Onboarding & Beyond - 4 Mobile App Retention Musts
There are a lot of apps out there. A LOT. And users are becoming picky. For every app a user downloads, there’s already a handful of competing apps ready to deliver (more or less) the same thing. So it’s no surprise that apps are having a hard time holding on to their new users.
Did you know that the average app loses 80% of its users within the first three days after installation? Most people download an app, open it once, and forget about it (until they eventually uninstall it.)
The first interaction between an app and a user is a pivotal moment.
UX people refer to it as the First Time User Experience (FTUE), others may refer to it as New User Onboarding. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is clear — apps need to make a great first impression in order to survive.
The following are 4 bases all apps must cover in their onboarding, if they want to hold on to their new users:
1. A Clear Introduction / Tutorial
This can come in the form of a video or as 3–5 slides, and should be the first thing the user sees. This intro should explain benefits, features & functionality. If the new user doesn’t understand what the app does or what he himself is supposed to be doing there, he is a flight risk.
* A little tip: when creating your tutorial, address the user as though he’s never heard of the app. Don’t assume the user has any basic knowledge or knows what to expect. You don’t know when the app was downloaded or what initial information the user received, or remembers.
Here’s a great example: Shopping app Grabble welcomes first-time users with a 5-slide onboarding tutorial, offering a short, yet precise, overview of the app’s benefits & main features:
2. Personalization through Registration
Congrats, your new visitor became a new registered user! This is the perfect time to collect important data that will help you deliver a better, more personalized, experience later on. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
Signing up can be done through connected social networking accounts or via email. The smartest way to go is to offer a twitter/Facebook connect option, because this way you automatically receive a lot of basic personal data (gender, age, likes, etc), but if the new user opts for an email sign up — don’t let that slide by you so easily. It’s okay to add another parameter (maybe two) if it’s relevant to the app and will benefit the user’s experience. If the user opted to fill out details manually, he’s in a giving mood, so this is the time to ask for info.
Here are two great examples: The first is by WonderBox, the educational app for kids, asking for age (- because it’s relevant!)
…the second is by Grabble, asking for the user’s gender when signing up, because that’s pretty important when you’re going shopping…
3. Permission Prompts
Future interactions are important; an app needs to be able to keep in touch with users in order to retain engagement. For apps running on iOS, this means asking for approval to send notifications and alerts. When it comes to requesting permission, we’re all familiar with those generic iOS system messages (and know how much users “love” them), so the worst thing an app can do is to pop those up randomly, in their face, without any notice or explanation. And yet, many apps still do that — right up front, as the first thing the user sees when opening the app. (Seriously?!) Put a little thought into this extremely important moment.
If you want to get a Yes, you just have to ask nicely. Explain yourself. Reasoning with users can go a long way. If you first explain the benefits of sending reminders or alerts, or explain why the app needs access to the user’s camera or contacts, and clearly attach the request to the app’s functionalities — it’s much more likely that users will say yes.
Here’s a beautiful example by social app flotsm. This is how it’s done!
4. In-App Interactions
Once your new user saw the tutorial, registered, and authorized future interactions, he’s ready to go! right? WRONG. Don’t let go of that user’s hand just yet; he may be in the door but that doesn’t mean you’ve got him. When a user is exploring your app for the very first time, when he’s scrolling the feed, browsing categories, looking for his place in it all, it’s good to give him a few more nudges here and there. Point things out, explain features while he’s experiencing them, give examples and walk the user through — that’s the best way to learn, by examples and by doing. It’s important that new users truly experience your app during their first visit.
You don’t want to be too pushy or overbearing, one in-app mini-tutorial, tool tip, or message per feature is enough, shown only once, during the very first interaction (and only for the important features, that are crucial to the user experience.) What we do suggest, is to have a tutorial section within the app, under the settings or in the menu, where users can always access these little tips, tricks and tutorials again, at a later time, as needed.
Here’s an example from news curation app Wildcard, which present little “Tips” throughout the app, during a new user’s first experience:
In short, app owners just have to remember that users are human.
And as in any new social interaction, a good app has to introduce itself in a polite, personal and friendly manner, and leave a great first impression.
Originally published at blog.elasticode.com on September 17, 2015.
