Mobile App Onboarding: Why is it So Important

Mobile app onboarding marks the initial interaction between users and the mobile application, making it a pivotal step for improving user experience. It stands as a crucial phase within the journey of a mobile app, serving as the initial touchpoint for users and holding significant importance. Ensuring a seamless and concise onboarding process is imperative to deliver an enhanced user experience.

What is Mobile App Onboarding?

Mobile app onboarding serves as the users’ introduction to your application. It employs videos, a series of screens, or pop-ups to lead users through the mobile app’s interface, providing guidance. The primary objective of mobile app onboarding is to demonstrate the genuine value of the mobile app’s capabilities and to onboard new users. Unfortunately, this critical aspect is frequently underestimated or executed inadequately, resulting in subpar user experiences and, ultimately, prompting users to abandon the mobile app.

The Importance of Mobile App Onboarding

As the shift towards mobile commerce continues, the popularity of mobile apps is rapidly growing. With downloading from mobile app stores becoming increasingly convenient, quick, and user-friendly, the need for effective mobile app onboarding has never been more crucial.

How Mobile App Onboarding Enhances User Experience

Mobile app onboarding serves several essential purposes, helping users to:

Effortless Setup

Users can set up the mobile app either by entering login details (if needed) or completing a registration process.

Understanding App Value

Users gain insights into the mobile app’s purpose, how it benefits them, and receive tips on navigation and usage.

Tailored Experience

The mobile app can customize the user experience by utilising data gathered from user interactions.

Given that mobile app onboarding serves as the initial touchpoint for users when they interact with your app, ensuring it is efficient plays a crucial role in retaining users and keeping them engaged with the mobile app.

Types of Mobile App Onboarding

While numerous types of mobile app onboarding exist, the most prevalent ones encompass the showcasing of benefits, the introduction of functionality, and the progressive onboarding approach.

• Benefits-Oriented Onboarding

Benefits-oriented onboarding is a process that emphasises the unique features and advantages of the mobile app. It informs users how the mobile app can aid them in accomplishing tasks more effectively. This approach enhances the conversion rate by motivating users to actively engage with the mobile application. The primary focus of this onboarding is to showcase the mobile app’s features and encourage user adoption by highlighting its functionalities.

• Feature-Focused Onboarding

Function-oriented onboarding demonstrates the core features of the mobile app, providing users with a comprehensive understanding of its capabilities and how these features contribute to task accomplishment. This approach may include a demo video showcasing the mobile app’s user interface functionality.

• Gradual Onboarding

Progressive onboarding assists users in understanding the more intricate aspects of the mobile application. It offers users a step-by-step tutorial of the mobile app’s functionalities.

Best Practices for Successful Mobile App Onboarding

Having already emphasised the importance of mobile app onboarding for user retention in this article, let’s take a look into the effective strategies to achieve positive results. Here are the top strategies to consider:

1. Focus On Your Mobile App Value

Highlighting your mobile app’s features creates awareness about your unique offerings, leading to improved conversion rates. This approach stands as one of the most effective and top methods for self-promotion. Rather than directly listing the app’s features, it’s essential to convey the mobile app’s value to users. Helping users recognize the value your mobile app brings to their business will convincingly encourage them to adopt it. Successfully explaining how your mobile app aids users in achieving their goals significantly increases the likelihood of mobile app installation. Thus, recognising and communicating your mobile app’s value proposition serves as a compelling way to attract potential users.

2. Ask Relevant Information

When users register for your mobile app, request only relevant information tailored to their business needs. For example, if your mobile app is an online store, asking users about their driving license might be unnecessary. Asking too many questions or gathering unnecessary details could lead to users abandoning your mobile app.

3. Keep Mobile App Onboarding Screens Concise

Enhance the clarity and user-friendliness of your mobile app onboarding screens. Avoid overwhelming users with a lengthy and cumbersome onboarding process, as it could result in the loss of potential customers. If your mobile app’s features or functionality require a detailed explanation, employ innovative and engaging methods to convey the information. Utilise visuals such as screenshots, images, and other graphical elements to communicate instead of relying on extensive text explanations, ensuring a more engaging experience for mobile app users.

4. Employ Permission Requests for Feature Access

Requesting user permission before accessing device features such as phone books is a fundamental aspect of ethical mobile app behavior. By seeking permission before utilising any device feature, you foster a sense of trust among users. Typically, mobile app users are more inclined to agree when asked for permission to use these features.

5. Showcasing Mobile App Previews

The signup process can be perceived as tedious by some mobile app users. To enhance user engagement, consider providing access to select mobile app features before the signup procedure. For instance, allow users to browse the product catalog before requiring signup. This way, you pique their interest, and when they want to explore further, you can prompt them to sign up.

Conclusion

The mobile app onboarding process serves as the initial point of contact for users with your mobile app. To create a favourable first impression, crafting a compelling mobile app onboarding experience is crucial. Show the value of your mobile app to users, demonstrate how it can help them in achieving their goals. Initiating with a remarkable mobile app and a well-designed onboarding process can significantly enhance your online business.

Get started with an E-commerce Mobile App

If you’re an E-commerce business without a mobile application, now is the perfect time to build one with StarTrick. In just 45 days, you can create a mobile app to send push notifications, run targeted campaigns, and increase customer retention with loyalty strategies, such as loyalty points, reward systems and many more. Start building your app today with StarTrick and take the first step towards effective customer engagement.

Interested in taking the next step for your business with a mobile app? Our mobile app development experts at Startrick have years of experience in mobile app development, design, deploying, and migration needs to increase the visibility of your brand. We’d love to hear about your ideas and help transform your project into a reality.

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