The one trick to improve your user onboarding

3 min readMay 20, 2017

I know, I know… This sounds like a clickbait title, but hear me out.

Let me lay it on you: Setup wizards! Yes, they work! Remember how installing a Windows app looked like (still does)? These installation wizards are not sexy (anymore), but there's a lot we can learn from them.

Why setup wizards work?

There are three qualities that make setup wizards effective:

Linear path
As users of software we're usually in a rush to get the thing working, and as humans we naturally respond well to linear progress. Set up wizards clearly chart the path, so you can move forward (or backward when needed). And it's so satisfying and natural to move from left to right (top to bottom).

Focus on the task
There's typically one key action per screen and no distractions that can derail your progress. This means there's one decision to make at a time. Breaking down complex tasks into smaller, bite sized ones reduces cognitive load and makes it easy to move forward. More on the subject in About Virgin's new book booking site.

Tangible result
At the end of the wizard you get the fruit of your labor. The effort that you just put in pays off and the reward is clear and tangible.

Applying setup wizards in user onboarding

The goal of user onboarding is to help a new user achieve success with the product. The function of onboarding is to assist that user in getting there.

Let's look at a typical user flow for an average web based product. What does a user usually see immediately after registration? An empty state.

Dealing with empty states
Most products are designed around a central Dashboard view. The problem is that for a new user this view will be empty.

When I ask what's the first thing a user needs to do to get started, the answer is usually something like: Well, they need to go into Settings and enter their…

See my point? Settings are hidden in a submenu, four clicks away. More importantly there is no way a new user can guess they need to start there.

Delivering a quick win
That's where a setup wizard can come into play. Start off your user on the important stuff that will help her achieve first unit value.

Here's a few examples from real world products.

How Tripmydream does it…