Enhancing First-Time User Experience for Better Retention

A first-time user experience is usually the deciding factor in whether the first-time user will continue using the app or not. You do not want your new product users to encounter a mixture of confusion and frustration during their first interaction with your product.

You do not want them to finish up thinking, "What is this? Am I doing it right? Oh, this is so difficult. Okay, that's enough. I'm giving up!" You want to avoid all that drama and stress.

It is important to note that when users abandon a product before reaching the “aha” moment, it almost always results in a high churn rate. That is, you will have a lot of non-returning customers, and in some cases, they will stop even before they begin.

This can cause a lot of long-term problems for your business or company because you will have more people leaving than staying. How can you prevent this from happening in your business? The solution lies in a carefully designed user onboarding flow.

In this guide, we have explained all that you need to know about new users' experiences: Why it matters, how to create an effective onboarding strategy, and the best practices you can apply for SaaS brands.

What Is the First-Time User Experience?

The first-time user experience (FTUE), as the name implies, is the experience that users or consumers have while utilizing a product or service for the very first time.

It is the set of thoughts, emotions, experiences, and understanding that the user goes through when utilizing your product for the first time. The FTUE is not only a component of the onboarding process; it is a determining factor in how long a user will use your product.

Whatever drew the customer to your product, whether it was a clever caption or a tempting offer of a free trial, FTUE encompasses everything that leads users to the point of contentment.

The point of contentment is that key juncture—“the moment of truth”—within your product where users have a game-changing experience or discovery that shows them the worth of your offering.

When a user reaches this point, it becomes a propeller for even deeper interaction with your product. They can now see why they should use your product and already have a sense of satisfaction in using it.

The first-time user experience (FTUE) is incredibly significant, as it is as strong as love at first sight. When people have an excellent first-time experience with your product, it helps to retain them and ensures that they have continued pleasant interactions with your product from start to finish.

What Does FTUE Include?

We have discussed what the FTUE is mainly about. Now, let us look at other things connected to it. For a user to have a fantastic FTUE, you should be able to answer these questions regarding your product. Note that the FTUE is not restricted to the questions asked here.

1. The first impression: The first impression a user has about a product or service is vital. When considering the FTUE for a product, ask yourself these questions:

   • Can your product attract users instantly?

   • Is it captivating enough?

   • Will they feel compelled by what you are offering?

   It takes just 50 milliseconds for a product to make a positive impression on a user and for the user to judge the visual appeal of the product.

2. Understanding of product functionalities: Functionality is crucial, and the way your product performs goes a long way in establishing how the FTUE of a user will be. These are questions you should be able to answer:

   • Is everything obvious and sensible?

   • Will first-time users understand the language used in your product copy?

   • Is the onboarding procedure a simple, free-flowing one?

   Ensuring that everything is clear and that the language used in your product copy is easy to grasp are crucial factors needed to produce a pleasant first-time user experience.

3. Level of engagement expected: This is simply how much involvement or effort a user needs to make while interacting with the product. This can influence a first-time user's experience positively or negatively. To make sure it is favorable, you need to be able to answer these questions:

   • Does your product offer aid during the onboarding process, like a walkthrough or step-by-step guide to help users learn essential features?

   • Or does your product offer a self-service onboarding where the customer can go through the process without aid from the company?

   Product tours that can be completed in a single step usually tend to have a 75% completion rate since they are quick and simple for consumers to follow without being discouraged or overwhelmed.

4. Overall user experience:

   • Was the first-time experience a struggle? Was the product easy to comprehend or not?

   • Was it smooth and free of issues?

   This smooth-sailing experience is what your product should be aiming for.

As indicated previously, the questions are not restricted to those listed here. However, the defining list will rely on your business and product type, along with the specific onboarding sequence designed.

Why Is FTUE Important for Retention Rate?

The user retention rate is used to measure the number of users who continue to use your product even after a while. The retention rate is vital for a business that wishes to thrive and make a profit. You can obtain a 25% boost in profit from your product merely by raising the retention rate by 5%.

But to do this, your product has to provide users a reason to stay, which is why FTUE is highly vital to your business. Giving users a highly enjoyable experience can be all you need to boost your retention rate.

Alan Klement mentioned in one of his talks that organizations flourish when they offer a growth opportunity to existing and new clients.

