First Impressions Matter—A Lot
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “There’s no second chance to make a great first impression,” and when it comes to your users, that couldn’t be more true.
The first time a user signs into your product is the most critical moment. If that experience falls flat, you could lose them before they’ve even had a chance to explore what you offer. All the time and money spent on acquiring new customers could be wasted just like that. So, yeah—it’s a big deal.
Keeping new users around isn’t easy. Even with a great user experience, you’re likely looking at a retention rate of around 40–60% after the first use. It’s a tough game. You can use all sorts of strategies like drip email campaigns or releasing new features to get old users back. But trying to convince someone to give your product a second chance after a bad first impression? That’s three times harder than getting them to sign up in the first place.
Bottom line: Your users’ first experience has to be amazing.
User Onboarding and the ‘Quick Win’
User onboarding isn’t just about teaching someone how to use your product. It’s the entire experience a new user goes through—from the first touchpoint (like an ad, landing page, or recommendation) to their first successful interaction with your product.
Think about it like this: If I hear about Evernote from a friend, everything from visiting their website, downloading the app, and writing my first note is part of the onboarding journey. It’s not just about features—it’s about taking users on an emotional journey that helps them feel like your product is making them better at something they care about.
Good onboarding leads users through this journey step by step, showing them how your product helps them achieve their personal goals. It’s not about throwing a bunch of features at them—it’s about showing them how your product will make their lives easier or better.
Help Your Users Win
Everyone loves the feeling of accomplishment. Whether it’s ticking off a to-do list or leveling up in a game, that sense of winning is powerful. You want your users to associate that feeling with your product—and it needs to happen during their very first experience.
What counts as a “win” depends on your product. For Evernote, it might be writing the first note. For Instagram, it’s taking and editing the first photo. The key is to figure out what your product’s core experience is and make sure new users get a taste of that as quickly as possible.
This “quick win” is the cherry on top of the onboarding process. It’s the reward users get for going through the effort of signing up and trying out your product.
What’s the Right Quick Win for Your Product?
Choosing the right quick win can be tricky, but here are some guidelines:
- Showcase Your Product’s Core Value: What’s the one thing your product absolutely needs to do for users to really “get it”? That’s your quick win.
- Make It Quick and Simple: The quicker and easier the experience, the better. This isn’t the time to introduce advanced features—just get them to that Aha! moment with as little friction as possible.
- Leave Them Wanting More: Just like a headline pulls readers into an article, the quick win should hook users and make them want to come back for more. It should be a taste of the full experience, not the whole meal.
How to Design a Quick Win That Brings Users Back
Once you’ve identified the right quick win, it’s all about presenting it the right way. Let’s say you’re creating a platform where amateur photographers can upload and share their work. Here’s what the quick win process might look like:
- Sign up
- Upload a photo
- Share it with friends
That’s it! The fewer steps, the better. Each step is an opportunity for users to drop off, so streamline wherever you can. If something isn’t essential to the experience (like naming an album or confirming an email), leave it out or automate it. The goal is to get users to that win as smoothly as possible.
Deciding What to Keep or Cut
For each step in your onboarding process, ask yourself: How much effort does this step require, and how much value does it add to the experience? If the effort outweighs the benefit, cut it. Keep only the steps that are essential to helping users achieve their goals.
Quick Win Checklist
Here’s a simple checklist for creating a quick win:
- Identify your product’s core “must-have” experience.
- Map out the steps to achieve it.
- Cut any unnecessary steps.
- Look for opportunities to automate or simplify the process.
- Review the entire experience—does it feel great?
Measuring Success
How do you know if your quick win is working? Track these two key metrics:
- Completion Rate: How many users finish the quick win process?
- Return Rate: How many users come back for a second time?
In the long run, combine these metrics with direct feedback from your users. There’s no better way to understand their experience than by asking them directly.
A Lesson from Pinterest
Pinterest is a great example of onboarding done right, even though their process is fairly complex. Their quick win involves users discovering a pin they like and pinning it to their own board. Here’s how they do it:
- Sign up
- Take a quick tour
- Search for something of interest
- Pin it to a board
- Create the board in the process of pinning
By the end, the user has pinned their first image and created a board—a meaningful first step that gets them started on the platform.
In Summary
There’s no magic formula for a perfect quick win. It takes testing and iteration. But always remember: your users came to your product to get better at something or do something better. If you can guide them through that process smoothly, and give them a small taste of success early on, they’ll be much more likely to stick around.
