{"id":39329,"date":"2023-03-31T12:54:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T12:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/bad-user-onboarding-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T07:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T07:38:12","slug":"bad-user-onboarding-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/bad-user-onboarding-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad User Onboarding Experience: 7 Examples to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How long was it before you stopped using a product because of a bad <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/solutions\/user-onboarding-software\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user onboarding<\/a> experience?<\/p>\n<p>My guess is probably not long enough to get value from the product, meaning you didn&#8217;t adopt it as a tool. The customer onboarding process can make or break your product, so it needs a positive experience.<\/p>\n<p>This article will walk you through 7 examples that you should totally avoid for your user onboarding process.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"bs5lq\">Summary of a bad user onboarding experience<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A bad <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-onboarding-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user onboarding<\/a> experience is one that doesn&#8217;t let the customer achieve value from your product.<\/li>\n<li>A good customer experience matters as it can create <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-loyalty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">loyal customers<\/a>, increase conversion rates, and ensure customers get <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-customer-success-guide-2022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">long-term success<\/a> from your product.<\/li>\n<li>A completed <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign-up flow<\/a> introduces a barrier before users even begin. Reduce any friction by allowing single sign-on, create a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/sign-up-page-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user-friendly design<\/a>, and collect data from <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-survey-questions-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">surveys<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">welcome screen<\/a> to personalize the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/frictionless-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding experience<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure it&#8217;s clear what a user should do next. Use empty screens to showcase your product, and offer <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/microvideos-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">training materials<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer onboarding<\/a> process shouldn&#8217;t be a one size fits all. You should gather information from the beginning of the user journey about their <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/jtbd-product-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jobs to be done<\/a>. With that information, you can segment users and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/personalized-onboarding-for-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">personalize their onboarding<\/a> process.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/everybody-hates-product-tours\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Long product tours<\/a> are a big turn-off to customers. It&#8217;s passive learning and doesn&#8217;t prompt action. Instead, trigger <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/interactive-walkthroughs-improve-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interactive walkthroughs<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/interactive-walkthroughs-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">right context<\/a>, use <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/new-client-onboarding-checklist-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklists<\/a> with a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/progress-bar-ui-ux-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">progress bar<\/a> to motivate users to complete their <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-onboarding-checklist-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding steps<\/a>, and provide a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/help-center-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">help center<\/a> and resource center if your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/osano-case-study-churn-reduction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">product is complex<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-messaging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app messaging<\/a> to help users discover features and help <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/improve-feature-discovery-product-adoption\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">increase engagement<\/a>. Create automated onboarding flows triggered by certain user interactions.<\/li>\n<li>Audit unused features and use prompts to help users uncover core features that will improve their <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/positive-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer experience<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-survey-questions-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app surveys<\/a> to collect feedback at the right times in the customer journey. You can then address <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-pain-points\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer pain points<\/a> by acting on the feedback you gather by <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/progressive-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">triggering training materials<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Userpilot can help you with improving the user onboarding process. You can collect feedback, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-segmentation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">segment customers<\/a>, and trigger different onboarding experiences.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Userpilot also lets you <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/userpilot-for-mobile-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">onboard and engage mobile app users<\/a> by creating personalized messaging, push notifications, and surveys.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Userpilot also offers <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/userpilot-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analytics<\/a> so you can visually see how users are behaving in-app. <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Book a demo<\/a> to learn more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"em24d\"><strong>What is a bad user onboarding experience?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A bad user onboarding experience is one where a user doesn&#8217;t learn how to get the most from your product and never truly reaches an &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/the-aha-moment-for-product-onboarding-activation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aha! moment<\/a>&#8221; where they learn the true value your product can offer. It could be because the onboarding experience isn&#8217;t optimized properly or takes too long.<\/p>\n<p>Why good customer experience matters?<\/p>\n<p><!