User onboarding is the process of improving an individual's requirements and success with a product or service. This term is often used in reference to
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
products, and it can be done in a manual or automated way. It is the process through which new software is designed such that new users are provided and acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors in order to become “up and running” and effective users of website, app, or
software service
In the contexts of software architecture, service-orientation and service-oriented architecture, the term service refers to a software functionality, or a set of software functionalities (such as the retrieval of specified information or the execu ...
.
The term originates from the
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
term,
onboarding
''Onboarding'' or organizational socialization is the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors in order to become effective organizational members and insiders. In the United States, for example ...
, that refers to the mechanism through which new
employees
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors in order to become effective organizational members.
The goal of user onboarding is to get the users to understand the key principles at the heart of the product and to show them how it will improve their lives. If it can make the point of the product clear and easy to understand the first time a user tries it, have a better chance of gaining excited and
engaged customers.
Offering a free trial is an example of how you can implement user onboarding. If someone is able to see how the product is useful and exciting to them within a free trial period, it can take them from being a user to a consumer—willing to invest in order to continue their experience.
Onboarding techniques
Leveraging the right user onboarding techniques based on the specific requirements can be extremely beneficial for businesses.
Below are different user onboarding techniques and their classifications.
* Single sign-on or social login - Ease the login and add less friction with
SSO or Social Login.
* Interactive tutorials,
Walkthrough - In-application tutorials that help to onboard new users, highlight features in your application, and also reflect your value proposition faster and easier.
* Beacons, tooltips - Raise visitors attention by adding beacon to any element on the web page.
* Checklists - Leverage gamification effect (see
Zeigarnik effect
Named after Lithuanian-Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, in psychology the Zeigarnik effect occurs when an activity that has been interrupted may be more readily recalled. It postulates that people remember unfinished or interrupted tasks bett ...
) and provide a clear step-by-step on-boarding flow.
* Coach screens - Opening screens stitched together that appear mostly after the splash screen moves away.
* Training videos - Context-based training videos
References
Software architecture
Software engineering terminology
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