Transcript: Ask the UXperts: The UX of Onboarding — with Dr Paul Sherman

The serious stuff first:
Dr. Paul Sherman has worked in user experience since the days of dial-up.

He conducts user research and user experience design for mobile, web and desktop in many domains, including accounting; banking; e-commerce; financial planning and portfolio management; healthcare; mobile gaming; mobile device hardware and software; network, server and cloud application security; tax preparation; and travel, among others.

He also creates and teaches graduate courses in user experience research and design at Kent State University, where is he is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the User Experience Design Master’s program.

@pjsherman Do you want to give us a bit of an intro to the topic?

Sure thing. Basically,

I would define onboarding as “The process of getting people to adopt your application or service.”

It might be fully on-screen, but more likely it’s a blend of channels and modalities.

How is onboarding process different from marketing and sales?

Onboarding is post-conversion. Post-sale. It’s the stuff that happens after the customer/user has committed.

*Or, committed an initial effort at least. Onboarding UX is the process of getting them from initial commitment to adoption.

(I am thanking my 9th grade typing teacher right now for teaching me home row)

:+1:

And questions are go…

I’m currently designing a basic onboarding process – and I’m wondering how to know what is best to include and not include. Obviously you don’t want to have to tell them every feature of the app – but how do you decide?

woo!

Paul, when does onboarding start and end (does it still apply to customers who have been with you for awhile but aren’t necessarily utilising your product well?)

@holliedoar TESTING! And also focusing on the critical few things that solve a user’s problem.

What have you found users respond to the most? re: copy, images, animations

@zheng Actually I think it can continue almost indefinitely, and it definitely applies to new releases and features. If any of you use Trello…have

you seen Taco pop his cute little head up to announce new features?

That’s continuing onboarding.

love taco

By the way that’s a good pattern. Giant release notes belong in the dustbin of UX history.

are we talking onboarding features or process?

Taco is just like a modern day paperclip guy

OK I think I have the rhythm down… go to @hawk DM with me, copy the entire q, then answer.

@ryanhoffman : What have you found users respond to the most?
I can tell you what they DON’T respond to.. something like this:

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

That’s “modal stepped tutorial”

Not many advantages.

People won’t remember.

And they just want to try the thing.

Asking people to remember things in advance :-1:

More on @ryanhoffman q: they respond to interaction, and learning while doing.

Ugh, as a user I hate those things

What do you think about the one that “locks out” everything but the feature that the onboarding step is explaining? Do you think of those as some sort of modal as well?

There are other patterns, like first-run callouts.

But the problem with those is, how do you review them?

If you’ve recently joined us, jump in with questions at any point – I’ll queue them for Paul

If you want to see them again?

Some products have solved that. Here’s a pic of http://proto.io’s main screen after first run….

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

They’ve included nav to get back to the first-run content! Good pattern.

How do we create onboarding for a wider range of users— including those that want handholding and upfront instructions, without irritating the less patient digital natives?

@jorge : What do you think about the one that “locks out” everything but the feature that the onboarding step is explaining? Do you think of those as some sort of modal as well?

They’re good b/c from a perception pov, they focus your attention. For a while at least.

But if you’re going to do that, best keep it to the top 2-3 things.

And like http://proto.io, let people take the lesson again.

Here’s an onboarding blast from the past, for you old UX’ers like me…

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

That’s the paperclip guy I was talking about. I forgot his real name.

Clippy?

Yes!

Yes clippy

Jeez clippy was annoying…lol

I think there was a UX method/term for that… like discretionary information or something where you limit info so more advanced users can cruise through apps

I’d like a “Write the whole letter for me” option

Most did hate him.

such a debonair office product.

@srvcook : How do we create onboarding for a wider range of users— including those that want handholding and upfront instructions, without irritating the less patient digital natives?

From the testing I’ve done, almost all people benefit from the learn while doing approach. DN’s will do one short one. Others will do more if you let them. So give them a choice.

Like from Starship Troopers: “Would you like to learn more?”

Clippy and his friends (like the Wizard or the red bouncing ball) were good for a bit, but mostly were irritating to -always- pop up in the middle of something.

Slippy’s interpretation intelligence wasnt good…context intelligence is everything

Hi Paul I’m not stalking you I promise

*Clippys, soz

But for some reason chatbots are making a return… @pjsherman do you think chatbots can make a good case for improving UX in it’s current evolution?

