Onboarding Patterns

The Goal

Get users to their first value moment as fast as possible. Not to explain every feature.

First Value Moment

• Identify the ONE action that makes users understand the product's value
• Design every onboarding step to get them there
• Measure time-to-value, not completion rate

Patterns

Progressive Onboarding

Don't explain everything upfront. Introduce features when the user first encounters them.

• Contextual tooltips on first encounter
• Empty states that teach by showing the first action
• Feature discovery that unfolds over days, not minutes