Tooltips · 6 min read
What are Onboarding UX Patterns and How Should They Be Used?
Onboarding UX patterns are reusable interface solutions for teaching new users a product: tours, tooltips, hotspots, checklists, welcome screens, empty states. Pick one by the job: point at an element, tell users something, ask them something, or teach a sequence. Most products combine a short tour with contextual help shown later.
By Serra Alban
In short
Pattern lists name ten to fourteen onboarding patterns; this post gives the rule for choosing between them, by the job each does. It then explains the two approaches most SaaS products combine, tour onboarding and contextual onboarding, with six real examples, and what's new: as of October 2026, several onboarding tools sell AI assistants alongside tours.
Most guides to onboarding UX patterns are lists: welcome modals, tours, tooltips, hotspots, checklists, empty states, ten or fourteen of them. What a list doesn't tell you is which one to use. The answer depends on the job: pointing at something, telling users something, asking them something, or teaching a sequence. Choose by the job and the list gets short.
When people meet an upsetting onboarding experience, they avoid the product and churn. The right pattern in the right place is how you prevent that.
What are onboarding UX patterns?
Onboarding UX patterns are reusable interface solutions for helping new users learn a product, designed around the product and what users expect from it. They carry information about the product, how-tos and anything new, and they're how you show users, inside the onboarding flow, that the product can meet their needs.
One useful way to group them is by where they sit and the job they do best:
| Category | Works best when you need to... | Patterns | Example below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annotated | Highlight a particular feature | Tooltips, hotspots, coachmarks | Coda's "Questions?" tooltip |
| Embedded | Tell users about something without stopping them | Inline hints, empty states, banners, side panels | Coda's Learn menu |
| Dedicated | Get information from users, or their full attention | Welcome screens, sign-up questions, modals | Squarespace's store setup |
There are many types of onboarding because every user is different. Still, most SaaS products build on two approaches: tour onboarding and contextual onboarding.
Which onboarding UX pattern should you use?
Choose the pattern by what you need the user to do or know. This table covers the common jobs:
| If you need to... | Use | Size that works |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome users and set expectations | A welcome screen or modal | One headline, one button, a way to skip |
| Learn who the user is | A sign-up question | One question, a few large options |
| Teach a workflow in order | A product tour | Enough steps to reach a first result; 15Five used five |
| Explain one control | A tooltip | One sentence, one button |
| Flag something optional or new | A hotspot | A few per screen at most |
| Get a multi-session setup done | A checklist | Four or five tasks |
| Fill an empty screen | An empty state or template | One example or one action |
| Answer questions on demand | A help menu, resource centre or AI assistant | Always one click away |
For the visual side of each pattern, see onboarding UI examples.
What is tour onboarding?
Tour onboarding shows users a product's features step by step, through walkthroughs, guides and product tours. It usually runs during initial onboarding, but it also works for major product updates.
Its strength is coverage: a tour can show the product from top to bottom and highlight its core value in one sitting. Its weakness is the same: every step a user doesn't need yet is one they may skip, so keep tours to the steps that lead to a first result.
3 examples of tour onboarding
These examples were added to this post in 2022. Each describes the product as it was at the time of the screenshot.
1. Whimsical
After signing up to Whimsical, users landed on a main page with a lot on it, including a board called "Getting Started: Boards".
Opening that board started the tour: a "How To..." column on the left showed each essential action with a gif, such as moving around the canvas with the space bar.
On the right, a "Try for Yourself" area let users practise each action on sample shapes. Learning and doing sat side by side.
2. 15Five
15Five used a five-step tour to introduce its features, starting with its weekly Check-in. The first step, "Welcome to 15Five", listed the four things employees share in a Check-in.
Each step explained a feature on the left, with a "Step 1 of 5" counter and a Next button, and showed it working on the right. Step two asked users to try it: "Try responding with a comment yourself!"