@felesiauxd Restraining order time! :stuck_out_tongue:

can A chat bot record and learn cognitively..can a bot read what youve done so far an provide intelligent options for you..thats the question

IMO

@alex.lee It depends on the amount of AI horsepower they could provide. But your idea has me thinking… what if you could just invoke a help mode, point to an element, and while in that mode you could see what you could do from that point?

AI and VR machines like Alexa and Watson are coming back with popularity

It wouldn’t work with all workflows and UI’s, but definitely some.

Yeah agreed re: popping up in the middle of things. It’s the interruption that is challenging, begging the question how do you balance making notifications and help visible and accessible, with potential notification blindness and interruptions… ?

@pjsherman: my thoughts exactly. I’m building an app right now with that in mind

I’m going to look up the clippy from hell..brb

User needs the option to invoke chat help..if needed

Let’s talk about him while he’s gone

Got it…

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

What about Max Headroom from the 80s?

Hahahaha. That’s unbelievable!

@hawk we can talk about him while he’s here :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

True that

Is anybody thinking of using gamification or social comparison cues to facilitate onboarding?

Simple processes, that can turn difficult, like Booking a flight, then changing can benefit from chatbot

“what if you could just invoke a help mode, point to an element, and while in that mode you could see what you could do from that point?” <- Like InVision and such “pulses” for links and such, but for info?

@davidbaird Agree. No need to cut over to call center. The problem scope is known at that point.

social comparison cues?

@jorge Oooh I want to see those examples. I haven’t installed InVision. Too busy learning Flinto

@holliedoar Yes. Let me grab an example.

@jorge a pulse link?

OK so check out Stack UX’s screen when you join:

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

You do the things (the onboarding activities that are designed to get you engaged), and then you get a nice reward!

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

And you are DA MAN (or DA WOMAN)

@davidbaird @pjsherman most like a light flash to show points of interest. Trying to find a screenshot/video to demonstrate.

love a good reward. i am a sucker for stars and rainbows.

In psych we call them “pellets”.

How can we cater to different user types ( when a single product might be used by a product manager, a developer, CTO or customer success etc) during onboarding? And they might all have a different use case.

What are mobile apps that have the best on boarding experience in your opinion?

As in the food reward you give the mouse in a lab experiment

It helps people feel less stupid for asking obvious questions

“There are no silly questions, except ones there are not asked”

@ jorge thanks…Im wary of flashy thing in the UI..:)

@amirasallam There are way too many! All I have is a few examples based on research I’ve done, but not thesis-level comprehensive.

@zheng once I set different landing pages/first-load-screens depending on the “user role” they had. Where they had access to their different features.

Which popular app has terrible on boarding experience?

@zheng How can we cater to different user types ( when a single product might be used by a product manager, a developer, CTO or customer success etc) during onboarding?

– So, if you have personas, and you know what features these diff types are likely to use, you could ask them who they identify as.

Then it’s a “choose your own adventure” type of onboarding.

It’s more expensive in terms of design and dev time.

But it’ll prob pay off in the long run.

(I wish we had theme music for Slack. Somebody submit a feature request.)

8:30] @alex.lee Which popular app has terrible on boarding experience?

LINKEDIN – argggggghhhhhhh

I reckon you could make a little ditty out of that sound it makes when you get a message

First it asks you to be a viral vector and spam your friends.

Then when you don’t, it just does it for you. Over and over again.

And then it keeps on annoying you.

Then it starts – yes!

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

After you’re done with that, you set your mail and name… and then again spam your friends.

hahahahaaha

LinkedIn makes me so cross

And then people that aren’t your friends but once emailed you.

This is my continuing experience with LI. A bunch of badges and banners all fighting for attention.

Same

Yes!

Q: How much do fun animations improve onboarding success? Does it keep peoples’ attention more?

@mel Used with caution, I think it’s effective.

Examples: Taco peeking his head up on Trello.

@mel that idea has merit, done sparingly. A ‘wiggle’ on a icon

LI: And then you follow their prompts to update your profile, and it spams your friends for you (and tips off your colleagues of your attempts to look for a new gig)

And Slack actually has a non-animated little “present with a bow” icon that announces new features.

Here’s a dump of my gamification def:
Gamification and social comparison trigger people’s desire to complete a process and earn achievements.

Both can be effective, but also expensive to implement.

Badges can be annoying. I don’t care if you want to badge me, I want to do x,y,z.

