{"id":9133,"date":"2021-07-27T19:34:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T19:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T14:04:04","slug":"onboarding-ux-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/solutions\/user-onboarding-software\">Onboarding UX patterns<\/a> might just be the unsung hero of the SaaS world.<\/p>\n<p>Without in-app experiences guiding the new users through your product such as <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-create-tooltips\/\">tooltips<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-onboarding-checklist-tips\/\">checklists<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\">welcome screens<\/a>, it\u2019s unlikely that your users would stay with your product long enough to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-activation-rate-optimization\/\">activate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But what are the must-have onboarding UX patterns to build an <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/interactive-walkthroughs-saas\/\">effective interactive walkthrough<\/a>? And how can you tell whether you\u2019ve designed them properly?<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned for the answers to these questions.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cpaa1\"><strong>Onboarding UX pattern categories<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Before we get to the individual onboarding UX patterns, it might be helpful to think about a structure to situate them in.<\/p>\n<p>Classically, there are 3 main groups of onboarding UX patterns:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"6elbr\"><strong>Annotated UX patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>These are the smallest types of onboarding UX patterns.<\/p>\n<p>The name \u201cannotated\u201d comes from the fact that these UX patterns are literally annotations on top of the user interface.<\/p>\n<p>To show you what I mean by this, the most common examples of annotated UX patterns are:<\/p>\n<p><!--ARCADE EMBED START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(58.93617021276596% + 41px); height: 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; color-scheme: light;\" title=\"Experience Userpilot for User Onboarding\" src=\"https:\/\/sw11.userpilot.com\/DTTewl3dbjXoCMMg8gGY?embed&amp;embed_mobile=tab&amp;embed_desktop=inline&amp;show_copy_link=true\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><!--ARCADE EMBED END--><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"dg23t\"><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-create-tooltips\/\">Tooltips<\/a>:<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-3_f46e958b0b810b2ffc678aea3aa62a23_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-3_f46e958b0b810b2ffc678aea3aa62a23_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-3_f46e958b0b810b2ffc678aea3aa62a23_800.png\" alt=\"tooltips\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"dnnkc\">Hotspots:<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hotspot_userpilot_8293bfb27604d34a9759d2e1d3f19550_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hotspot_userpilot_8293bfb27604d34a9759d2e1d3f19550_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hotspot_userpilot_8293bfb27604d34a9759d2e1d3f19550_800.png\" alt=\"hotspot\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>In both cases, these annotations are typically created to draw attention towards <strong>one<\/strong> particular action that you want the user to take during onboarding.<\/p>\n<p>Note that I said \u201cone\u201d particular action, not \u201cmultiple\u201d actions.<\/p>\n<p>The mistake that most SaaS companies make with annotated UX is highlighting too many actions at once.<\/p>\n<p>This is bad for two reasons:<\/p>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>When too many options are highlighted, users become confused as to the next action they should take.<\/li>\n<li>Users get annoyed with all the tooltips and hotspots popping up all over the place, and the risk of them churning rises.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A better approach is to focus on highlighting one key action and then delivering on that promise of value as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, don\u2019t leave 4-5 different screens for the user to click through between your annotation and the thing it is highlighting.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"br4ik\"><strong>Embedded UX patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>These are the medium-sized onboarding UX patterns.<\/p>\n<p>Embedded UX patterns are so-called because they are <em>embedded<\/em> into the customer\u2019s product experience.<\/p>\n<p>Examples include:<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"2eo4c\">Popups:<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/popup_d0fb19a9a4001546587d6920ba6f762c_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/popup_d0fb19a9a4001546587d6920ba6f762c_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/popup_d0fb19a9a4001546587d6920ba6f762c_800.jpg\" alt=\"popup\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"a7jf1\">Slideouts:<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/slideout_userpilot_40d751f8cac92e41c6a180ea5037aed6_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/slideout_userpilot_40d751f8cac92e41c6a180ea5037aed6_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/slideout_userpilot_40d751f8cac92e41c6a180ea5037aed6_800.jpg\" alt=\"slideout\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<h4 id=\"283dg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-onboarding-checklist-tips\/\">Checklists<\/a>:<\/h4>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-onboarding-checklist_d7a59de49d1ab33b15bea1a8e97c3e1e_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-onboarding-checklist_d7a59de49d1ab33b15bea1a8e97c3e1e_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/userpilot-onboarding-checklist_d7a59de49d1ab33b15bea1a8e97c3e1e_800.jpg\" alt=\"checklist\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Since they are often larger than annotated UX patterns, embedded UX patterns are commonly used to flag the user and get their attention.