This statement says it all! If your product is not significantly enhancing the lives of its users, they may consider abandoning it for something that genuinely does. Your product must give its users something that makes them come back to it each day. In that manner, the retention rates will grow.

An example of an oversaturated market is project management software. There are just too many competitors, and for any product to stand out, it must have a peculiarity—a unique selling factor. When you can incorporate that originality into your brand—something your users will not find better elsewhere—you are on your way to a user retention rate boost.

5 Steps to Improve First-Time User Experience

Now, how do we fully optimize and improve our product's FTUE?

Five critical steps have been outlined for you to assist in realizing how best you can connect with your users at every level of their onboarding experience.

Step #1: Know your users and their expectations

This sounds like the traditional thing to do, right? But as natural as it sounds to every business owner, it may surprise you to find that you do not actually know your clients. This is why a market survey is normally recommended before the start of a firm. If your product is for everyone, then it is for no one!

If your target demographic isn’t specified, you will have a significant gap between your product and your consumers. Knowing who your clients are helps you bridge that gap because you can personalize your products and services to match their taste.

This is why it is crucial to always start with audience research to avoid misconceptions. Make sure you ask questions like:

• Who is your ideal user?

• Do you have various target groups?

• Can your users manage digital products?

• Do you have research evidence to support that image?

Perform user surveys from time to time. Ask questions so you can understand as much as you can about what your users need, expect, and how they behave. Shape information into a user profile for each targeted category to enable other teams to develop acceptable content for users.

Step #2: Create journey maps for different scenarios

Storytelling and data visualization are incredibly significant tools, which if used successfully, can be a game-changer for your organization. This is because they can help demonstrate prospective user journeys, making it easier to understand how customers engage with your product or service.

Let us look at these two examples:

• A user surfing through her feed on Instagram discovers your ad and clicks on it to explore more. A storytelling journey map could then represent different scenarios of what could happen: What would she do next? Would she continue assessing your product or abandon it?

• A team signs up owing to company-wide changes. Here, visualization could show you how to make onboarding smooth, like helping users install the apps and helping them incorporate both desktop and mobile versions of your program.

Step #3: Design a user-centered onboarding flow

Everything about your product should be based on user-centered criteria. If your product is user-centered—taking into consideration the user—it will be an easier and more enjoyable process for an actual user. This includes UI design, UX design, and content.

Always ask these questions beforehand for each onboarding element:

1. What do users need to know now?

2. What do you want them to feel?

3. What do you want them to do next?

Step #4: Use tooltips to ease friction

Using tooltips to ease friction is an intelligent idea. Tooltips are used to provide further explanations or clarifications when the user hovers over an element. This helps to offer instruction without necessarily breaking the flow of action of the user. In other words, they add context without friction.

For efficient use of tooltips, make sure to keep them concise and clear. Also, utilize them only when necessary—position them in strategic places where you know they will be needed.

Step #5: Gather Feedback In-Product

Lastly, in your effort to enhance and fully optimize the user experience, you must not overlook feedback from your users. Gathering input directly in-product through micro surveys, especially during onboarding, is a highly effective technique to capture real-time responses while the user's experience is still fresh. To achieve this efficiently, keep the survey short, trigger it at key moments, and most importantly, take action on the feedback you receive.

Best Practices in Onboarding for SaaS Brands

Here are some particularly beneficial practices for improving the first-time user experience:

1. Develop detailed user personas based on research. This will help you understand the needs of different customer segments.

2. Tailor the onboarding process for each persona, making their experience more personalized and relevant.

3. Use chatbots or guided tours to offer real-time clarity and assistance.

4. Ensure your product language is simple and clear, allowing users to understand without effort.

5. Support users with guidance through tooltips or step-by-step walkthroughs, but be careful not to overwhelm them with too much information at once.

6. Run A/B tests to gather user behavior insights and experiment with different onboarding tactics to find what works best.

7. Track users' interactions with the onboarding process through analytics and make improvements when needed.

Final Thoughts on First-Time User Experience

Prioritizing the first-time user experience lays a strong foundation for your business. When users feel confident and supported while using your product, they’ll be more inclined to explore it further and return regularly. You’ll start hearing comments like, "Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. It’s a game-changer!" from your users.

We’re here to help you keep that streak going with tips, methods, and insights delivered right to your inbox. Just sign up for our email updates and start growing your base of happy, loyal users.

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