What Is (New) Feature Onboarding and How to Build One for Success

Most advice on new feature onboarding lists the formats: release notes, modals, tooltips, walkthroughs. The decision it leaves out is which format fits which change. The rule this guide uses, drawn from the announcements in our inspirations library: size the announcement to the change, and make it where the feature lives.

Some apps are forgotten the moment people stop using them every day, and SaaS products are no exception, especially when users can't find the value they came for. New features are a chance to bring that value back into view, if users notice them.

What is new feature onboarding?

New feature onboarding is the part of the user onboarding process that introduces a specific feature: to first-time users during initial onboarding, and to existing users when you ship something new. It uses onboarding UX patterns such as tooltips, hotspots, modals and short tours to help users notice the feature and learn it.

At the start of onboarding, users don't know what the product offers, so feature onboarding demonstrates the core features one by one. Later, every new feature needs the same treatment: even users who know the product well have to be shown what's new before they'll adopt it.

Why is feature onboarding important?

Feature onboarding decides whether a feature you built gets used. Done well, it has several effects:

• Engagement: users who learn about a feature in a friendly way are able to use it.
• Value: new features users asked for give them a reason to stay, but only if they see them.
• Support costs: users who try a feature first-hand need the support team less.
• Retention and churn: users who get more value from the product are less likely to leave.
• Referrals: satisfied users tell others.

How big should a new feature announcement be?

Match the announcement to the size of the change. In our library, announcements for small changes are a single tooltip; new features get a tour of two to five steps; redesigns add a way to keep the old version for a while.

Step counts are as captured at the time of each screenshot. Four rules come with the table:

1. Announce it where the feature lives. Slack's tooltip sat on the sidebar it changed; Notion's pointed at the backlinks label.
2. Show it to the users who'll use it, and not again to anyone who has already tried it.
3. Let experts leave in one click, with a "Got it" or close button on every step.
4. For a redesign, offer a choice and a date. Trello let users switch now or later, and said the change would apply to everyone in a few weeks.

5 examples of new feature onboarding

All the examples below come from our inspirations corner, #ReallyGoodUserOnboarding. Each was captured at the time of its screenshot, so the products may look different today.

1- WordPress

WordPress puts its feature onboarding in context. When users opened the block editor, a small four-step slideshow ("Welcome to the block editor") explained how it works, so users could try it on their own right after.

The slideshow is small, but it gets attention because the page behind it dims. Visuals keep each step engaging, and the close button in the top right lets users who already know the editor skip it.

2- Notion

Notion used a tooltip to announce backlinks, pointing at the backlinks label on a page, exactly where users could try them. The explanation ran over two steps, and although the copy was long for a tooltip, text formatting and emojis made it easy to read.

The dimmed background keeps the focus on the announcement, and the signature at the top ("David from Notion") makes it feel personal.

3- Figma

Figma announced a better copy and paste with a bright modal that's hard to miss. One paragraph names three new features in bold (paste here, paste to replace and multi-paste), each with the problem it solves, so the copy is easy to scan.

 

Figma doesn't force a demo: an "Explore playground" button offers one, but the copy is descriptive enough on its own, which suits users who don't want interactive training.

4- Indicata

Indicata, a used-car pricing platform, used a quiet format: an info-icon hotspot beside the "Trim & Equipment" column opened a panel titled "New Feature: Vehicle Equipment", with a 35-second video and a "Take the tour" button.

 

The short video carries the instruction, so the panel doesn't need a string of tooltips, and the tour is there for anyone who wants more.

5- ClickUp

This example promotes an existing feature rather than a new one, but the pattern is the same. ClickUp anchored a tooltip to the + icon at the end of a list's column headers: "This is where the magic happens: Create new columns".

A preview showed the hidden fields and new field types, and one line explained what to do, with a single "Got it" button. Users learn about the feature right where they'd use it, without going through a guide.

How do you create a feature onboarding UX that works?

Creating feature onboarding that works takes four steps: announce the feature, announce it in the product, guide users to its value with a short tour, then measure and adjust.

1- Start an announcement campaign

Make sure current users, and potential ones, hear about the feature. Email current users when it launches, so they know before they log in. Post it on social media, which can also attract new users. Share it in the communities where your users spend time, and give people a reason to talk about it.

2- Announce the feature in-product

Announcing the feature inside the product matters as much as promoting it outside. Use the pattern that fits the size of the change (see the table above): hotspots, tooltips, announcement modals, slideouts or banners.

Include a visual, because visuals catch attention more than text alone. An announcement shown when users open the product, or when they reach the feature's screen, makes it hard to miss.

3- Guide users to value with feature tours

Getting users' attention is only half the job: they have to see what the feature does for them and make it part of their routine. A short interactive guide, two to five steps for most new features, shows them how to use it and why it's worth it. For building the tour itself, see our guide to creating a product tour.

4- Analyse and optimise

Check the results. How many of the users the feature was meant for actually tried it, and how many came back to it a second time? If adoption is low, look at where the announcement or the tour loses people, and change how you present the feature.

Tracking behaviour this way is something every SaaS team should do regularly, not only at launch.

Conclusion

(New) feature onboarding plays a big part in user onboarding. It encourages users to try what your product offers and gives them a chance to get familiar with it, which is directly tied to the value they get, and so to retention and satisfaction. Size each announcement to the change, put it where the feature lives, and measure whether the right users adopt it.