<\/p>\n<p>Compared with annotated UX elements, which are best used to draw attention to just <em>one<\/em> key action, the guidance given by embedded UX is often a bit broader in scope.<\/p>\n<p>For instance:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Checklists<\/strong> are frequently used to list multiple key actions on the path to activation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slideouts<\/strong> might be used to announce a new product feature or a possible plan upgrade<\/li>\n<li><strong>Popups<\/strong> can be really handy for bringing up a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/microsurveys-saas-product\/\">microsurvey<\/a> that you want the user to fill in during onboarding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Like their annotated cousins, embedded UX patterns tend to be overused by most SaaS teams.<\/p>\n<p>From a user\u2019s perspective, there\u2019s nothing more annoying than multiple slideouts popping up all over the place to try to get your attention when you\u2019re in the middle of doing something.<\/p>\n<p>So don\u2019t overuse your embedded UX patterns.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, highlight the most important actions you want to draw to your customer\u2019s attention and leave it at that.<\/p>\n<p>A good rule of thumb is never to have more than one embedded element pop up at any one moment.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise, you risk having your users <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-education-saas\/\">churn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"f4edb\"><strong>Dedicated UX patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>These are the largest UX patterns.<\/p>\n<p>So large, in fact, that the entire screen is <em>dedicated<\/em> to them \u2014 hence the name.<\/p>\n<p>Because of their size, dedicated UX patterns are often used for important data collection, in cases where it\u2019s essential that there\u2019s nothing to distract the user.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of dedicated UX patterns include:<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"2uii0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\">Welcome screens:<\/a><\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/welcome-screen-userpilot_acb469adf89f5729121a5a4b7828c2f6_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/welcome-screen-userpilot_acb469adf89f5729121a5a4b7828c2f6_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/welcome-screen-userpilot_acb469adf89f5729121a5a4b7828c2f6_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/welcome-screen-userpilot_acb469adf89f5729121a5a4b7828c2f6_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/welcome-screen-userpilot_acb469adf89f5729121a5a4b7828c2f6_800.png\" alt=\"welcome screen\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"evpla\"><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\">Sign-up forms:<\/a><\/h3>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sign-up_d351143329fdf03a658b61ade62ff7b2_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sign-up_d351143329fdf03a658b61ade62ff7b2_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/sign-up_d351143329fdf03a658b61ade62ff7b2_800.png\" alt=\"sign-up form\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Source: Fullstory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Given their all-encompassing nature, dedicated UX patterns do sometimes require a bit of patience on behalf of users who are chomping at the bit to use your product.<\/p>\n<p>This is especially true if it\u2019s a long welcome screen with a massive <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/good-onboarding-surveys\/\">onboarding survey<\/a> or a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\">friction-based sign-up form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the upside of using such a large screen is that UX patterns build a sense of anticipation in the user for what comes next.<\/p>\n<p>And in cases where your product requires a lot of data collection before it works properly, dedicated UX is a great choice.<\/p>\n<p>Now that you understand the 3 main types of onboarding UX patterns and what they\u2019re used for, let\u2019s explore the most common individual UX patterns in a bit more detail.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"d20pm\"><strong>Individual Onboarding UX patterns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There are several main UX patterns that are used during onboarding, with each one playing a unique role in the overall process.<\/p>\n<p>You can use them however you please, but this article will take you through them in the order they appear in most SaaS products:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"4q7ku\"><strong>Sign-up form<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A sign-up form is one of the most important UX patterns you will use when onboarding new users.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because it\u2019s the first thing that new users see. As in the offline world, first impressions mean a lot.<\/p>\n<p>To design your sign-up flow correctly, you should first consider whether you want it to be <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\">frictionless or friction-based<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Friction in this instance refers to the number of hurdles placed in your customer\u2019s way before they start using your product.