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SaaS onboarding reviews

We believe the best way to learn how to improve your onboarding is to sign up for your own product.

Below we share onboarding reviews of top SaaS providers to give inspiration for what to do, and not to do.

Salesforce

In the first video of the series Userflow co-founder Esben Friis-Jensen reviews the free trial onboarding of the popular CRM Salesforce.

Align messaging
Messaging on the website and onboarding should be aligned and use words the customer would use.
Checklists and self-help guides
Checklists and self-help widgets can be a great way to onboard new users on their own time.
Avoid information overload
Showing a lot of data and popups on the initial login can confuse and overload the user with information.

HubSpot

In this onboarding review we take a closer look at HubSpots onboarding experience. HubSpot provides a CRM, Marketing automation and much more. They were one of the PLG pioneers, so a lot can be done self-service.

Ask, but not too much
Ask questions to better understand your user, but be careful with asking too many questions and keep the UI for asking clean and simple.
Onboarding hub
For larger products with many features like HubSpot, having a structured onboarding hub with checklists works well.
Action-based guides to Aha
Flows that guides the user to do something and reach a key Aha moment is more engaging than next, next, next guides.

Jira

Jira is a popular issue tracking and software development tool. They are also known for having grown through a strong Product-led motion. In this video we take a closer look at their onboarding.

Product and pricing on website
Screenshots of the product and transparent pricing on the public website gives the user a great idea about the product and its features.
Cut unnecessary steps
Review if all steps are necessary in the initial onboarding, or just adds friction. E.g. questions about upgrades could be parked.
Quickstart checklist
a minimizable quickstart or checklist works great for self-service onboarding. But make sure the tasks drive to Aha moments/Achievements.

Shopify

Shopify is a successful platform allowing small (and larger) businesses to build a strong ecommerce setup and much more. Given their audience scale they have a strong product-led motion. In this video we review their onboarding.

Simple UI/UX
A simple UI/UX for the website and app, makes it a lot easier for the customer to understand the product.
Action-based checklist
An action-based checklist that helps the user both set up a main thing and drives to Aha is powerful.
Relevant prompts
Prompts can be annoying. But mostly if they are irrelevant. Having a single relevant prompt can be valuable.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a popular SaaS platform for customer support and has also over time added additional products like a CRM. In this video we take a closer look at their product-led onboarding experience.

Website demo
A website demo can be great for showing the product before a user does the free trial. But make sure it leads to Aha.
Don't ask for info before value
Asking for email/contact info to see a simple website demo can scare away users who just want an initial idea of the values of your product.
Simplify the complex
If you have a complex product, simplify by asking about use case and making a structured self-serve checklist.

Stripe

Stripe is a successful payment processing SaaS. They are known for their beautiful design and developer friendly product. In this video We dive into their onboarding.

Attract your ideal customer
Focus the website on your key Ideal customer profile. Stripe e.g. has a specific main page for developers.
Show value as quick as possible
Even in complex products, it is great to show off some initial easy to see Aha moment.
Build onboarding that fits use case
Ask your user about key use case to better tailor the onboarding the invidual users needs.

Figma

Figma is a very popular SaaS tool for designers. They are known to have grown quickly through their freemium model. In this video we look closer at their onboarding.

Align the website with the product
Align the design of the website with the product experience to create a seamless experience.
Keep it simple, but not too simple
A nice blank landing page is beautiful, but can also be too much of a blank slate.
Avoid next, next, next tours
Next, next, next tours are not very engaging. Instead drive the user to do something and get to Aha.

Miro

Miro is admired for their product-led onboarding. In this review we dive into it, to see if they live up to the expectations from our perspective.

Show the product on website
Actual product screenshots and illustrations are great for showcasing the product.
Identify the user and use it
Asking about role and use case in the onboarding is great for creating personalized onboarding.
Drive to the right Aha
Make sure to drive the user to relevant Aha moments. Often driving creation is better than explanation.

Quickbooks

Quickbooks is one of the most used accounting tools in the US. This onboarding review takes a closer look at their onboarding.

Free trial/Freemium as CTA
Make the CTA your free trial or freemium, so users can experience the value before buying.
Avoid info overload
A free trial or demo with too much demo data, and no guidance will create more confusion.
Remove unecessary friction
Asking for a phone number, credit card and similar before a user has tried the product creates friction.

Special Edition: Userflow

All SaaS businesses should review their own onboarding on a regular basis. In this special edition of the SaaS onbboarding reviews, we do exactly that by taking a closer look at Userflows own onboarding.

Drive to first Aha quickly
Drive the user to reach their first aha moment quickly, by guiding them to create/do something real.
Effective empty states
Use empty states to provide information and attract the user to use a certain feature.
Hotspots
Using hotspots with a tooltip to give information about the product is an effective and subtle way to onboard.