Instructions:

A seamless onboarding experience is crucial for early adopters to engage with your product and drive long-term retention. This template helps founders structure and track the onboarding process, identify drop-off points, and refine their approach.

There are two types of onboarding:

1. Manual Onboarding: Best for high-touch products, B2B solutions, and early-stage validation with direct user interaction.
2. System & Product Onboarding: Best for scalable SaaS, consumer products, and self-serve models.

Use this guide to determine which onboarding method suits your product and track effectiveness across both.

🚀 Choosing the Right Onboarding Approach

• Do users require setup assistance? If yes → Manual Onboarding
• Does the product have complex workflows? If yes → Manual Onboarding
• Can users explore the product with minimal guidance? If yes → System Onboarding
• Are early adopters high-touch customers or general users? If high-touch → Manual Onboarding

Hybrid Approach: Some startups use a combination—manual onboarding for premium users and system onboarding for general users.

📌 Manual Onboarding Framework

This process involves direct user interaction and ensures personal guidance through the product.

1️⃣ User Mapping & Segmentation

2️⃣ Step-by-Step Onboarding Flow