3. Monday.com
Monday.com pointed users to its learning centre with a panel beside the help icon, "Learn & Get Inspired", which included a short video.
Its learning path then set out three numbered steps, each built around short videos; the one in the screenshot runs 17 seconds.
When should you use tour onboarding?
Use tour onboarding for first-time users. A tour is good at making a product's features known, including the ones users usually miss, and a well-made tour makes a strong first impression because it shows what the product can do and gives users a reason to stay. Keep it short, make at least one step interactive (as 15Five and Whimsical did), and let users skip.
What is contextual onboarding?
Contextual onboarding shows users a feature at the moment they reach it, so it usually isn't part of initial onboarding. Unlike a tour, it doesn't walk through everything in order; it focuses on one area at a time. See our full guide to contextual onboarding.
New feature announcements, upgrade prompts and shortcut reminders are all natural fits for contextual onboarding. Tour and contextual onboarding complement each other: the tour gives the overview, and contextual help fills in individual features and details later.
3 examples of contextual onboarding
1. Coda
After Coda's initial onboarding, users were left alone with an empty page. A short tooltip series ended by pointing at the Learn Coda menu: "Questions? Check out the Learn menu for resources, tips, live support, and more."
As users explored the Insert panel, Coda previewed templates in a window before adding them, such as a content calendar or a task tracker, each with a "Use template" button.
The Learn Coda menu itself held beginner videos, a learn doc, the community, a formula list, keyboard shortcuts and a doc gallery: help users open when they want it.
2. GatherContent
GatherContent started a short tour of each section the first time users opened it, outside the initial tour. In Files & Media, a box in the bottom-left corner said "Welcome to files & media", offered "a quick tour" and linked to the help docs.
3. Squarespace
After initial onboarding, users who opened the Commerce section of Squarespace's menu got a window to help set up their store: four tasks from adding products to publishing the store, each linking to the right page.
When should you use contextual onboarding?
Use contextual onboarding to reinforce key actions from the initial onboarding, and to cover details the initial onboarding left out, so users notice and use more features. It can also serve as the initial onboarding for users who skipped the tour.
Announcements can go in pop-ups; brand-new features suit tooltips and hotspots. In short, use contextual onboarding wherever a tour would be too much.
How do tour and contextual onboarding work together?
Tour and contextual onboarding are counterparts, and neither works fully without the other. The tour gives new users the overview and the product's core value; contextual onboarding catches them later, as they explore areas the tour didn't cover, with tooltips, hotspots and side panels.
Be careful not to overuse either. A product that tours every screen and tooltips every button teaches users to close everything.
What has changed in onboarding patterns since 2023?
The biggest change is a pattern that answers instead of shows: AI assistants inside the product. As of October 2026, several onboarding tools list one next to their tours and tooltips. Userflow's Studio plan lists in-app agents that answer, guide and take actions for users; UserGuiding lists an AI Assistant on every plan, metered in resolutions; and Intercom charges for its Fin AI Agent from $0.99 per outcome on top of seats (each tool's pricing page, October 2026).
An assistant doesn't replace the patterns above. It sits in the "answer questions on demand" row of the table: useful for users who know what they want to do, while tours and contextual help still serve users who don't yet know what to ask.
Frequently asked questions
What is UX onboarding?
UX onboarding is the process in which new users and prospects first interact with your product and learn to get value from it. For SaaS companies, it's also how users come to buy or upgrade.
How do you improve the onboarding process in UX?
Listen to users. Their experience says a lot about the current onboarding, so watch where they drop off, ask what confused them, and test changes. See how to run user testing for onboarding.
How many onboarding screens should a product have?
As few as reach a first result. For an intro carousel, three or four screens is typical; the examples in our guide to app onboarding screens used two to four. Tours run longer when each step is interactive, as 15Five's five steps were.
About the author
Serra AlbanSerra is a creative content writer focusing on UX and product and everything that deals with onboarding practices.