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frictionless<\/strong> sign-up forms are as short, quick, and easy to fill out as possible. They should not get in the way of the customer using your product any longer than is strictly necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Your average frictionless sign-up form will have 2-3 form fields to fill in, something that can be done in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Look at Airtable\u2019s sign-up form. It\u2019s about as lean as you could possibly imagine:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Airtable-signup_7d6b613542b45c3eb5fc1623d01315aa_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Airtable-signup_7d6b613542b45c3eb5fc1623d01315aa_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Airtable-signup_7d6b613542b45c3eb5fc1623d01315aa_800.png\" alt=\"airtable signup\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Other ways you can reduce friction for your customer during the sign-up phase of onboarding include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reducing password conditions such as requiring a certain number of letters and numbers to a minimum<\/li>\n<li>Enabling autofill to save customers from manually filling out dates and phone numbers<\/li>\n<li>Minimizing the number of fields on your sign-up form<\/li>\n<li>Enabling third party sign-up via platforms like Google or Facebook, as opposed to forcing users to create a brand-new account specifically to use your product<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In practice, frictionless sign-up forms are the best choice for most businesses.<\/p>\n<p>But there are occasions where SaaS companies need to collect lots of user data upfront to ensure that their product works as intended.<\/p>\n<p>Other times, digital products will need to gather customer data upfront for security reasons \u2014 such as if you\u2019re signing up for a new online bank account, for example.<\/p>\n<p>In such cases, a <strong>friction-based <\/strong>sign-up is a better design choice.<\/p>\n<p>An example of a company that uses such a sign-up form in this way is FullStory, which produces session replay software.<\/p>\n<p>FullStory has almost no value as a product without its users first installing the FullStory JS snippet.<\/p>\n<p>The company has therefore decided to extend its sign-up flow, meaning that customers have to install the snippet before they can do anything else.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-code_fe2877596d66c3ab99020c99edf9a05c_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-code_fe2877596d66c3ab99020c99edf9a05c_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/fullstory-code_fe2877596d66c3ab99020c99edf9a05c_800.png\" alt=\"JS snippet\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Source: FullStory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This qualifies as friction, and so reduces the number of people who become users.<\/p>\n<p>But the huge upside is that the users that do sign up get the full value of FullStory\u2019s product.<\/p>\n<p>You can find out more about how to deal with friction in sign-up forms by reading<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\"> this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"bmorn\"><strong>Welcome screens<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\">Welcome screens<\/a> are commonly used during onboarding to welcome new users onto your platform.<\/p>\n<p>Typical elements include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A smiley photo of one of your team members<\/li>\n<li>A greeting from your business<\/li>\n<li>Addressing the customer by their first name<\/li>\n<li>Briefly referring to any next steps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A number of SaaS companies forget that welcome screens are also a great place to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-segmentation\/\">segment your users<\/a> so that their remaining onboarding experience can be customized to their individual customer needs.<\/p>\n<p>From a UX design perspective, the best way to do this is through a microsurvey.<\/p>\n<p>As the name suggests, this doesn\u2019t have to be long.<\/p>\n<p>Just ask the user a few basic questions so that you have a sense of what value they want to derive from using your product.<\/p>\n<p>During the ensuing product <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/walkthrough-software\/\">walkthrough<\/a>, you\u2019ll then want to show them only the product features that their user segment needs in order to activate.<\/p>\n<p>Look at how <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/kontentino-case-study\/\">Kontentino<\/a> does this:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino_4398dfa35415e687e44a3cca4d5a7e76_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino_4398dfa35415e687e44a3cca4d5a7e76_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino_4398dfa35415e687e44a3cca4d5a7e76_800.jpg\" alt=\"kontentino welcome\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>As a social media scheduling company, it\u2019s important for them to know up front whether their users are brands with one set of social accounts, or agencies managing dozens of them on behalf of multiple clients.<\/p>\n<p>So they ask this question on the welcome screen.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome screens are most often built on what\u2019s called a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.userpilot.com\/article\/197-understanding-how-steps-work\">modal<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Classically, a modal is a dedicated UX pattern that is so large that it visually separates the customer from the product.<\/p>\n<p>Because it\u2019s so large, a welcome screen can be perceived as disruptive by the customer if it\u2019s in the way of the product experience for too long.<\/p>\n<p>From a designer\u2019s point of view, there are three ways to prevent this disruption from being too frustrating for your users:<\/p>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>Don\u2019t just be cutesy on your welcome screen. Instead, make sure that you ask the user questions about their background which will facilitate their future product experience.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the microsurvey on your welcome screen as short as possible. Don\u2019t burden your customer with more bureaucracy than is strictly necessary.<\/li>\n<li>If you really want to avoid disrupting their product experience, present your welcome screen as a smaller embedded UX pattern instead of a dedicated pattern that takes up the whole screen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For more about welcome screens, we recommend that you read <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/welcome-screen-saas\/\">this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"b15fh\"><strong>Demo content<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/demo-content\/\">Demo content<\/a> is fictitious placeholder data that shows customers how your product could hypothetically be used for their specific use case.