--ARCADE EMBED START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(58.93617021276596% + 41px); height: 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/sw11.userpilot.com\/DTTewl3dbjXoCMMg8gGY?embed&#038;embed_mobile=tab&#038;embed_desktop=inline&#038;show_copy_link=true\" title=\"Experience Userpilot for User Onboarding\" frameborder=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen allow=\"clipboard-write\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; color-scheme: light;\" ><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><!--ARCADE EMBED END--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"caj5m\"><strong>Why good customer experience matters?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>From the very first moment, a customer uses your product, you want to offer a positive experience. Doing so improves <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/positive-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And a good customer experience helps create <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-engagement-funnel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">loyal customers<\/a>. If they enjoy your product and can get value from it earlier, they will be loyal to using your product.<\/p>\n<p>It also helps to increase conversion rates. The faster you can demonstrate how to use your product, the more likely they will keep using it and become paying customers.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing that you&#8217;ve set your users up for<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-customer-success-guide-2022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> success<\/a> earlier on means they will keep succeeding with your product in the long term.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"7c49v\"><strong>7 bad user onboarding experiences and how to avoid them<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The following seven steps are common user onboarding mistakes that will create a bad user onboarding experience. Thankfully we&#8217;ll show you how to avoid them, so you create a good customer experience.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"38b5j\">1. <strong>Complicated sign-up flow UX<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When a customer signs up for your product, you want it to be as <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/frictionless-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frictionless<\/a> as possible. The harder you make the onboarding process, the more you&#8217;re increasing the chance of them falling off and never coming back. Here are some of the causes of complicated sign-up flows.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A complicated <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/sign-up-page-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign-up process<\/a>. Most products these days offer single sign-up (SSO). If you&#8217;re not offering this, you&#8217;re increasing the steps needed to sign up which leads to user frustration right from the beginning.<\/li>\n<li>Your product <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sign-up flow<\/a> is one of the best places to capture customer data. But if you ask for too much information, you again increase the chance of customers abandoning.<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>verification email<\/strong> is a great way to ensure the information captured from a user is correct, but it interrupts the customer experience with your product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are a few ways you can address a complicated sign-up flow.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"2vsm3\"><strong>Simplify the sign-up process with multiple single sign-on (SSO) options<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Most modern products these days have multiple ways of letting you sign up. One of the most useful is with multiple SSO options. Not only does it make your systems more secure and reduces things like password resets, but it also makes signing in a lot easier.<\/p>\n<p>Letting customers sign in with their Google accounts reduces the steps needed to create an account and doesn\u2019t create any friction.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/miro-sign-up-page-design-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f7ca6aa1c10830e951a16fd4f4173e53_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/miro-sign-up-page-design-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f7ca6aa1c10830e951a16fd4f4173e53_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/miro-sign-up-page-design-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f7ca6aa1c10830e951a16fd4f4173e53_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/miro-sign-up-page-design-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f7ca6aa1c10830e951a16fd4f4173e53_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/miro-sign-up-page-design-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f7ca6aa1c10830e951a16fd4f4173e53_800.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of the Miro sign up page showing the options for single sign on\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Examples of SSO from Miro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"3556e\"><strong>Continue collecting customer data in-app<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Making the customer have to answer a multitude of questions during their sign-up is going to frustrate a percentage of them and stop them from completing the form.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s better to ask a few main questions in-app and get the information you need without scaring them away.<\/p>\n<p>Using <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-survey-questions-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app surveys<\/a> means you aren&#8217;t interrupting the flow, reducing any <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/frictionless-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friction<\/a> that may result in customers leaving.<\/p>\n<p>To help aid the collecting of customer information, you may benefit from adding gamification to your product. During the process of conducting a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-surveys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survey<\/a> during your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">welcome screen<\/a>, adding a progress bar can help to motivate users to complete it, as it gives them something to work towards.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-bad-user-onboarding-experience_76629b48665a6409c0e5bf9915e87ce3_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/fullstory-bad-user-onboarding-experience_76629b48665a6409c0e5bf9915e87ce3_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-bad-user-onboarding-experience_76629b48665a6409c0e5bf9915e87ce3_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/fullstory-bad-user-onboarding-experience_76629b48665a6409c0e5bf9915e87ce3_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-bad-user-onboarding-experience_76629b48665a6409c0e5bf9915e87ce3_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of fullstory user onboarding showing a progress bar to prevent a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Fullstory\u2019s example of a progress bar in the user onboarding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"bro4t\"><strong>Send onboarding emails<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A user receiving a verification email can interrupt the onboarding process. By leaving your product, there&#8217;s a chance they could get distracted and not complete the process.