# Design Onboarding Flow

> Design a user onboarding flow that gets new users to the activation moment as quickly as possible. Use this skill when onboarding is too long, confusing, or failing to deliver early value.

- Skill: `alexe-ev/design-onboarding-flow` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add alexe-ev/design-onboarding-flow`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/alexe-ev/design-onboarding-flow/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: alexe-ev (https://skillmd.com/u/alexe-ev)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/alexe-ev/design-onboarding-flow

---


# Design Onboarding Flow

## Purpose
Help teams design or improve user onboarding flows that minimize time-to-value, reduce early churn, and establish habits that drive long-term retention.

## Skill type
Conceptual skill

## Use this skill when
- New user activation rates are low
- Users sign up but don't complete onboarding
- Onboarding takes too long or asks users for too much upfront
- A new product or feature needs an onboarding experience designed from scratch

## Do not use this skill when
- The activation metric itself hasn't been defined (define it first with design-product-metrics)
- The goal is lifecycle engagement after activation (use plan-lifecycle-engagement)

## Required inputs
- Product description and target user
- Activation event (what does it mean for a user to have experienced core value?)
- Current onboarding steps (if any)

## Optional inputs
- Drop-off data by onboarding step
- User research on early confusion or friction
- Competitive onboarding benchmarks
- Time-to-activation data

## Upstream context
Works best when:
- Activation metric is defined
- Acquisition funnel is mapped
- User journey is understood

## Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- optimize-conversion-growth-loops (onboarding redesign → test via experiment)
- plan-lifecycle-engagement (post-activation engagement begins where onboarding ends)
- run-usability-testing (new onboarding flow → usability test)

## Instructions
1. Define the activation moment: what specific action signals the user has experienced core value?
2. Map the critical path: minimum steps needed to reach activation.
3. Identify steps that can be deferred until after activation.
4. Design the onboarding sequence: welcome → context → first key action → value delivery → next step.
5. Identify personalization opportunities (role, use case, goal).
6. Design empty states and progressive disclosure.
7. Plan follow-up touchpoints (email, in-app) for users who don't activate in session 1.

## Output
Provide:
- Activation event definition
- Critical path to activation (minimum steps)
- Steps to defer post-activation
- Onboarding flow structure with rationale per step
- Personalization hooks
- Empty state design guidance
- Follow-up touchpoint plan
- Success criteria for the new onboarding

## Risks / caveats
- Asking for information before delivering value kills activation — defer data collection
- Onboarding length is not the only problem — wrong job framing kills retention even with short flows
- Test onboarding with real new users, not internal team members who already know the product