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a UX pattern that you often see after the initial welcome sequence is complete, especially for more complex products where it\u2019s not immediately clear to your customer what your product would look like after they\u2019ve populated it with their data.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, demo content is typically used to fill <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/empty-state-time-to-value\/\">empty states<\/a>, so as to prevent your user from becoming overwhelmed by the blank screen in front of them and not knowing how to fill it.<\/p>\n<p>When you design your demo content, make sure that you create different fake content for <em>each user segment<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This might seem like a small detail, but it really means a lot to your users.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a project manager, you\u2019re not going to be interested in data that\u2019s aimed at hairdressers!<\/p>\n<p>You should also ensure that the data you input is actually fake, rather than compromising your customers\u2019 privacy. These days, it\u2019s easy enough to generate placeholder data from public APIs or open-source databases of fake user profiles.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of dummy data generated by the open source DataFairy database. It\u2019s quite convincing!<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/datafairy_bdf8debce8bd2435992211c39796f18f_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/datafairy_bdf8debce8bd2435992211c39796f18f_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/datafairy_bdf8debce8bd2435992211c39796f18f_800.png\" alt=\"datafairy dummy data\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Ideally, you should tell your users directly that this is fake data.<\/p>\n<p>And it should be immediately obvious to the user how to replace the dummy data with their own, real data.<\/p>\n<p>The last thing you want from a UX perspective is dummy data popping up a year into your customer\u2019s product experience!<\/p>\n<p>For more about dummy data, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/demo-content\/\">this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"9kl8k\"><strong>Checklists<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>During SaaS onboarding, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-onboarding-checklist-tips\/\">checklists<\/a> are commonly used as part of the product walkthrough to list the key actions a user needs to take before activating.<\/p>\n<p>One of the embedded UX patterns, checklists, help set the user\u2019s expectations, encouraging them to take action in the direction of activation.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because checklists harness the Zeigarnik effect: the observation that humans are more likely to remember incomplete tasks than completed ones.<\/p>\n<p>By listing tasks on your checklist, you therefore ensure that those tasks stay top of mind for your user.<\/p>\n<p>The most common mistake I\u2019ve seen SaaS companies make when it comes to checklists is to give users too many things to do at once.<\/p>\n<p>Less is more in this instance. Focus only on the 1-3 product features the user needs to learn in order to activate.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone likes the feeling of having checked off an important task, so build into your design that you\u2019ll give your users a sense of having a quick win.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen numerous companies give users credit on a checklist for an action they took before the checklist popped up on their screen.<\/p>\n<p>For example, on this checklist from GrowthMentor, you can see the user was given credit for creating an account \u2014 which was something they did during the sign-up flow.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/growthmentor-checklist_495a8f5e75b1bf7863b7d15bb7e10018_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/growthmentor-checklist_495a8f5e75b1bf7863b7d15bb7e10018_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/growthmentor-checklist_495a8f5e75b1bf7863b7d15bb7e10018_800.png\" alt=\"growth mentor checklist\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Source: GrowthMentor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For more guidance on how to make the perfect checklist, have a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-onboarding-checklist-tips\/\">this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"88kup\"><strong>Tooltips<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-create-tooltips\/\">Tooltips<\/a> are an annotated UX pattern that is often used during onboarding to draw attention to one specific feature of the user interface.<\/p>\n<p>On desktop, tooltips normally appear when the user hovers over a particular UI feature.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, on mobile, tooltips normally appear when the user taps and holds the element in question.<\/p>\n<p>Tooltips come in two main varieties:<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>native tooltip<\/strong> is a standalone pattern that is integrated directly into your product. Native tooltips are often used for pointing out fairly straightforward UI elements.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of a native tooltip:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/native-tooltip_5884706c86ee4d58b14e440d79252529.gif 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/native-tooltip_5884706c86ee4d58b14e440d79252529.gif 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/native-tooltip_5884706c86ee4d58b14e440d79252529.gif\" alt=\"native tooltip\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Alternatively, you can also create tooltips that are <strong>part of a larger experience flow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In this instance, it\u2019s often the case that you can chain multiple tooltips together and have later tooltips only display once the user has completed a certain pre-defined custom event.