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s much better to trigger an in-app reminder after the process to verify their account to prevent this. And instead of sending verification emails, send <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-welcome-email-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These emails can include helpful resources that you might be unable to include in the in-app onboarding process.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/campaign-monitor-onboarding-email-bad-user-onboarding-experience_4e2dbc6b2c65ea09f0a03471907c12fd_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/campaign-monitor-onboarding-email-bad-user-onboarding-experience_4e2dbc6b2c65ea09f0a03471907c12fd_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/campaign-monitor-onboarding-email-bad-user-onboarding-experience_4e2dbc6b2c65ea09f0a03471907c12fd_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/campaign-monitor-onboarding-email-bad-user-onboarding-experience_4e2dbc6b2c65ea09f0a03471907c12fd_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/campaign-monitor-onboarding-email-bad-user-onboarding-experience_4e2dbc6b2c65ea09f0a03471907c12fd_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of campaign monitor's onboarding emails\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of Campaign Monitor\u2019s onboarding email.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"bjdgf\">2. <strong>An empty onboarding screen that doesn&#8217;t prompt action<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>If, at any point during user onboarding, a customer meets with an empty <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-screen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding screen<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-reduce-screen-complexity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">not-so-friendly dashboard<\/a>, you&#8217;re increasing the work a user needs to do to use your product.<\/p>\n<p>You want to offer a customer as much guidance on your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-page-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">welcome screen<\/a> as possible so they can understand how to get value from your product.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/linkdein-blank-slate-ui-design-poor-product-onboarding-experience_ee7a28d4800d3d22d525d28fc498612a_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/linkdein-blank-slate-ui-design-poor-product-onboarding-experience_ee7a28d4800d3d22d525d28fc498612a_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/linkdein-blank-slate-ui-design-poor-product-onboarding-experience_ee7a28d4800d3d22d525d28fc498612a_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/linkdein-blank-slate-ui-design-poor-product-onboarding-experience_ee7a28d4800d3d22d525d28fc498612a_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/linkdein-blank-slate-ui-design-poor-product-onboarding-experience_ee7a28d4800d3d22d525d28fc498612a_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Linkedin's empty onboarding screen which creates a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of an empty onboarding screen from Linkedin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here is how you can fix this issue.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"cbf0v\"><strong>Use empty states to provide contextual guidance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Staring at an empty screen after you sign in will leave the customer feeling lost. To fix the empty <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/contextual-onboarding-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding<\/a> screen, utilize it as a canvas to showcase what your product can do.<\/p>\n<p>You can use quick tutorials like <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/microvideos-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">microvideos<\/a>, tooltips, or <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/modal-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">modals<\/a> to educate your users on using core features. Doing so will help reduce users&#8217; frustration with what to do next and decrease the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/time-to-value\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">time to value<\/a>, resulting in a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-retention-rate-metrics-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">higher retention rate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"video strchf-type-video regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\">\n<div style=\"max-width: 100%; position: relative; height: 400px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"How to remove fear of the &quot;white canvas&quot; when you onboard and reduce your time-to-value\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0S4CBpzc1JE?feature=oembed\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>How to improve the empty states in your product.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"b45tc\">3. <strong>Using a one-size-fits-all approach for your onboarding strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A one-size-fits-all approach to your product&#8217;s onboarding strategy can present bad customer onboarding. Remember that every user is different and has different needs based on their <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/jtbd-product-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jobs<\/a> to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Not paying attention to individual user needs will lead to users not gaining value from your product and leaving before they can even reach the activation point.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"6pghr\"><strong>Collect customer data to deliver a personalized onboarding process<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The first step in <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/personalized-onboarding-for-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">personalizing<\/a> your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer onboarding<\/a> is to collect customer data with a welcome survey.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t have to be a 20-question survey. You want to ask the right number of questions so you can put your customer into a group ready for segmentation.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/postify-welcome-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_189e0322a1d8c286dbb6daee7d8cde70_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/postify-welcome-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_189e0322a1d8c286dbb6daee7d8cde70_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/postify-welcome-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_189e0322a1d8c286dbb6daee7d8cde70_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/postify-welcome-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_189e0322a1d8c286dbb6daee7d8cde70_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/postify-welcome-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_189e0322a1d8c286dbb6daee7d8cde70_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of collecting customer data from postify to aid in preventing a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of collecting customer data from Postify.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Once you have that data, you can segment your users according to their shared characteristics and similar jobs to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Each segment should be shown a customer onboarding flow that speaks to their goals and highlights how to achieve them within your product.