Onboarding customers with AI ðŸ§
New customers activation is hard.
Onboarding activation strategies can nudge conversions but one thing remains
→ Users needing to manually add detailed content to get started.
In the process, users hit these pain points:
⦿ Too big of an ask too soon
⦿ Not know what information is needed & why
⦿ Overwhelming amount of information to provide
⦿ Bad timing. It just takes too long right now
Onboarding often feels tedious, why?
→ Customers forced to think in pre-defined, highly structured input boxes.
This feels unnatural. User’s also tend to give brief answers just to get through the task they’re being forced to do.
Fatigue, lack of engagement, feeling forced to complete tasks is a recipe for churn.
✨ Ways AI can can help you increase activation
→ Ask less questions + allow rich text responses.
AI can interpret the rich text and help convert a long form into structured data. bingo.
When users complete answering the onboarding questions, AI can interpret and make personalised suggestions based on their entry.
Here's an example of this in real product..
Contra - a marketplace connecting freelancers <> recruiters.
Contra activates its user with two questions.
→ What services do you offer?
→ What makes you stand out?
Your profile is then instantly populated with personalised recommendations from the answers provided.
✅ Detailed profile bio
✅ Three portfolio project suggestions
These place holders are great for; showing how a complete profile would look, helping users understand the product, and giving context to what information is needed.
This customised approach completely removes another activation blocker…
→ Empty states.
They are friction points that can be action blockers. Why?
Users may not know the amount of effort needed to complete an action that’s behind a generic empty state.
The unknown effort is multiplied in the user’s assumptive thinking, leading to procrastination/churn. However, with AI what would have been an empty state can now become a personalised placeholder…
→ Editing is easier than creating. A blank canvas can be intimidating.
New & existing apps are already using AI to increase activation. Can you?
tl;dr - Ask less demanding questions, allow rich text responses and populate with personalised suggestions.
Product & Design, Shapeshyft Studio
👉 www.shapeshyft.com
X: @bartek_marzec
