An analysis of 1,460 onboarding flows across 986 apps and websites (sourced from Mobbin) examining what makes effective onboarding. Topics include a framework for good onboarding, showing outcomes, conversational tone, personalization and personalized outcomes, paywalls, making long flows feel short, teaching in context, asking for information at the right moment, and whether onboarding is needed at all. # Video Identity Observations ## Creator Self-Description & Claims - **Research-driven UX/product design creator.** The creator frames themselves as a researcher of design patterns: *"I've studied over a thousand onboarding flows to find out what makes good onboarding."* The title reinforces this with a specific figure: *"I Studied 1,460 Onboarding Flows."* - **Claims original empirical findings that challenge conventional wisdom.** *"A lot of what I've read says keep it short, but based on what I found, the average app has 25 onboarding screens."* - **Affiliation with Mobbin.** The creator references Mobbin repeatedly as their own platform/context: *"For Mobbin, it's finding a screen or an animation that you love"*; *"If you go on Mobbin and do an AI search... you will find more ideas like this"*; *"did you know that onboarding flows are the second most searched on Mobbin?"* This suggests the channel is produced by or closely tied to the Mobbin product/design-inspiration brand. - **Serial video series with data as the format.** The outro commits to future episodes: *"For the next video... we're going to dive really deep into dashboards and see what the data tells us."* ## Intended Audience Evidence points to **product designers, UX professionals, and app builders**: - Vocabulary assumes fluency: "aha moment," "paywall," "microcopy," "empty state," "onboarding flow," "free trial conversion." - Practitioner framing of decisions the audience would make: *"we can't just copy what worked"*; *"I don't think there's one right or wrong way to design an onboarding flow."* - ROI-oriented metrics appeal to growth-minded builders: *"10% increase in free trial conversion," "5% increase in subscriptions," "15% increase in conversions."* - The community-style call to action targets like-minded viewers: *"Subscribe if this vibes with you."* ## Claimed Scope - **App/website onboarding UX**, analyzed at scale across categories (finance, health/fitness, education, AI products) and platforms (iOS vs. web: *"web onboarding is 21% shorter than iOS"*). - Includes **market/cultural nuance**: *"Users in Eastern markets tend to be more comfortable with information-heavy interfaces."* - Extends beyond onboarding to adjacent UX concerns (paywalls, checklists, notification prompts, dashboards teased next). ## Demonstrated Presentation Patterns (Observable, Not Claimed) - **Data-led structure**: statistics anchor nearly every section (22% paywalls, 23% personalization, 986/900+ app samples, 60 Duolingo screens). - **Named case studies as evidence**: Airbnb, Netflix, Duolingo, Headspace, Grammarly, Superhuman, Tinder, Basecamp, Speak, Brilliant, Focus Flight, and many others — a survey-of-examples format. - **Conversational, first-person narration** with a curiosity-driven arc ("Okay, so...", "And this one surprised me."), casual asides ("It's pretty cute," "the raccoon is quite lovable"). - **A stated design philosophy emerging from analysis**: *"they brought users to value quickly"*; *"it all boils down to the product."* ## Distinguishing Claims vs. Demonstrated Evidence | Creator claim | Supporting material shown | |---|---| | Studied 1,000–1,460 onboarding flows | Referenced counts in title/transcript; specific stats cited (not the raw study itself) | | Conversion lifts (e.g., Headspace 10%, Grammarly ~20%) | Stated figures attributed to named apps; methodology not shown in transcript | | Longest onboarding categories | Finance dominance claim: *"Seven out of 10 of these longest apps are actually finance apps"* | The channel's presentation demonstrates a **data-backed, example-rich, practitioner-oriented format** under a design-inspiration product brand (Mobbin), while its own claims rest on asserted research breadth rather than shown methodology. # Delivery Observation: "I Studied 1,460 Onboarding Flows. Here's What I Found." ## Overall Tone - **Conversational research-brief style.** The speaker presents a large-scale data study ("I've studied over a thousand onboarding flows") in a casual, first-person voice rather than a formal report. - **Curious and slightly surprised.** Frequent signals of discovery: "Okay, this one surprised me," "And the crazy part is it doesn't even feel long." - **Light and playful.** Casual asides like "It's pretty cute," "The raccoon is quite lovable," "Subscribe if this vibes with you." ## Recurring Phrases and Vocabulary - **"I kept seeing" / "Another pattern I noticed"** — used to introduce each finding, framing the video as pattern-spotting rather than prescriptive rules: > "The best onboarding screens I've kept seeing had one thing in common." > "Another pattern that I kept seeing is a lot of apps show a custom screen before the notification pop-up." - **Outcome-oriented verbs.** "It makes the app feel like yours," "it removes a reason to get stuck," "it drove a 10% relative increase." - **Delight/desirability words.** "Delightful," "fun," "approachable," "effortless," "lovable." - **Hedged, non-absolute framing.** "Maybe keeping our onboarding flows short was never the point," "Maybe the friction we add in one place removes friction in another," "Maybe it all boils down to the product." The word "maybe" recurs to soften conclusions. ## Teaching Habits - **Pattern → example → metric loop.