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/user-segmentation-firmographics-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d0bf267d8c7cfb8a20480b78703ea61a_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/user-segmentation-firmographics-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d0bf267d8c7cfb8a20480b78703ea61a_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/user-segmentation-firmographics-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d0bf267d8c7cfb8a20480b78703ea61a_800.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/user-segmentation-firmographics-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d0bf267d8c7cfb8a20480b78703ea61a_1600.jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/user-segmentation-firmographics-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d0bf267d8c7cfb8a20480b78703ea61a_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Userpilot and the many options to segment customers\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a> customer segmentation options.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"85lm8\">4. <strong>Long product tours as the main source of customer education<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A product tour is made up of a series of modals or\u00a0tooltips\u00a0that show you the different aspects of your product.<\/p>\n<p>Due to them being heavy on text, they can be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/everybody-hates-product-tours\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quite passive<\/a>, not prompting the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/client-onboarding-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer into action<\/a>\u00a0and showing them how they can successfully get value from your product.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"video strchf-type-video regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\">\n<div style=\"max-width: 100%; position: relative; height: 400px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Interactive Walkthrough vs Product Tours for SaaS\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7L63CkPk3Oc?feature=oembed\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a> video interactive walkthroughs vs product tours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"90cu3\"><strong>Trigger interactive walkthroughs to improve the onboarding experience<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Ditch your product tours and replace them with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/interactive-walkthroughs-improve-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interactive walkthroughs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can strategically trigger them at points in your product that make sense (like when customers are exploring a new feature or when they seem to be struggling). So you can give your customer a helping hand in <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/interactive-walkthroughs-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">learning<\/a> a new aspect of your product.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-walkthrough-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f76947ab625185a556f174468bbf04ec.gif 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-walkthrough-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f76947ab625185a556f174468bbf04ec.gif 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-walkthrough-bad-user-onboarding-experience_f76947ab625185a556f174468bbf04ec.gif\" alt=\"A animation showing an interactive walkthrough\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of an interactive walkthrough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"215p4\"><strong>Implement user onboarding checklists for proper onboarding<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Another way to replace passive product tours is to implement <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/new-client-onboarding-checklist-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user onboarding checklists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These checklists help to prompt action as the user gets to see items on the checklist getting crossed off. Using any customer data you&#8217;ve gathered, you can show different checklists, leading them down the right path to get value for the jobs they need to be done.<\/p>\n<p>You can also add a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/progress-bar-ui-ux-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">progress bar<\/a> to motivate the user to complete all the checklist actions.<\/p>\n<p>Check out our helpful article on improving conversion via <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/improve-conversions-onboarding-checklist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user onboarding checklists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-checklist-bad-user-onboarding-experience_07c254a649c79f02f30dc53db6658dc2_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-checklist-bad-user-onboarding-experience_07c254a649c79f02f30dc53db6658dc2_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-checklist-bad-user-onboarding-experience_07c254a649c79f02f30dc53db6658dc2_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot Userpilot showing an onboarding checklist to prevent a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of an onboarding checklist from Userpilot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"fksn9\"><strong>Use educational resources to drive customer success<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>If you have a complex product where your user onboarding can&#8217;t touch on all the helpful features, it might make sense to create a resource center.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/help-center-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resource center<\/a> can be built from input from the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-customer-success-guide\/\">customer success team<\/a>. In it, you can help users with FAQs and show them how to use certain features. You can even create different modules and formats to make it easy for customers to navigate to exactly what they need help with.<\/p>\n<p>A company called <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/osano-case-study-churn-reduction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Osano<\/a> did just that, reducing customer churn rate and producing 25% fewer support chat requests.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/osano-resource-center-bad-user-onboarding-experience_14acc966463575c365b36da03e32809c_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/osano-resource-center-bad-user-onboarding-experience_14acc966463575c365b36da03e32809c_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/osano-resource-center-bad-user-onboarding-experience_14acc966463575c365b36da03e32809c_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Osano's resource center\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Osano\u2019s resource center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"cgtl0\">5. <strong>No contextual help during the onboarding process<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>No contextual help during the onboarding process is another thing that can produce bad user onboarding.