Here’s an example of social facilitation (diff than social comparison)

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

What is the line between providing too much information upfront and losing user interest because they aren’t yet invested and are learning while doing? How frequent should that interaction be?

The issue with gamification that I’ve found is that everyone “outside” the environment (like sales/CTOs/etc) want to have it, and they believe that with PBL (Points, Badges and Leaderboards) splattered all over it’s enough.
So we end up with awful gamified experiences.

In turbotax, they’ve looked at the data and surfaced top questions as a means of onboarding new users. (And they’ve provided easy access to live peer or expert help)

@jorge Agree. Done sparingly and well, it harnesses people’s desire to complete a process.

Achievement Unlocked *Get a 3 replies from the UXpert*

Oh I just realized, one GREAT example of learn by doing is the InVision samples!

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

Yep I agree

They’ve got sample projects for you to play with. I grabbed this about 6-8 months ago.

You can’t break anything, and if I remember correctly there’s some contextual help along the way.

What would you say are your top 3 tips to improve UX onboarding process for your typical inhouse UXer?

New q:
How important are micro-interactions to on-boarding? What are some good examples? I recently saw a demo for the FitBit app on-boarding, and liked it. It seemed engaging but not overdone. What are some bad examples?

– MI’s are very important.

Here’s one from Gmail.

Is the concept of a “wizard” tool dead? (looking to get this on record)

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

I started selecting multiple items.
It recognized this and offered information.

You can’t see the MI, but there was definitely a transition.

@srvcook What is the line between providing too much information upfront and losing user interest because they aren’t yet invested and are learning while doing? How frequent should that interaction be?

This is a question for testing and iteration.

So this is about on-boarding of any type, shape or form?

Here’s an example of a too-long process that I would run away from:

Medium on mobile..

@rgirando Yup!

@pjsherman uploaded a file: Click to see image

OK, step one, not so bad…

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Uhhhh, okayyyy….

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Fucking hell, Medium! Stop it!

have to step out now…Ill check the transcript later. thx all.

I need to refill this whisky glass… 30 secs

@davidbaird Later. Thanks for joining us. :slightly_smiling_face:

OK back.

I lied I went for the scotch.

it would be funny if we had all gone. wish we thought of it.

I can’t find a good enough drink emoji but yes

@jorge uploaded a file: Click to see image and commented: The “info mode” to tap and know what’s what. On some pattern libraries are called “Coach Marks”

Good UX = Hard Liquor

@jorge yes. Implementation-wise, you would get different outcomes I’m guessing if you forced-marched people through a series in order – which is basically a wizard – vs. presenting it the way it is in the screenshot and let people explore.

where’s the info mode button/icon?

Would love to test the implementation differences.

I y’all want, I can drop my onboarding listicle into here. And I’ll provide a link to the onboarding talk I did at UX Singapore. I’m pulling a lot of the examples from there.

has joined #ask-the-uxperts

Oh yeah! If you ever do those tests let me know. It would be awesome.
I’ve always felt that if you force the tutorials some users would get annoyed.

Here’s my “10 Onboarding Principles” listicle. In the preso I have examples for each.

1. Present a clear value proposition.
2. Engage emotional and aspirational motivations.
3. Doing is better than showing or telling.
4. Minimize friction and barriers.
5. Stock the shelves. Avoid the empty store.
6. Don’t ask for a commitment before the user is ready.
7. Leverage social comparison and gamification. But don’t be cheesy.
8. Support learning and mastery at the point of need.
9. Share content via different channels to encourage engagement.
10. Measure and test!

Both positive and negative

#6 forever

@srvcook pinned a message to this channel.

BTW I should mention the alternate channel methods. Your marketing teams know all about this stuff…
– Welcome email
– Getting started email
– Here’s how others are successfully using it email
– Join our community email
– Etc etc.

What do you think of applications like “walk me?”

And of course you point them to the Youtube / Vimeo channels

@felesiauxd I actually haven’t played with it! You know what I’m doing tomorrow now.

Hey here’s a great out-of-product example of lowering perceived cost of adoption…

@pjsherman: we lost that battle at work

We have ~5 mins left in the session. Have we missed any questions?

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Ok, last call for questions before we cut Paul and his scotch loose

Hahaha. I have to head out – thanks @pjsherman & @hawk, and everyone for the interesting questions

All, here’s the onboarding preso. It’s Keynote, so the videos will play.

If you want the pdf, ping me and I’ll send.