Mobile App Onboarding: Why It’s Vital For Your App

The success and growth potential of your mobile app depends, in large part, on the onboarding process you offer to users. Onboarding is essentially the first engagement experience that users will have with your app. If you fail to make a good first impression, they’re going to log out and delete it. 

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Many apps lose new users this way, it’s been found that approximately 1 in 4 users abandon an app completely after using it only once. Compare this with the finding that user retention goes up as much as 50% when presented with a seamless, convenient onboarding process and the importance of offering good onboarding becomes clear.

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Learn how to offer the onboarding experience your users are looking to drive retention and improve your app’s user experience.

The benefits of better onboarding

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New users who have just downloaded your app will be unfamiliar with its layout and features and, while some may have the patience to figure it out, most will simply delete the app if it’s not easy to use. To prevent this, you need to create a positive and memorable first experience for new users to ensure your app is successful. 

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Offering users a simple but effective onboarding process can help them get to grips with navigating and using your app from the get-go. This will improve their in-app experience, increase their chances of retention and stop them from clicking away for good. 

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Great app onboarding shouldn’t just help users learn how to use the app, it should also help simplify app use. Simply giving a blow-by-blow account of how to execute every action is going to bore your users. 

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Only cover what’s essential to know in the beginning and include the benefits - what makes this feature great and how does it help the user? When users understand the benefits of what’s being offered, they see the value in it and are more likely to keep using your app. 

How to optimise your app onboarding

Simplify where possible

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Your onboarding process should be as smooth and seamless as possible. If users get stuck on one process because it’s too complicated they may give up and log out. This is most likely to happen when they first sign up. Make sure your sign-up process is straightforward. 

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Users should be able to register with just an email address or by connecting one of their social media accounts. Asking them to fill in long forms where they have to verify their identity is a quick way to lose their interest and make them disengage. 

Get straight to the point

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While you want your users to understand how your app’s features work, going into too much detail during onboarding can quickly become overwhelming. It’s best practice to keep your messaging simple and to the point, especially when introducing your core features. 

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Focus on their key purpose and if the feature requires more of an in-depth explanation, provide a “learn more” button that directs them to a separate page or website if they choose to click on it. 

Display users’ progress

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You want your users to finish onboarding as it best sets them up to immediately begin engaging with your app. But, if they feel like the process is taking too long, they may get bored and skip past it, potentially missing out on vital information. 

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Visibly displaying users’ progress as they complete onboarding allows them to see how much further they have to go. Allowing users to see how far they’ve progressed can make them more inclined to finish as it gives them a greater sense of control over their time.

Offer the option to skip

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Certain users may figure out how your app works more quickly than others and if they get stuck in onboarding when they want to begin exploring, they’ll likely exit. It’s a good idea to add a skip button, allowing users to move past a step or skip onboarding entirely so they can start using your app immediately. 

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Making your onboarding resources available at any time will allow users to come back and finish the process when they choose to or if they’re unsure of something. 

Don’t limit onboarding to first-time users

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Your app is likely to change over time, with updates being made and new features being launched. These changes will affect your users, so they should be communicated to prevent potential confusion and frustration. 

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Extend your onboarding to current users to ensure they’re in the know when you make changes to your app. This will allow them to use any new features immediately and notify them of any upcoming updates or alterations, minimising the impact on their user experience.

Ready to enhance your app onboarding? 

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Providing the kind of onboarding experience your users expect means striking the right balance between content, display and UX and design considerations. Unless you have the time and experience at your disposal, redesigning your onboarding process can quickly become time-consuming and complicated. 

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At Appic, we take onboarding and simplify it, leveraging our skills and expertise to meet your app’s unique design and requirements. We can help you roll out a new onboarding experience for your users quickly and seamlessly, providing the experience they’re looking for and boosting user retention. Chat to us to find out how we can help you. 

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