<\/p>\n<p>Having no tooltips or interactive walkthrough limits the value to customers and doesn&#8217;t help drive them to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/improve-user-activation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">activation<\/a> or product adoption. Lacking in this area will make a customer less likely to continue using your product after the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-free-trial-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"46mg0\"><strong>Use in-app messaging to prompt feature discovery<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Delivering the right message at the right time will help users the most. Providing <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-messaging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app messaging<\/a> through tooltips can help with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/improve-feature-discovery-product-adoption\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">feature discovery<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Overloading your users at the beginning can lead to confusion. It&#8217;s better to strategically <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/increasing-feature-engagement-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reveal features when needed<\/a> by customers, as this will help them get more value out of your product.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-tooltip-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d1165a4cfddc7b2a2e1f5a5fafc00ea9_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-tooltip-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d1165a4cfddc7b2a2e1f5a5fafc00ea9_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-tooltip-bad-user-onboarding-experience_d1165a4cfddc7b2a2e1f5a5fafc00ea9_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Userpilot showing a tooltip to prompt feature discovery\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>\u2019s tooltip used for feature discovery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"a7mul\"><strong>Create automated onboarding flows<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>As well as prompt feature discovery, you can use automated onboarding flows to help users with a specific feature.<\/p>\n<p>You can set custom events so that when a combination of user interactions happens (interactions that look like someone is struggling or about to use a feature they haven&#8217;t used before), you can trigger an interactive walkthrough.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-custom-events-bad-user-onboarding-experience_572252a4fa359fc78f7fd1f7e13f3fcb_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-custom-events-bad-user-onboarding-experience_572252a4fa359fc78f7fd1f7e13f3fcb_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-custom-events-bad-user-onboarding-experience_572252a4fa359fc78f7fd1f7e13f3fcb_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Userpilot's event creation screen\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Userpilot\u2019s event creation screen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"ea0ps\">6. <strong>Core features stay unnoticed<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If your product has many core features and you&#8217;re not guiding your users correctly, they could stay unnoticed and never deliver the value your product should provide.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"baf57\"><strong>Analyze customer interactions to find unused features<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Without any data on how your customers use your product, you might not even realize they aren&#8217;t using your product&#8217;s core features.<\/p>\n<p>Using feature tagging can be useful to find any features that aren&#8217;t being used. You can then analyze this data and use ways to prompt discovery (through tooltips or an interactive walkthrough) to improve the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/positive-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-bad-user-onboarding-experience_503b5f27fb055189619067c3c5e6646f.gif 1x, https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-bad-user-onboarding-experience_503b5f27fb055189619067c3c5e6646f.gif 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-bad-user-onboarding-experience_503b5f27fb055189619067c3c5e6646f.gif 1x, https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-bad-user-onboarding-experience_503b5f27fb055189619067c3c5e6646f.gif 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/feature-tagging-bad-user-onboarding-experience_503b5f27fb055189619067c3c5e6646f.gif\" alt=\"A animation showing how to use feature tagging in Userpilot to help prevent a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example you can use with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>\u2019s feature tagging.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"aiot\">7. <strong>Not having enough information to optimize the customer onboarding process<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Another way that can produce bad user onboarding is not collecting any customer feedback or <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-insight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer data<\/a>. Without this, you have nothing to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-sentiment-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analyze<\/a> to find if any customers are experiencing <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/friction-points\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friction points<\/a> in your product.<\/p>\n<p>No data means you are completely in the dark about how to fix any problems. You\u2019ll have no way of knowing how to optimize the user onboarding, let alone if any changes you make are positive.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"5hd5h\"><strong>Collect feedback with in-app surveys<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Using <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-survey-questions-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app surveys<\/a> is a great way to collect feedback from different customer segments.<\/p>\n<p>You should <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/build-in-app-surveys-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prompt customer feedback<\/a> at key stages in your customer journey, so you get the data needed to improve your customer&#8217;s experience.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experiende_1c8d2e7accb73cc356cab3eb3e8a0fbd_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experiende_1c8d2e7accb73cc356cab3eb3e8a0fbd_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experiende_1c8d2e7accb73cc356cab3eb3e8a0fbd_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot showing a in-app surveys made with Userpilot\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of an in-app survey created with Userpilot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"6h56b\"><strong>Address customer pain points with onboarding flows<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A great way to avoid bad onboarding is to react as soon as you receive <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-pain-points\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bad feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if a customer responds to a feature saying that they don&#8217;t understand how to use it, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/progressive-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trigger a video tutorial<\/a> that educates them on the feature and how they can benefit from it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/video-tutorial-modal-bad-user-onboarding-experience_7c31a84c7e785edf1e59b25e325d671a_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/video-tutorial-modal-bad-user-onboarding-experience_7c31a84c7e785edf1e59b25e325d671a_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/video-tutorial-modal-bad-user-onboarding-experience_7c31a84c7e785edf1e59b25e325d671a_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of a Userpilot modal showing a video tutorial\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>An example of a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>\u2019s modal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"br9n9\"><strong>How Userpilot can help you create a positive onboarding experience for new and existing users<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re concerned that your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-onboarding-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding process<\/a> creates a bad customer experience, consider using Userpilot.