User Onboarding Checklist

Best practices to acquire and retain SaaS customers

For new users

1. Make it easy for the user to understand your product value
2. Clearly show them what they need to do to start using the product
3. Show social proof to instill trust
4. Let the user know how long (& easy) your signup process is
5. Collect as less information from the user as possible
6. When you gather information justify why you do so
7. Be personable and notify user on what to expect after signing up
8. Once inside the application help the user to focus on things s/he needs to accomplish first
9. Keep it less ambiguous as to what they need to do in the interface, by reducing clutter
10. Show early wins; help them achieve more frequent wins as they progress;

When setting things up

1. Help user to enable features easily, driving them objectively
2. Put things under-the-hood until the user really needs it
3. Add contextual help wherever you think a user might be mislead
4. Don’t be afraid to walk user down the lane or provide a help link for detailed guide or a quick help video to explain your setup process
5. Help user visualize the changes they configure

For returning user

1. Make it easy for the user to remember the application URL and login information
2. Once in the application show a personalized action list
3. Help them resume aptly where they left before
4. Show them a list of items pending configuration or enablement
5. Show them a progress bar to let them know how much they could achieve by doing more with the tool
6. Keep the content engaged that they want to come back again
7. Let them collaborate that they come back frequently

When introducing features

1. Help your user realize the complete value of your product
2. Add references to your valuable features at relevant places without disturbing the flow of already enabled features
3. Try in-app notifications for highlighting individual features as they are rolled out
4. Send simple, elegant, descriptive emails to notify users of new features with embed videos or knowledge base links
5. Make it obvious for a user to find your help content wherever they are (mobile, website, in-app, email)

Make it easy for the user to contact your support or account management team anytime to get help.

Proactively contact your user, when in the app, based on their past and present behavior.

——

If you found this post helpful you might want to follow me on twitter where I write about Startups and Product Strategy