New release - Checklist to improve user onboarding

Today we’ve released a new feature that has come directly from customer feedback. Say Hello to the Checklist!

With the Checklist, highlight important tasks and give users an idea of what to do next. First-time users can see how to make the most of your application. Employees can get up to speed more quickly. Customers can see what new possibilities are available with a new release.

You can configure the checklist depending on how you want to use it. The Normal type shows all of the tasks, which users can complete in any order. With the Linear type, the next task becomes active after the previous task is completed. This means you can give users flexibility when you need to.

The progress indicator shows what percentage remains. Research shows that progress meters increase engagement rates, and users prefer to have progress indicators. Here are some ways you can use it to improve user response rates and adoption.

Use the Checklist to improve user onboarding completion rates and more

Many user onboarding tactics can be enhanced with the Checklist feature.

• Focus on benefits, not features. Show the list of tasks you need to complete to gain a specific benefit.
• Encourage profile completion. For social applications and services, guide users to complete their account profile or expand their network.
• Reduce friction in the initial configuration. In the past many services relied on 1:1 interaction to get users through the initial setup phase. Turn the first steps into self-service tasks with the Checklist.

User onboarding expert Samuel Hulick advises you should be selective in what you get people to do when onboarding. He said, “Onboarding tends to fail when you simply line up a bunch of stuff for people to do without knowing whether that stuff directly increases the chances they will find ongoing success.” What will bring your users to success?

Whether you’re helping onboard new users, train new employees, or support customer success, the Checklist can help your users stay focused on the goals. Here are some ideas.

Improve user onboarding completion rates

With the Checklist, define the onboarding flow for your new users with a clear the path to success. Collect the steps they need to get up and running into a User Onboarding Checklist.

Direct a new user’s attention to the highest-impact experiences right from the start. Don’t let them get lost in power features which only your advanced users require. Now is the chance to emphasise the key things which will directly lead them to success.

When you have the tasks and topics collected into the Checklist, you’ll know where they are in the process. Take this a step further, and you can review what users have completed with Analytics, and then you can target messages to your users based on what you know.

This would be an excellent way to use Red Flag metrics to get users unstuck. Alex Turnbull, the Founder and CEO of Groove, defined Red Flag metrics as indicators that show a customer is at risk of churning. By paying attention to Red Flag metrics, they reduced churn by 1.6%. You may find that customers who churn get snagged on a particular step in the onboarding journey. Prompt them with a message if they didn’t complete a task after X number of days.

Speed up employee onboarding with a training checklist

New hires are overloaded with many new systems to get familiar with and set-up tasks before they can even start to be productive. They may also get frustrated when they learn many procedures, and can’t recall them when they sit down to get to work.

Instead of relying on new employees checking back and forth with another digital onboarding system, give them a task list right there alongside your application. The obvious thing would be to use the Checklist to help them get familiar with your software or service. Why not also reinforce company policies in the checklist? For example, add a reminder about security procedures show them how to ensure their account is secure.

While a new hire is getting familiar with your systems, that ramping up time is costing you money. The more you can make your new team members self-sufficient, you’re improving productivity and their job satisfaction.

Bring larger milestones and goals into focus

One of the most important aspects of reducing churn is making sure your long time customers continue to gain value from your product or service. Sometimes the most valuable milestones in a customer’s journey might involve multiple processes. They may also need to wait before they can see the value and benefits you promise. Breaking these processes down into clear tasks gives your users a way to see progress taking place.

Instead of creating long walkthroughs with ten steps, break larger processes by grouping tasks into items on your Checklist. You can also add knowledge base articles to your checklists. For example, you can add an article that describes what is happening in the background while they wait to see the results of their efforts.

When you show them the Checklist of those steps along the way, you can build confidence that yes, you are guiding them to success.

How to use the Checklist

Enable the Beta Version to get an advance preview of features to come. Our gradual rollout process gives you a preview of the new features which improve your application’s user experience and help you guide users to success.

• Enable Beta Version to get access to this feature.
• Enable the Checklist.
• Configure it to be either normal or linear, to control what order users can complete the items.
• Mark which topics should appear in your checklist.

Find out how to use the Checklist feature.

Conclusion

When you apply User Onboarding best practices, you’ll start to see users finishing their tasks more quickly which gets them closer to success and satisfaction faster.

Keep your users focused on success with the Checklist. Whether they are first-time users, new hires, or returning customers, the Checklist will give them clear guidance about the most important tasks they can complete now.

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Add the Checklist to your user onboarding experience and see the impact within 14 days.