S01E03 - Date→Onboard→Love

During my devilish teens, a boy I was into, asked me out on a date. Well let's see,

• I was an excited 18-year-old;

• I was out on a date with someone, I'd barely spoken to;

• I was confused as to what was happening;

• I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be.

Needless to say, there wasn't a second date.

I wonder if there ever existed a scenario, where my date went well!

You see, no one gets a second chance to make that first impression. More often than not, the same principle applies to products.

Onboarding is to products; what a first date is to relationships. It can make it or break it!

How would you ask a user, on a product date?

Firstly, a huge thank you to UD for explaining onboarding during the second session of GrowthX Bootcamp. It takes a great teacher to get students excited about onboarding at 9 AM on a Sunday. So kudos!

Now, let's plan a date!

Find the right users

Would you date someone straight, if you weren't? I REALLY hope not.

While building a product, your relationship with your user is going to end before it begins, if you don't get the right customer.

It is imperative to know your user before you attempt to woo them.

Know your users

Before you go on a date, understand your partner's preferences.

Understanding the goals and instincts of your customer is half the job. At every step, you have to ask yourself if you're aligning well with their expectations.

Work with biases

Do you dress nicely for a date? Do you make sure you pick a nice restaurant? Do you notice the little things, to make your partner feel special? If you do, then you are working with the human biases.

There are 169 cognitive human biases and aligning your product with them prompts predictive behavior. Think about how often you chose something based on its aesthetic appeal or because it triggers a feeling of achievement or something as intangible.

It is in human nature to be biased and it is the job of the product to work with these biases.

Create that 'AHA!' moment

Each date has a determinant moment, which tells you whether there's going to be another date. Maybe it's something your partner said or an action. But there always is.

In products, we call this an 'AHA!' moment.

It is that one action that prompts your user to want to continue using your product. This moment has to align with your user's goals and show them how easy life can be with your product.

The 'AHA!' moment while using social media, is more subtle. You get this moment when a user realizes that social media has bridged the gap between him and the product. For search engines, it is the dawn of convenience and interaction with the interface.

There are a lot of examples of 'AHA!' moments in history. You just have to find yours! Don't dishearten yourself if you don't find it soon. Keep understanding your user and it will come in due time.

Track your progress

How do you know if a date is going well? Do you look for cues?

Products work in a similar manner. You can create the most enticing onboarding experience but it's inconsequential if the user doesn't like it.

Track user events and support each of your hypothesis with data. Constantly check and upgrade your onboarding process. Personalise your onboarding experience for various user segments.

Plan your next date!

Before you get started with designing an experience for your product, I would highly recommend you do an onboarding teardown of your favorite products.

Understand what works and what doesn't. Formulate hypothesis for improvements. Define metrics that can be tracked.

My top choices for this exercise are Duolingo, Around, and Spotify.

Once you are comfortable with the idea of onboarding, all that's left to do is design a date, ask your user out and wait for them to fall in love!

Thanks for reading! :)

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Hey! I am Rutvi.

Thanks for checking out The Startup life.

It’s my escape from the daily rut and I hope to become a better version of myself through writing.

I do product management at my day gig and writing by the night. Also, a Mumbai girl and marine drive is ♥️