What Exactly is Software Product Onboarding and Why Should You Care?

Search for software product onboarding and most results are lists of tools. What they don't show is what a good flow does, screen by screen. Three flows recorded in 2022 (Typeform, Vidyard and Paperform) followed the same sequence, and the differences between them, such as two setup steps or seven questions, a three-step tour or a ten-step one, are the decisions you'll face with your own product.

When someone mentions product onboarding, I picture a movie trailer. Whatever fans and critics say, I watch the trailer first, because I don't want to invest my time in something that won't satisfy me. Product onboarding works the same way: users can't take anybody's word for your product. They have to experience it themselves and decide whether it suits them.

What is software product onboarding?

Software product onboarding is the part of product adoption that shows new users your product's features, how to benefit from them, and how to get comfortable with the product. Its main purpose is to get users to their aha moment as soon as possible, so they know how to use the product without problems.

The phrase has a second meaning. When a company rolls out software to its own employees, getting them up to speed is also called software onboarding; that side is covered in our guide to digital adoption. This post is about onboarding the users of your own product.

Why is product onboarding so important for software?

Product onboarding is where users decide whether your product is easy to learn and worth paying for. You have to prove both during the first sessions.

Customer satisfaction and churn move together: users who don't see the value of your product leave, and users who do are pleased with the experience and stay. That's why every SaaS business should treat onboarding as part of revenue, and improve it like any other part of the product.

How do Typeform, Vidyard and Paperform onboard new users?

All three asked setup questions, had users make something, and then ran a task-based tour. They differed in how much they asked and where the tour ended. The flows below were recorded in 2022, and all three products have changed since.

1. Typeform

Typeform's onboarding started with a welcome screen ("Let's get you set up"), followed by a short form that asked about you to make the journey smoother.

There were five questions, one per screen: first name, last name, what you'd use Typeform for (work, school or personal), your one main activity, and how you found Typeform. A progress bar in the bottom right showed how far along you were, and you could go back to answers you'd already given.

After the last question, the setup form ended:

Next came the main page, where you picked a template (or started from scratch) and named your form.

Right after you named the form, the product tour started: an interactive walkthrough of six steps. It skipped the first step, so the first one you saw was the second. Each step had a tooltip explaining what to do and a hotspot pointing to the right place.

After you added a question, the tour offered a preview on mobile and desktop.

Once you'd checked both, a hotspot showed you the way back.

The fourth step made your typeform public so you could share it.

Clicking Publish, easy to spot thanks to the hotspot, generated a link you could share online. A small pop-up congratulated you, and the step card stayed on screen for a few seconds after each step.

The last step pointed to the apps you could connect, through a hotspot on the Connect section.

Then a message in the corner congratulated you on finishing the tour. Our inspirations library has another part of this flow: Typeform's friendly tour welcome modal, captured the same year.

2. Vidyard

Vidyard's onboarding was short but structured. It started by asking what you planned to use the product for.

The second and last setup step asked whether you wanted to record a video or upload one.

A loading modal then asked you to hang tight while your account was prepared.

On the main page, an onboarding checklist appeared with five steps (create an account, install a recorder, record a video, share it, see who's watching), each with its own button underneath.

Once you'd set up your camera, you could record. Only when you finished your first recording did a modal offer the product tour, congratulating you on your first video.

The first step highlighted the video name field, with a tooltip asking for a catchy title.

The second offered two thumbnail options: static or animated.

The last step showed where to share your video once you'd finished editing.

After the walkthrough, the checklist showed which tasks were left to complete onboarding.

3. Paperform

Paperform relied mostly on tooltips, delivered as an interactive product walkthrough. After signup, it asked about you and your organisation over four screens, starting with the kinds of forms you wanted to create.

Then you landed on the main page, with many ways to start.

I chose to start from scratch instead of a template, and a walkthrough modal appeared immediately.

The first step asked you to click the first line and type "My form".

The second asked you to highlight that text and try a heading style.

Then it praised you for the last two steps and moved on to adding a question.

Once the question was added, it asked you to type it.

The next tooltip showed where to change the question type.

Then it highlighted the controls for configuring, duplicating, moving and deleting questions.

Next came the Theme button, with a tooltip on changing fonts, colours and the overall look.

Another tooltip highlighted the View button, which saves your changes and opens the form in a new tab.

The menu at the top got its own step: payments, sharing settings, what happens after submission, and the form's URL and embed codes.

At the end, a modal congratulated you on finishing the tour and pointed to the help centre.

What do the three flows teach about product onboarding?

Four patterns stand out when you put the flows side by side:

1. Users made something before the tour started. A named form or a first recording gave the tour something real to work on, instead of an empty screen.
2. Vidyard started its tour after the first value action. It waited until users had recorded a video, then offered to help them share it, so the tour arrived when users had a reason to want it.
3. Two of the three tours ended at publishing or sharing, the moment the user's work reaches someone else. Paperform's tour was the longest, and it ended at the help centre with the form still unpublished.
4. Setup ranged from two steps to at least seven questions. Vidyard asked the least before users could record; Paperform asked the most, including company size and location, before the editor opened. Every question delays the first result, so each one should change what the user sees next.

For more flows read this way, see what five well-known products ask new users to do first in our product onboarding examples.

What are the best practices for onboarding users to your product?

The three flows point to four practices. Each starts with the original advice and adds what the examples show.

1. Introduce a well-structured onboarding process

To show your product's features and value, you need a well-structured onboarding experience. Even if you already have one, check that it fits your users' needs: users who are willing to learn your product spend more time in it, which raises your return on investment.

In practice, structure means order: a few setup questions, a first object, a tour on that object, and an ending at the result users came for. Keep the product tour as short as the task allows; Vidyard needed three steps.

2. Make use of customer feedback

SaaS products improve with feedback, just as people do. Customers' insights about your onboarding show you the process from their side, including the errors in it and the items that need urgent attention.

Data and analytics help you:

• evaluate your onboarding process from a different point of view,
• manage user engagement,
• get insights on your product design,
• improve and optimise the onboarding funnel.

3. Be mindful of the users

Every product is made for people, so think of them while designing your onboarding strategy and choosing an onboarding tool. A user-oriented onboarding strategy is one of the easiest ways to improve the user experience.

Being mindful means asking only what you'll use, letting users go back and skip (Typeform let you revisit answers, and Paperform's tooltips had Skip and Back buttons), and not making them sit through steps they don't need. If you're choosing a tool to build onboarding, our tool reviews compare pricing, features and what G2 reviewers say.

4. Keep making changes

Users' needs, goals and expectations change, and so does your product. Check them regularly and change your onboarding flow to match, and go through your own signup as a new user after every release that touches the first screens.

Where should you start?

Product onboarding and product adoption go together: promoting the value of your product through onboarding is the main goal of customer success. Users who see that value keep using the product and recommend it to others. Start by going through your own signup, count the questions and steps before the first result, and compare them with the table above.