<\/p>\n<p>Let me show you what I mean.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-2_5761fa12bab6b0a28fc382d6a16b9ac2_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-2_5761fa12bab6b0a28fc382d6a16b9ac2_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-2_5761fa12bab6b0a28fc382d6a16b9ac2_800.png\" alt=\"kontentino onboarding\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Here\u2019s a tooltip created by Kontentino towards the end of their onboarding flow. It highlights the second of two key actions users need to take in order to activate: namely scheduling a social media post.<\/p>\n<p>But it will only show after the user has completed the first key action: in this case, by connecting their social media account.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-1_ab1e8022436da98e4332759ba0dd759c_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-1_ab1e8022436da98e4332759ba0dd759c_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/kontentino-tooltip-1_ab1e8022436da98e4332759ba0dd759c_800.png\" alt=\"kontentino social media\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>One design technique you can use to make this UX pattern really stand out is to highlight a feature and the tooltip next it, while simultaneously darkening everything else.<\/p>\n<p>This is very disruptive, so I would suggest using it sparingly, but it is very effective at getting the user\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p>To learn how to build tooltips, see<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-create-tooltips\/\"> this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"94oke\"><strong>Do you require coding knowledge to make Onboarding UX Patterns?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In the past, building even a humble tooltip would have required tons of code.<\/p>\n<p>When I say tons of code, imagine this level of technical wizardry\u2026<\/p>\n<p><code><em>&lt;html&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;head&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;title&gt;HTML tooltip&lt;\/title&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/head&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;style&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>.arrowpopup {<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>position: relative;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>display: inline-block;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>cursor: pointer;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>}<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>.arrowpopup .tooltiptext {<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>visibility: hidden;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>width: 160px;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>background-color: #856;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>color: white;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>text-align: center;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>border-radius: 4px;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>padding: 9px ;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>position: absolute;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>bottom: 150%;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>left: 50%;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>margin-left: -85px;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>}<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>.arrowpopup .tooltiptext::after {<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>content: \"\";<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>position: absolute;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>top: 100%;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>left: 50%;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>margin-left: -5px;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>border-width: 5px;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>border-style: solid;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>border-color: #856 transparent transparent transparent;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>}<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>.arrowpopup .show {<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>visibility: visible;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>}<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/style&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;body style=\"padding:100px;\"&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;div class=\"arrowpopup\" onclick=\"myFunction()\"&gt;Tooltip Demo Click here!<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;span class=\"tooltiptext\" id=\"tooltipdemo\"&gt;HTML Tooltip helps you to display extra information of element.&lt;\/span&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/div&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;script&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>function myFunction() {<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>var tt = document.getElementById(\"tooltipdemo\");<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>tt.classList.toggle(\"show\");<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>}<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/script&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/body&gt;<\/em><\/code><br \/>\n<code><em>&lt;\/html&gt;<\/em><\/code><\/p>\n<p>\u2026 all to create a tooltip that looks as simple as this:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HTMLtooltip_a54cf7c8d4f07ae21c74b9a0ac8f5a1a_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HTMLtooltip_a54cf7c8d4f07ae21c74b9a0ac8f5a1a_800.jpg 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HTMLtooltip_a54cf7c8d4f07ae21c74b9a0ac8f5a1a_800.jpg\" alt=\"tooltip example\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Source: Educba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Not very scalable, and not the sort of thing you want your devs to spend a lot of time doing.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there is a workaround.