Want to design better mobile app onboarding? First, understand a user’s active intent

Recently, something that arrived in my inbox got me thinking. The message was an announcement from UpLabs to launch the MaterialUp Onboarding Challenge — a design challenge that asked the MaterialUp community to “rethink the on-boarding experience on Android” by creating “a fun, intuitive on-boarding workflow, inspired by the Material Design Guidelines”.

The challenge got me thinking about my experiences with mobile app onboarding from multiple perspectives — both as an end user and as a digital product designer…

As a user, my experiences with mobile app onboarding are typically…

1. Unmemorable:
   A bunch of stuff that I barely glance at as I attempt to get to the content or functionality I downloaded an app to use. (Example: multi-screen user benefit walkthroughs)
2. Annoying:
   Required tasks that impede my ability to get to the actual content or functionality I downloaded an app to use. (Example: required account creation or set-up)

As a designer, working with a client to design an app, onboarding implementations are typically…

1. An afterthought (for the client):
   A part of the app that is outside of the core functionality, de-prioritized, and something that design and development resources will be dedicated to at some point, when there is time. (i.e. we will throw something together quickly, at the last minute)
2. Misguided:
   The love child of a marketing or content team member who is convinced that exponential growth is just a few more onboarding screen tweaks away. (i.e Fluffy screens touting the benefits and features of a product)

This was all a bit depressing…

Especially as a digital product designer…One who claims to be user-centered…experience-driven… [jargon, jargon, jargon…]. What have I been doing? App onboarding experiences almost universally provide a subpar user experience and I am…