User Onboarding - How a Little Friction Can Boost Your Product’s Success!!!
Striking the Right Balance Between Easy Sign-Ups and Truly Engaged Users. How much frictionLess is too much frictionLess?
The Onboarding Dilemma
Imagine you’ve just signed up for a new app or service. Maybe it’s a project management tool, a workout app, or something to help with your finances. Before you can start using it, you often have to go through a process called “onboarding.” This is basically the set of steps that guide you into the app for the first time—things like creating an account, confirming your email, and sometimes learning how the app works.
The main question we want to explore today is, ‘Should we keep the onboarding process super short and easy, or should we add a bit of “intentional friction”—like a couple of quick questions or a short intro—to understand who our users are?
What the Conventional Wisdom says about Frictionless Onboarding?
Immediate Access and Reduced Drop-Off
A lot of companies believe that making it super easy to sign up will keep people from bailing out before they even see what the product does. It’s based on the idea that every extra step—like creating a detailed profile or answering questions—gives users another chance to think “Hmm, this is too much work,” and leave.
That’s why many startups and product teams push for “frictionless onboarding.” They want to lower the chance of losing potential users, hoping that once these folks get a quick look at the product, they’ll stick around.
Fast Path to the ‘Aha’ Moment
Another argument for frictionless onboarding is the idea of getting users to the “aha” moment as quickly as possible. This is when a new user experiences the product’s main benefit.
The theory is: the sooner a user experiences that “aha” feeling, the more likely they are to keep using your product. Removing any steps that delay this moment seems logical. Why force users to fill in forms or watch a tutorial if you can get them to try the product right away?
Why this doesn’t work today?
People assume that making sign-up as easy as possible is always the right call. But when we cut out all the steps and questions, we can run into some big problems. Let’s look at a few of the hidden costs that come with removing too much friction during onboarding.
1. Lack of User Insight
When you don’t gather any information about new sign-ups, you’re basically flying blind. You won’t know:
Who’s joining
Why they’re interested
What they want to achieve
That means if they disappear after a few days, you have no idea why.
Are they casual visitors who weren’t really serious?
Did they expect something different?
Without answers to these questions, you can’t spot patterns or fix issues that might be chasing away valuable users. Plus, it’s harder to personalize or improve the product if you don’t know who’s using it.
Sure, you get more sign-ups when there’s no barrier at all. But if a big chunk of those people are just kicking the tires.
2. Context Deficit
Another problem with frictionless onboarding is that new users land in your product completely clueless. Without a quick intro or a small set of questions to guide them, many people won’t know how your app fits their goals. They might not even understand the main features or how to get started.
If you’re building a simple, familiar tool (like a basic note-taking app), then they don’t need much help. But if your product solves a more complex problem—think about project management, financial tracking, or specialized business tools—most folks appreciate some direction up front. Even a short explanation will mean the difference between a user going “Oh, I get it!” or just shrugging and leaving.
A small amount of onboarding friction—like a brief tutorial or a question about their main goal—will save them from confusion and lead to better first impressions.
3. Attracting “Tourists”
Let’s talk about those “tourists.” These are people who sign up purely out of curiosity but don’t have a real need or intention to use your product. Now, sometimes curiosity is good—you convert a few wanderers into loyal users. But a lot of times, these folks sign up, look around for a second, then leave forever.
If your onboarding has no friction, you’ll end up with more tourists in your user base. That will muddle your data and make it look like your product isn’t sticky, when in reality, many of those sign-ups never really intended to use it in the first place. By asking a couple of simple questions upfront, you’re giving people a quick “effort check.” If they aren’t willing to spend 30 seconds telling you why they’re here, they’re not serious.
Yes, you lose some sign-ups by asking questions. But a lot of those people were never going to stay anyway.
4. Lower Quality Activation
If your onboarding is too bare-bones, you risk having a bunch of new sign-ups who don’t even know what that key action (aha action) is or why it matters. They end up poking around, getting confused, and leaving without ever experiencing the real benefits.
A frictionless path might mean they click “Sign up” and land directly on the dashboard, but with no context or guidance. That’s never helpful—especially if your product has multiple features or requires some setup. By adding a few guided steps, you point new users straight to the features they need most, increasing the odds that they reach a real “aha!” moment.
The trade off is that You lose the bragging rights of a “10-second sign-up,” but you gain a user who actually sees what your tool can do. Most people are happy to spend an extra minute or two if it means they’ll feel confident using your product from the start.
