Mkt Onboarding

---
name: mkt-onboarding
description: User activation and onboarding optimization — time-to-value, aha moment, first-run flow, checklist design. Use when user says "onboarding", "activation", "first-run experience", "time to value", "Aha moment". Post-churn winback is mkt-churn-prevention.
license: MIT
metadata:
  source: "coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT)"
  category: marketing
---

# Onboarding — Activation Design

**The goal of onboarding is not "finishing the tutorial" but shortening time to first value.** A tutorial with no defined activation point is just a churn point.

## Design Order

1. **Derive the Aha moment** — find the actions top-retention cohorts took in their first week in the data (e.g. inviting 3 teammates within 7 days). Correlation is enough — causal experiments come later
2. **Shrink TVT** — Time-to-Value. Pulling the first experience forward with immediate value (sample data, templates, bulk import) is the biggest lever
3. **Checklist** — 5 items or fewer, only the minimum path to Aha. Completion rewards that are social (team notifications) outlast material ones
4. **Guide placement** — in-app tooltips right before the action, explanations after rather than before. Video tutorials are a last resort

## Judgment Criteria

- Activation baseline: completing the core action within the first session, 25~40% (B2C) or 40~60% (B2B team products). Below that, redesign onboarding itself
- Each added onboarding step cuts completion 10~20% — respond to requests to add steps with removals instead
- Segment split: if entry intent differs (user vs buyer), split the onboarding too. One flow ruins one of the two
- Post-churn resumption: keeping incomplete checklist items resident on the dashboard beats email reminders

## Output

```
# Onboarding Improvement Plan — {product}
## Aha moment hypothesis + supporting data
## Current journey step table (step | drop-off | keep/delete/reorder)
## Redesigned flow (≤5 steps, each with a purpose)
## Activation KPI + measurement definition
## Experiment backlog (ICE order)
```