Today, I want to discuss the topic of onboarding and activation, sharing an example that I recently found both illuminating and potentially beneficial to others. In one of the companies I work with, we’ve been grappling with identifying the core elements of our product that need to be introduced to new users. While we have successfully introduced a few key features to new users, a new value proposition recently emerged, which seemed essential to be included in the onboarding flow to ensure that users recognized it as a fundamental part of the product. To our surprise, despite the value of this new proposition, many of our metrics declined after we incorporated it into the onboarding process. This outcome highlighted several critical points that I would like to discuss.
One of the new value propositions was a program comprising multiple elements, not all of which were relevant to new users. We failed to isolate these disparate components and present the appropriate parts of the program at the right time, corresponding to the new user’s level of awareness. To better explain this, I used an analogy: when it comes to the key elements, we need to use a cartoon-sized hammer to make things painfully obvious to new users. If we fail to do that, it is less likely that they will remember and properly learn the information. However, even if we manage to employ this approach and make clear the essentials, we might still encounter issues if we try to hit users with too many hammers in succession.
In another analogy drawn from 'Married with Children,' a references that dates me a little too well, there's a quote: 'If you pour a gallon of knowledge into a shot glass-sized brain, something will spill.' New users often have 'shot glass-sized brains,' which means they can only absorb a limited amount of information at a time. By overwhelming them with too much data, we risk them retaining even less. Therefore, it is imperative to carefully consider the amount of information we present and prioritize the most crucial elements to effectively fill their 'shot glass,' maximizing activation without overwhelming them.
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