Get Started Right Away: Mobile App Onboarding Best Practices

Blog
By: Himani Juneja Time: 10 Min Read Updated: June 8, 2023
Mobile App Onboarding Best Practices blog feature image

Introduction

Have you ever been on a mobile app and felt utterly lost? You weren't sure what to do next or even why the app was relevant to your needs. The experience felt overwhelming, confusing, or useless - and you probably deleted it before exploring further. That, my friend, is the result of poor onboarding!

Onboarding is like greeting visitors at your home – it sets the tone for how they experience everything else in their time as guests. And just as important—it makes them feel comfortable in an unfamiliar environment while guiding important areas of curiosity within a new product/app. Good Mobile App Onboarding can make users fall head over heels for using your application. Otherwise, success quickly falls flat if users don't know how to set up or operate an Application properly (and thus meaning fewer conversions!)

What is App Onboarding?

App onboarding is like a first introduction for your customers - they get acquainted with the product from their very first experience with it and decide if this is something they'd like to use in the future or delete after one go. According to Wyzowl, 80% of people have deleted an app because they didn’t know how to use it. Developers and designers need to prioritize user experience and create seamless app onboarding best practices that are easy for users to understand and operate. Failure to do so may result in decreased adoption rates and negative reviews.

Let us explore more about effective Mobile App Onboarding best practices so that we can help all our apps reach their goals by assisting customers in having incredible experiences when first installing a new app!

How Many Types of Mobile App Onboarding Best Practices Are There?

How-Many-Types-of-Mobile-App-Onboarding-Best-PracticesAre-There There are various types of mobile app onboarding best practices, and some of them are:
  • 1. Simple and Concise

    When it comes to onboarding best practices for mobile apps, brevity and clarity should be paramount. Excessive complexity or information can prove intimidating and overwhelm new users, hindering the adoption of your product. Instead, strive for maximum simplification, elucidating the process concisely and straightforwardly that enables individuals to acclimate to the app and begin utilizing its features quickly.

  • 2. Progressive Disclosure

    Progressive disclosure is a type of mobile app onboarding best practice that involves presenting users with information and prompts step-by-step. This approach emphasizes clarity by focusing on essential core features while avoiding cognitive overload through the progressive presentation of options to complete tasks. It ensures your users understand how an interface works without having access to all possible content at once - allowing them to learn as they go instead.

  • 3. Personalization

    Experience-a-special-connection-with-your-product

    Personalization is one of the most effective mobile app onboarding best practices. By leveraging personalized messaging, companies can identify and segment their customers by specific targets or interests they hold in order to create more tailored experiences for them. This approach helps maintain user engagement throughout each step of an app’s process—from installation through continued use—and encourages users toward conversion objectives like registration, subscription purchase completion, etc. Not only do these mobile onboarding best practices tactics make it easier for people to interact with your product, but if done correctly can also build trust between you and your audience over time.

  • 4. Gamification

    Gamification is an effective mobile onboarding best practice. It leverages the natural psychological desire for rewards and competition to increase user engagement in business applications. By making the onboarding process fun, intuitive, and rewarding through elements such as level-ups, leaderboards, or virtual goods used within a game environment - companies can not only drive adoption of their apps but also set up users with deeper insights into how they use these services on an ongoing basis. This encourages exploration and reinforces key product features that may have otherwise been skipped due to boredom or long setup times contributing towards better overall results from using these solutions.

  • 5. Visual Storytelling

    Visual storytelling is a robust mobile app onboarding best practice that captures users' attention and encourages engagement. This technique uses visuals such as images, animations, or videos to tell stories through more explicit user interfaces than traditional text-driven techniques. Graphical demos walk new users step by step through the essential features of an application during their first interactions, allowing them to quickly discover critical elements which will help simplify use in later stages.

    At its core, visual storytelling increases user comprehension and information processing, presenting complex topics in simple terms for quicker understanding, leading to more success with your product or service within the given time frame for exploring - creating higher retention rates along the way!

  • 6. Benefit-Oriented

    Let_s-make-your-mobile-app-onboarding-journey

    Mobile app onboarding is a process that helps users become familiar with the product, its features, and its functions. One of the best practices for mobile app onboarding is Benefit-Oriented (BO) flow which presents all key benefits in an easy to comprehend format. This BO approach includes keeping the text concise while also addressing essential topics such as 1) How experienced should you be with this particular type of application? 2) What are some valuable insights related to using it late in the day? 3). Why might customers find value in downloading it now rather than later?

    By showcasing these core points highlighted by interactive screens instead of walls full of unorganized words, white noise, or long user journeys — your potential audience will quickly understand what makes them use your product! When creating a successful BO Flow, make sure every screen provides usable tips & advice encouraging users to take smart actions more often without having prior experience within specific app fields. In conclusion, designing mobile app onboarding flows strategically based on understanding which elements connect beneficial experiences seamlessly together, resulting in smooth progression through each platform leading towards user engagement and satisfaction levels continuously growing over time.

  • 7. Permission-Based

    Onboarding best practices for mobile apps that focus on permission-based experiences are now in high demand. Permission-based marketing requires users to opt into pushes, messages, or grants app access before they can continue the journey of exploration within it. Ensuring users are not overwhelmed but rather respected when pairing their personal data with an application is key!

    This method ensures that apps respect user privacy while ensuring an engaging experience from start to finish — allowing them to get up and running quickly so they can enjoy all of its offerings in no time!

Conclusion For Onboarding Best Practices For Mobile App

Onboarding is crucial to any mobile app to ensure user engagement and retention. Creating an intuitive and straightforward onboarding experience that guides the user through critical features will help ensure success in reaching those goals.

Additionally, gathering user feedback is equally important as it provides valuable insights into the user experience. This information can be used to make necessary improvements and updates to enhance the app’s functionality and overall usability. It also gives users a voice, making them feel appreciated and heard by the developers.

In conclusion, implementing effective onboarding best practices and prioritizing user feedback are essential elements in creating a successful mobile app that meets the needs of its users.