FIRST-RUN CALLOUTS
Another first-run callout example.
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It also draws the user’s attention to key areas.
But what if you wanted to check it out later?
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NEW FEATURE CALLOUTS
Provides video and voice.
But…what if I want to get back to it?
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VIDEO TUTORIAL
But…what if I want to get back to it?
Yeah…they got that covered.
And they have a link to new features, as well as a new feature count badge.
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VIDEO TUTORIAL
Good in theory… often not so good in practice.
Just look up “Clippy and “Microsoft Bob.”
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CONTEXTUAL ASSISTANCE
Gamification and social comparison trigger people’s desire to complete a process, rack up achievements, and earn “karma” in some form.
Both can be effective, but also expensive to implement.
Social comparison can also backfire and cause users to abandon.
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GAMIFICATION & SOCIAL COMPARISON
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I earned a badge!
I win the Internet!
Showing frequently asked questions and answers.
Providing easy access to user forums and expert help.
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SOCIAL FACILITATION
Let the user return to the onboarding content later.
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE PATTERNS
Let the user return to the onboarding content later.
Incent new users to learn by showing what’s new…or at least telling them “hey, here’s some new features!”
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE PATTERNS
Let the user return to the onboarding content later.
Incent new users to learn by showing what’s new…or at least telling them “hey, here’s some new features!”
Contextual assistance is great in theory, but hard in practice.
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE PATTERNS
Let the user return to the onboarding content later.
Incent new users to learn by showing what’s new…or at least telling them “hey, here’s some new features!”
Contextual assistance is great in theory, but hard in practice.
Gamification and social comparison can increase motivation, but are costly. And social comparison can backfire.
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE PATTERNS
Let the user return to the onboarding content later.
Incent new users to learn by showing what’s new…or at least telling them “hey, here’s some new features!”
Contextual assistance is great in theory, but hard in practice.
Gamification and social comparison can increase motivation, but are costly. And social comparison can backfire.
Social facilitation requires critical mass or it suffers from the “empty store shelf” problem.
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE PATTERNS
Going Deeper: Onboarding Principles
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Partially adapted from Lisa Battle, First Impressions Matter: Onboarding for First Time Users. UXPA 2016.
1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Office Lens
Clear value proposition
37Video
Medium
Clear value proposition
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Amazon Silk
Unclear value proposition.
I’d like another browser please!
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
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Aspirational appeal - “my best self”
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Moqups
It’s all about them.
Not me and my better self.
Video
1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Fast News
Not really doing, but close.
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Canva
Nailed it!
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WordPress
Showing and telling and warp speed.
I’m not going to remember any of this.
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Moqups again
No signup!
Get in there and play!
48Live demo
Medium again
Did I really have to go through the standard, sucky flow?
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50
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
InVision
It’s a content creation app, but they gave me nice samples to play with.
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Takes you right to the content.
The callout also supports learning.
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Big empty.
But at least they gave me some calls to action.
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Moqups again
No commitment until I’m good and ready!
Also a generous free plan.
57Live demo
Google News
Gives me a good reason for tracking my location.
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Google News again
Same flow!
Why would you send me alerts?
Denied.
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Um, no.
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Stack Exchange
Badging and reputation are rewards.
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I couldn’t find any gamification and social facilitation anti-patterns…
But I’m sure they’re out there.
Maybe Amazon’s reviewer system?
Wikipedia?
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Gmail
I started selecting multiple items.
It recognized this and offered information.
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Me
I did it wrong!
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
InVision
Lower the perceived cost of adoption.
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Proto.io
Lower the perceived cost of adoption.
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Proto.io
Tips and tricks and content.
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1. Present a clear value proposition.2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.3. Doing is better than showing or telling. 4. Minimize friction and barriers.5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready. 7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.10. Measure and test!
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10 ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES
Partially adapted from Lisa Battle, First Impressions Matter: Onboarding for First Time Users. UXPA 2016.
Question and discussion time.
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