<\/p>\n<p>Userpilot can give you the tools needed to build personalized, flexible, and contextually relevant in-app experiences for your customers.<\/p>\n<p>Userpilot can help trigger contextual in-app flows based on information gathered from product usage and in-app behavior, so you can create an onboarding experience that exceeds <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-delight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer expectations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"cksul\"><strong>Create in-app surveys to collect customer feedback<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Userpilot can help you collect information from your customers with different <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/build-in-app-surveys-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A Userpilot in-app survey example.omize the surveys that you create. You can add different elements and design the surveys in your brand colors, style, and theme so they feel natural within your app. You can also take advantage of Userpilot&#8217;s ready-made templates..<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_191d38198962ddfe31a4df67e9571128_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_191d38198962ddfe31a4df67e9571128_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-survey-bad-user-onboarding-experience_191d38198962ddfe31a4df67e9571128_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot showing a survey created in Userpilot to stop a bad user onboarding experience\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>A Userpilot in-app survey example.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"eq20l\"><strong>Personalize the user onboarding process with segmentation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As was mentioned above, the best performance from your user onboarding comes from personalizing the experience based on the customer&#8217;s jobs to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Userpilot provides you with the option to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-segmentation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">segment your customer<\/a> based on different options such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>User data<\/li>\n<li>Feedback responses<\/li>\n<li>Activity<\/li>\n<li>Personal information<\/li>\n<li>Company data<\/li>\n<li>Engagement profiles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-smarter-segmentation-bad-user-onboarding-experience_6f813f29d4c8dc9f08730f9fd54d6b32_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-smarter-segmentation-bad-user-onboarding-experience_6f813f29d4c8dc9f08730f9fd54d6b32_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-smarter-segmentation-bad-user-onboarding-experience_6f813f29d4c8dc9f08730f9fd54d6b32_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot showing how you can segment users in Userpilot\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>\u2019s segmentation options.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Armed with these detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-lifecycle-segmentation-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">segmentation options<\/a>, you can create different onboarding flows tailored to your segments.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-automated-flows-userpilot-bad-user-onboarding-experience_352530022a5cf7bec10867827abd74ff_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-automated-flows-userpilot-bad-user-onboarding-experience_352530022a5cf7bec10867827abd74ff_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/in-app-automated-flows-userpilot-bad-user-onboarding-experience_352530022a5cf7bec10867827abd74ff_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot showing the different onboarding flows you can create with Userpilot\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>The many different onboarding flows you can create with Userpilot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"1entq\"><strong>Analyze user behavior to optimize user onboarding experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve set up your onboarding flows, it&#8217;s valuable to be able to review how they are doing. <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/userpilot-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot analytics<\/a> lets product teams track and analyze how customers behave in-app. It also lets you see how they progress across different touch points in the customer journey.<\/p>\n<p>You can identify any positive or negative patterns and trends by seeing how customers within different segments behave across the funnel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/track-user-behavior-bad-user-onboarding-experience_0511d0b5628ddac513d57ca026e16a7e_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/track-user-behavior-bad-user-onboarding-experience_0511d0b5628ddac513d57ca026e16a7e_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/track-user-behavior-bad-user-onboarding-experience_0511d0b5628ddac513d57ca026e16a7e_800.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of Userpilot's analytics feature\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a> analytics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"bdbd8\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>User onboarding is one of the most important parts of your product. If you can get it right, you can educate your customer on the value of your product and get them quickly to the particular value they need for their jobs to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Want to avoid any bad user onboarding experiences? <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Get a Userpilot Demo <\/a>and see how you can personalize your onboarding experience by collecting customer data and presenting the right onboarding flow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bad user onboarding experience can greatly affect how well your product does. Learn about 7 examples you don&#8217;t want to follow and how you can avoid them in your product.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":39331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[233,104,446,306,49,550,1761,50,100,1760],"class_list":["post-39329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-user-onboarding-category","tag-best-customer-onboarding-tools","tag-best-user-onboarding-tools","tag-customer-experience","tag-customer-onboarding","tag-onboarding-experience","tag-onboarding-tools","tag-peronalized-onboarding","tag-user-onboarding","tag-user-onboarding-tools","tag-welcome-screen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bad User Onboarding Experience: 7 Examples to Avoid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about seven examples that lead to a bad user onboarding experience in SaaS. And what you can do to avoid them in your product.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/bad-user-onboarding-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bad User Onboarding Experience: 7 Examples to Avoid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about seven examples that lead to a bad user onboarding experience in SaaS. 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