Introduction

Introduction

Think back to the last time you discovered a software product when that incredible realization washed over you: life is never going to be the same again.
It felt like you just gained an exciting new superpower. Tasks that were once hard or tedious are now easier, cheaper, faster… better.
For me, this happened when I discovered Calendly for the first time, an app for scheduling meetings.
Gone were the days of checking my calendar multiple times to figure out when I’m available.
No more having to go back and forth with colleagues, clients, or podcast guests through email to decide on the best time for an appointment. 
No longer did I need to send three different availabilities or adjust my schedule to fit various time zones.
It’s... magic. 
When this struggle-to-superpower experience is seamless, it’s easy to feel an incredible sense of enchantment. When magic happens, it’s hard to revert to the way tasks used to get done. The relationship created with that product is set for life. When another comes along with newer, flashier, and sexier features, it’s not even an option. 
Unfortunately for most software products, this experience is anything but seamless. The signup, activation, and first-use workflows for new users are often afterthoughts to the “core” features of the software. The product roadmap normally takes priority. The product team is preoccupied with important deliverables, while the marketing and sales teams are consumed with acquiring more customers. 
Everyone is busy, so new users fall through the cracks.
But in a product-led world, user onboarding should take the lead. It’s usually the only aspect of a product that every single user will experience, including those who decide it isn’t right for them. Roll out the red carpet for first-time users. Give them the spotlight. Show them adoration. Let them know you care.
When a product’s onboarding is neglected, it’s like throwing a massive party with balloons, fireworks, and a bouncy castle in your backyard, yet no one can get past the front door. It’s a waste of time and resources for everyone involved:

• The product team may have spent days and hours planning and building the most exciting party in town.
• The marketing team may have spent ad dollars to promote it. 
• The sales team may have focused their time and energy on providing a customized party experience to everyone invited. 

The million-dollar question is: are you wasting the investment in the marketing, sales, and product teams with an experience that neglects the needs of first-time users?
Or are you honoring that investment with a seamless first product experience that turns their struggles into superpowers?
Get user onboarding right and new users will quickly experience the value of a product. In the end, they experience a “Eureka!” moment in the user onboarding experience. They embrace the product into their lives and become raving fans.
At ProductLed, we’ve worked with dozens of product-led companies like Mixpanel, Outsystems, and Snappa to improve their user onboarding experience. As a result, we’ve developed a simple, but effective framework that delivers an exceptional first impression. It ensures every new user experiences the true value of your product, shaping them to be happy customers for years to come. 
The backbone of this book is the six-step EUREKA framework. It draws on fields of growth marketing, UX design, customer psychology, and copywriting for a step-by-step approach to improve your own user onboarding experience. Included are real-life examples of how this framework has been applied to fast-growing companies. The strategies covered are relevant to anyone working to improve their user onboarding experience. It encompasses: 

1. Building a cross-functional onboarding team.
2. Identifying your onboarding success criteria.
3. Minimizing the time it takes for users to experience the value of a product.
4. Simplifying the signup process and designing the first product experience for new users.
5. Creating behavior-based onboarding emails, in-app messages, and additional communication methods.
6. Involving sales and high-touch support in the onboarding process. 

Whether you’re building an onboarding from scratch or looking to improve on a current one, my goal is for you to absorb and apply the strategies outlined in this book. By doing so, new users will thrive with your product and so will your company. They won’t just experience the Eureka moment of your product, they’ll become lifelong customers and raving fans of your product.