<\/p>\n<p>Onboarding tools enable you to build a vast range of UX patterns directly in your browser, without any knowledge of code whatsoever. All you need to do is install one quick JS snippet. Even the least technical of product marketers will be able to build UX patterns in just a few clicks.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image regular \"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Userpilot-UI-patterns-and-actions_2000_797304129a21098522ae0bf6e5faba0a_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Userpilot-UI-patterns-and-actions_2000_797304129a21098522ae0bf6e5faba0a_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Userpilot-UI-patterns-and-actions_2000_797304129a21098522ae0bf6e5faba0a_800.png\" alt=\"userpilot UX builder\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>For more information about how to apply an onboarding tool to your business, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-onboarding-tools\/\">this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"muuo\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We hope you enjoyed this guide to onboarding UX patterns!<\/p>\n<p>After reading this article, you should be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify which category the most common UX patterns belong to<\/li>\n<li>Know how to design a range of UX patterns in a manner that fits the commercial needs of your business<\/li>\n<li>Remember that you don\u2019t need to code UX patterns from scratch anymore in 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for a great onboarding tool that will help you build UX patterns without using code, we hope you\u2019ll consider Userpilot.<\/p>\n<p>Start your free trial today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly? And how do you go about building your onboarding UX patterns without a ton of code?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":9134,"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":[209,141,140,49,84,550,92,173,381,340,50,51,83,100],"class_list":["post-9133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-user-onboarding-category","tag-complex-product-onboarding","tag-customer-onboarding-software","tag-customer-onboarding-tools","tag-onboarding-experience","tag-onboarding-tips","tag-onboarding-tools","tag-onboarding-ux","tag-personalized-onboarding","tag-product-onboarding","tag-saas-onboarding-tools","tag-user-onboarding","tag-user-onboarding-experience","tag-user-onboarding-tips","tag-user-onboarding-tools"],"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>Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?\" \/>\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\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1126\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Userpilot Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Userpilot Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Userpilot Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00\"},\"headline\":\"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\"},\"wordCount\":2620,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png\",\"keywords\":[\"complex product onboarding\",\"customer onboarding software\",\"customer onboarding tools\",\"Onboarding Experience\",\"Onboarding tips\",\"onboarding tools\",\"Onboarding UX\",\"personalized onboarding\",\"product onboarding\",\"saas onboarding tools\",\"User Onboarding\",\"User Onboarding Experience\",\"User Onboarding tips\",\"user onboarding tools\"],\"articleSection\":[\"User Onboarding\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\",\"name\":\"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00\"},\"description\":\"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1126,\"caption\":\"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00\",\"name\":\"Userpilot Team\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/author\/_up_marketing\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX","description":"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX","og_description":"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?","og_url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/","og_site_name":"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog","article_published_time":"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1126,"url":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Userpilot Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Userpilot Team","Est. reading time":"15 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/"},"author":{"name":"Userpilot Team","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00"},"headline":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX","datePublished":"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/"},"wordCount":2620,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png","keywords":["complex product onboarding","customer onboarding software","customer onboarding tools","Onboarding Experience","Onboarding tips","onboarding tools","Onboarding UX","personalized onboarding","product onboarding","saas onboarding tools","User Onboarding","User Onboarding Experience","User Onboarding tips","user onboarding tools"],"articleSection":["User Onboarding"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/","name":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png","datePublished":"2021-07-27T19:34:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T14:04:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00"},"description":"All onboarding processes need the right UX patterns. The question is: how do you make sure your chosen patterns are designed correctly?","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-ux-patterns\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Onboarding-UX-Patterns-A-Short-Guide-To-Onboarding-UX_067cde19b4926109130d99456ea33465_2000.png","width":2000,"height":1126,"caption":"Onboarding UX Patterns: A Short Guide to Onboarding UX"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/","name":"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c23f142272c9525f442450e3db3b3d00","name":"Userpilot Team","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/author\/_up_marketing\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576767,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133\/revisions\/576767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}