How to Analyze Onboarding Flows - Issue 246
Tracking complex user journeys: methods, frameworks, and examples of analyzing user onboarding flows
Welcome to my Data Analytics Journal, where I write about data science and analytics.
In a very short period of time, the number of experts discussing product onboarding and activation has surged. Some argue that onboarding flows should be long enough to give users a chance to fall in love with your product, as longer flows attract high-quality users. Others say that onboarding should be quick, no more than X steps. Or absent at all.
Everyone seems to have an opinion on onboarding flows. However, no one explains how onboarding flows should be analyzed and reported.
Here is the thing: product analytics tools don’t support complex onboarding flows. They simply don’t. Yet, most onboarding journeys today are complex. Many products are cross-platform, with web-to-app transitions, dynamic “flying” paywalls appearing randomly between onboarding steps, GDPR screens for certain users, multiple sign-up methods, personalization, and more.
To my surprise, most onboarding flow metrics are proxies or represent only a small subset of the flow that teams can track. Yet, this doesn't stop today’s growth experts from speculating or making recommendations about the “right” or “wrong” onboarding flows. Or worse - testing them.
Today, I’ll walk you through examples, steps, and methods for analyzing complex multi-step user onboarding flows, with or without product analytics tools. I’ll also share case studies on how to report and interpret onboarding data.