The point is…
Going totally frictionless might sound great at first—after all, who wouldn’t want to attract more users? But if those users are confused, uncommitted, or mismatched for what you’re offering, you’re not doing anyone a favor. In many cases, a small amount of well-thought-out friction will help people understand your product faster, weed out low-intent visitors, and give you the data you need to improve and personalize the experience for everyone else.
The Case for a Little Intentional Friction
So, we’ve talked about what can go wrong when you remove every bit of friction from onboarding. Now, let’s look at why adding a small amount of it actually helps both you and your users have a better experience.
Clarity Through Brief Onboarding Steps
A few short questions go a long way toward helping you and your users. For example, you should ask:
“What are you hoping to achieve with our app?”
“What’s your role or main challenge?”
These questions give you a clearer picture of who’s coming in, so you can show them the right features. They also help users pause for a moment to think, “Why did I sign up for this app?” And that’s good, because it confirms they actually have a goal in mind. Plus, it’s a chance to quickly explain how your product can meet that goal—kind of like a mini product tour.
Filtering Out Low-Intent Users
Not everyone who signs up for your product is truly interested. Some are just browsing or clicked on your ad by accident. If they see a couple of questions at the start and think, “Meh, I don’t feel like doing this,” they probably wouldn’t have stuck around for long anyway. By adding a small onboarding step, you’re subtly filtering out those low-intent folks who would have inflated your numbers without ever really becoming users.
Data for Personalization and Analysis
When someone tells you about their goals, industry, or challenges, you can use that information to:
Show them the right tips or features that matter most to them.
Send them relevant emails or guides if they stop using your app.
Learn which types of users are most likely to succeed, and which ones struggle and quit.
In short, a bit of early data makes it easier to personalize your product and focus on areas that matter. It also helps you figure out why some groups of people are dropping off, so you can make real improvements rather than guessing.
Building a Stronger Relationship
Finally, asking a few simple questions doesn’t just help you—it also help users feel like you care. You’re not just tossing them into a generic dashboard. You’re saying, “Hey, tell us a bit about yourself, so we can make sure you’re getting what you need.” That small effort makes people feel more connected to your product. And when you show them features based on their specific answers, they realize you’re listening.
Bottom line: A tiny bit of intentional friction—like a short questionnaire or a quick guided step— takes a little extra time upfront, but it creates a smoother path in the long run.
It helps you
attract the right users,
gives you valuable insights, and
makes new sign-ups feel like they’ve joined something that actually cares about their goals.
A Question You Should Never Skip:
“Where did you hear about us?”
This question seems simple, but it tells you a ton about your marketing efforts and which channels bring in the most valuable users. It also helps you understand the expectations people have when they arrive. If someone says, “I saw you mentioned in a productivity blog,” you’ll know they probably care about efficiency tips. By phrasing it as “Where did you hear about us?” instead of “How did you find us?” you encourage people to think about the source—maybe it was a friend, a social post, or a podcast. This nuance helps you fine-tune both your outreach and messaging.
Examples to inspire an Effective Onboarding Flow:
https://userpilot.com/blog/onboarding-ux-examples/
A/B Testing and Iteration
No matter how much research or thought you put into your onboarding, you won’t know what truly works until you test it with real users.
A/B Test Different Approaches: Maybe try one version with just one question, and another version with two or three.
Track Important Metrics: Always keep “Activation” as the goal of your A/B test, not Onboarding Completion Rate. Look at how many activate, and how many keep using the product over time. Then refine your onboarding steps based on what you learn.
Remember, onboarding is rarely “set it and forget it.” It’s an ongoing process that evolves as you discover what resonates best with your audience.
Okay, now the last thing..
Sign-ups alone don’t guarantee meaningful engagement. If you let everyone walk straight in with zero questions asked, you might end up with a bunch of uninterested users—or worse, users who want to stick around but feel totally lost.
That’s why a small, intentional dose of friction can actually improve both your product’s performance and your users’ experience. By guiding new sign-ups with a few short questions or steps, you’re:
Filtering out people who aren’t really committed,
Learning enough about your users to tailor their journey,
Giving newcomers context and clarity so they can reach the “aha” moment faster.
So, if you’re still on the fence about adding any extra steps to your onboarding, ask yourself: Would you rather have a huge pool of people who sign up and then vanish, or a slightly smaller group of users who actually understand and love your product?
A little friction can go a long way toward building a loyal, engaged user base—and that’s a win for everyone.