It is often said that opening a new app can be similar to meeting someone for the first time. You might hit it off straight away, you might instantly dislike them, or although it seems awkward to begin with, over-time, you could grow to quite like them. Whatever the scenario, the first impression means everything!
App onboarding is a vital stage of the app user’s journey and a necessary part of your mobile app marketing strategy. It is normally the first point of contact the user has with your app and your chance to really make that great first impression. An app without an onboarding process can be faced with a 17% first time user abandonment rate. Whereas, with a true onboarding experience, the customer churn rate from first time users is a much lower 9%.
What is App Onboarding?
App onboarding gives you the opportunity to show users how to get the most from your app, demonstrate the main value proposition and generally help set-up what you hope to be a long-lasting bond between your app and its users.
Normally, the onboarding process is a series of screens shown to the user the first time they open your app and that help guide them through the app’s interface and functions. They have three main purposes:
- To educate each user about the main app functions and benefits
- Give the user an opportunity to register their login details
- Collect profile information that can be used to deliver more personalised, relevant and valuable notifications
There are three main types of mobile app onboarding, which are:
- Value-Orientated Onboarding
Communicates the main benefits and value a user will receive from using the app.
- Functions-Orientated Onboarding
Focuses on the main functionalities of the app and explains how the user should use them.
- Progressive Onboarding
A progressive approach presents key information and advice for getting the most out of the app as and when the user requires it. So rather than an all at once, with a step-by-step tutorial, the information is displayed as the user makes their own way around the app.
5 Tips for a Great Onboarding Experience
No matter what approach you decide is the best for your app, there are certain best practices for onboarding that should be adopted to help increase your app user retention rate.
1. Emphasise the core value of your app
Don’t make the mistake of going into the nitty gritty of your app functionality without explaining WHY this function is going to change your app users life for the better. Having a long list of exciting and impressive features is great. But the truth is, your users don’t care about these features. What matters more is the value and benefits they can receive from said features.
2. Keep it short, keep it simple
Your new user is eager to get using your new app straight away after the initial download. So the last thing you want to do is force them to swipe through 10 or more text heavy screens before they can even begin using your app. No average user is going to sit and read these in detail. In fact, it’s likely they will just quickly skip past these screens and it will all be a big waste of time.
Prioritise your main features and benefits at this stage. Stick to whatever the basic information is that your user needs to know to get by. Don’t overwhelm the user with lengthy pieces of text and opt for the use of graphics and app screenshots to help you get your point across. It’s also worthwhile to make use of progress indicators. These do exactly what they say on the tin and indicate to the user what progress they are making throughout the onboarding process. If they can see that your process only has around 4 - 6 easy-to-digest steps then they are more likely to give it their full attention.
