Most people decide whether to keep an app within a minute or so of opening it. Here's how to design onboarding that gets them to value quickly.
You can spend months on features and lose a user in the first minute because the sign-up form was long and the home screen was empty. Onboarding deserves proper design time.
Work out the moment a new user first sees why the app is worth having: their first booking, their first report, their first saved item. Everything before that moment is friction. Cut or defer it.
If people can try the app before creating an account, let them. When you do need details, ask for only what's essential. Offer sign-in with Apple or Google, and let them fill in the rest of their profile over time.
A notification or location prompt on first launch, with no explanation, is easy to decline, and hard to undo. Ask at the moment it's useful, with a sentence on why: 'Allow location so we can show jobs near you'.
A blank screen tells new users nothing. Use it to show what will appear and how to add the first item. Test the whole flow with someone who has never seen the app; five people will reveal most of the problems. This pairs well with an MVP-first approach.
We design and build apps with the first-use experience in mind from day one.
Start a conversation →Keep it short, and prefer learning by doing. Long walkthrough screens are usually skipped.
Track how many people reach the key first action, and where they drop out. Fix the biggest gap first.
