I’m a product planner for a SaaS company, primarily responsible for foundational services in our product, including account permissions, tenant platforms, and login flow design. These modules are relatively straightforward compared to business modules and are important, though not core, features in our MVP.
Recently, due to a shift in work assignments, I received a new task: to design the MVP’s onboarding journey for new users. As the name suggests, the new user onboarding journey provides guidance to help new users start using the system efficiently and conveys the product's value.
In this article, I’ll explain the key concepts related to new user onboarding design, share mainstream SaaS approaches to onboarding, and provide three core principles for designing a new user onboarding journey.
From New User Journey to SaaS Onboarding
Initially, I was intrigued by the “new user journey” task. In my understanding, an MVP is a “minimum viable product,” and a product could technically be used without any new user journey. I searched for “new user journey for SaaS products” across various product websites and found limited discussions. Another keyword emerged in my research: SaaS Onboarding. Unlike “new user journey,” which only addresses helping new users get started, SaaS Onboarding is a broader concept.
If our goal is to drive sustained user subscription, then onboarding should be approached as part of the entire user journey—from SEO to login, from the first purchase to ongoing payments. The first step, then, is to define your “user”—who is your user?
Thinking more deeply, I realized that defining users isn’t simple. Users can be profiled by industry and company size (e.g., a healthcare company’s CTO at a 50-employee company) or observed as individual actors (e.g., the first person to log in, the second login session). When looking at the overall user lifecycle, there are unpurchased users, trial users awaiting activation, paid users, and each type can be further segmented. Product changes—whether a new feature or a minor update—provide touchpoints for user engagement. For example, “first-time users of X feature.”
In summary, SaaS onboarding should aim to assist users throughout the product lifecycle and across all product iterations, enhancing their understanding of the product's value. Using only simplistic pop-ups or walkthroughs often won’t cover the diversity of user scenarios, moving further from the original design intent.
How Are Competitors Handling It?
As a product manager for a SaaS in the IT Service Management (ITSM) field, I analyzed onboarding approaches in this sector and in collaborative applications.
Here are some common methods:
- Interface Guide: This approach leverages front-end effects for step-by-step guidance.
- Video Guide: Recorded tutorials embedded directly in the product interface.
- Competitor Findings: During competitor research, I noticed many videos failed to load.
- Consideration for Design: Ensure links within videos lead directly to actionable pages so users can follow along.
- Support Guide: A personalized 1:1 onboarding service provided by the product team.
Below are four popular onboarding design methods in the market:
- Comprehensive Onboarding Module
Freshservice (an ITSM SaaS) provides a complete onboarding module for core features, like event management, with a clear breakdown of steps and time. The onboarding entry is easily accessible in the top menu and includes tooltips for complex features, like queue management, displayed in a sidebar for immediate access. - Simulated Environment
Lightstep (cloud monitoring SaaS) created a sandbox environment for its core “Sandbox” feature. Users explore pre-made data scenarios step-by-step, allowing them to understand the feature's value. There’s also a helpful hint function. - Preloaded Data
Salesforce (CRM SaaS) offers abundant sample data to help users understand functionality without creating data. Sample data is labeled for easy distinction from user-created data. - Video and Embedded Guide
TAPD (project management SaaS) uses embedded video guides, though I found some playback issues. Embedded guidance works well for products that can introduce themselves through internal functions, requiring minimal development cost. Based on these cases, onboarding journeys differ significantly across products. Below, I’ll share ideas for designing a new user onboarding for an MVP product.
Designing New User Onboarding for an MVP Product
Principle 1: Simplicity
Remember the MVP’s primary purpose—to validate the business model and product. For an MVP, the onboarding journey should be simple, if not omitted altogether. In my view, designing an elaborate interactive onboarding journey at this stage may not align with the principles of incremental iteration. Focus on highlighting the most valuable functions, perhaps through a simple pop-up or interaction.
Principle 2: Closed Loop
Users may not follow the onboarding journey as designed, but any engagement, even partial, is a success. Therefore, creating a closed-loop experience is essential. For example, if the homepage has a pop-up guide, allow users to minimize it. Providing default data during the initial product experience also allows users to complete a product workflow at their own pace.
Principle 3: Leveraging Product Strengths
TAPD cleverly integrates its onboarding with the collaboration board, exemplifying a self-guided onboarding within the product. This approach minimizes additional design costs and reduces disruption to the user experience. Products like Flomo and Notion also leverage this technique.
Challenges in New User Journey Design:
- Trial vs. Full Version Differences
Where does onboarding apply? Should sample data in the trial version be retained in the paid version? Do we need a separate onboarding for the full version? - Demonstrating Features or Value
When using embedded guidance, should it highlight feature use or demonstrate product value? Deciding where value-based content goes (e.g., on a landing page) and focusing feature explanations on the product’s internal guidance section can provide clarity.
Conclusion
After researching user onboarding design, I found a systematic approach works best for building SaaS onboarding. It's not just about guidance but also includes help centers, message centers, product documentation, and contact options. The main goal is simple: How can you help new users, particularly those who just subscribed, get familiar with your product within the first month and see real value?
One idea is to design important guidance scenes as configurable triggers (time + preconditions + actions) to create tailored user experiences. For example, upon sending a first alert, an explanatory message could appear to guide users. Subtle, lightweight tips like new feature tags, blinking icons, and animations can help aggregate detailed content in the help center and product documentation while subtly guiding users.
The key question isn't just how to design a new user onboarding journey but why. By answering this, and identifying your product’s core functions, you can design an MVP onboarding journey that meets both company and user needs.
