- Steven Cravotta
- Posts
- This is the worst onboarding move
This is the worst onboarding move
Hey there,
Every app founder has been in this situation:
Your users are downloading your app and not sticking around.
When you see the bad activation number, your instinct kicks in.
Cut the onboarding, strip out steps, get them to the core action faster.
Sometimes that works. But usually it’s a big mistake and makes the onboarding even worse.
There are 2 different activation problems, and they need opposite fixes.
1: Friction.
Your onboarding has too many steps and users bail before they ever hit the value.
→ Cut it down and get out of their way.
2: Education gap.
Users finish onboarding, then land in the app with no idea what to do or why they should care.
→ Add context and make your app click.
I learned the hard way with Posted.
Creator activation was sitting at 12% and my gut said:
Cut the onboarding, get them into the product faster. I was about to ship this version.
But something in me told me to have a closer look at the data…
Turns out the drop-off wasn't happening during the onboarding flow.
Users were finishing it, landing in the app, and going quiet.
They weren't overwhelmed. They just had no idea what they'd signed up for.
We added onboarding instead of cutting it. Walkthroughs of what Posted really is and what the payoff looked like.
Next thing we know, the activation climbed.
If I'd trusted my gut and shipped the cut, it would've gone the other way.
So before you touch your onboarding, look at where the drop-off actually happens.
If users are bailing mid-onboarding, it's friction. Cut some steps.
If they're finishing onboarding and then disappearing, they don't understand your app yet. Add more details.
Diagnose first, then move.
Peace,
Steven