** Nearly every claim follows this structure. Example: > "Some apps don't just collect answers during the quiz. They actually show you what those answers unlocked." → Endel, Byte Pal, Brilliant, Speak examples → "almost a 20% increase in plan upgrades." - **Named concrete products throughout.** Airbnb, Netflix, Duolingo, Headspace, Grammarly, Superhuman, Tinder, Basecamp, Runkeeper, Tide, Speak, Timely, and many others — each teaching point is anchored to a real app. - **Percentages as credibility anchors.** "23% of apps personalize during onboarding, with AI apps at only 7%," "led to 10% increase in free trial conversion," "15% increase in conversions," "22% of them throws a paywall." - **"X does this / does this really well" constructions** to hand off from principle to example: "Timehop does this really simply," "Runkeeper does this with animation," "To-do apps does this really well, too." - **Guided walkthroughs with second-person "you."** Consistent use of "you" to walk viewers through flows: "You sign up, set up your account, you hit the aha moment," "You just download the app, answer two questions, watch it customize your recommendations." - **Rhetorical question framing.** Opens and closes on the same question: "do we even need one?" → "So, do we even need onboarding?" ## Communication Patterns - **Anti-prescriptive stance.** Repeatedly warns against copying: "which is partly why we can't just copy what worked," "I don't think there's one right or wrong way." - **Structural signposting.** "Okay," "As for," "Here's another one by," "So, out of 900-plus apps" — frequent verbal transitions between examples. - **Escalation rhythm within example chains.** "And Elma goes one step further," "Center takes it one step further" — building intensity across successive examples. - **Self-referential product tie-in.** Uses Mobbin (apparently the speaker's product) as both a data source and an example, ending with a forward-looking hook: "For the next video, I have a feeling that we're going to dive really deep into dashboards." - **Casual closer with subscription ask.** "So, stick around. Subscribe if this vibes with you." ## Uncertainty Notes - Tone is assessed from transcript text only; visual pacing, voice inflection, and music cues ([music] markers appear frequently) are not observable in detail. - "Maybe" hedging and "I kept seeing" are clearly repeated, but the transcript is a single video — recurrence across other videos cannot be verified. # Observed Positions & Claims — "I Studied 1,460 Onboarding Flows. Here's What I Found." ## Speaker Attribution - The entire transcript is a single unnamed narrator (the video creator). No other speakers are identified in the source material; bracketed `[music]` segments are transcript artifacts, not speakers. - All claims below are attributed to **the narrator** as stated claims, not verified facts. ## Core Claim: Onboarding Length ≠ Bad Onboarding - The narrator states they studied "over a thousand onboarding flows." - Contrary to advice to "keep it short," the narrator reports: - The average app has **25 onboarding screens**. - Longest categories: **finance, music, health & fitness, education**. - **7 out of 10** of the longest flows are finance apps. - Some of the longest onboarding flows belong to the **most successful apps**; some of the shortest belong to **AI products**. - Concluded tentatively: *"maybe keeping our onboarding flows short was never the point."* ## Position 1: Sell the Outcome, Not Features - The narrator claims the best onboarding screens "are not listing features, they're selling the outcome." - **Aha moment framing**: sign up → set up account → hit the aha moment where product value is felt. - Airbnb = first booking; Netflix = finding and watching a show; Mobbin = saving a loved screen to a collection. - Examples cited: - **Timehop**: welcome screen shows product in action. - **Runkeeper**: animation conveys function "without reading a single word." - **Elma (as transcribed)**: lets users try the core experience before sign-up — narrator notes they "rarely see apps with AI features" doing this. - **Superhuman**: copy tweak turning sign-up into a pitch with logos as social proof. ## Position 2: Human / Founder Touch - The narrator highlights apps that "skip the pitch entirely and just feel human": - **One Year**: founder's note with handwritten signature and hand-drawn flower. - **Tinder**: acknowledges upcoming birthdays. - **Airbnb**: CEO video after successfully listing a first space (narrator notes this is *not* in the onboarding flow proper). - **Basecamp**: personal CEO note after account creation. - Narrator's expressed reaction: "It feels like the product was made with intention." "It's pretty cute." ## Position 3: Personalization Worth the User's Time - Stated figures: **23% of apps personalize during onboarding; AI apps only 7%**. - Narrator's interpretation: AI tools "let the product learn from us instead" of asking questions upfront. - Examples with claimed results (as reported by the narrator, not independently verified): - **Tide**: two questions → customized recommendations → sign-up prompt. "Short and sweet." - **Headspace**: allowing multiple goals instead of one → **10% increase in free trial conversion**. - **Focus Flight**: map style choice during onboarding. - **Dollar Shave Club**: more conversational quiz copy → **5% increase in subscriptions**. - **Endless / Byte Pal / Brilliant / Speak**: show users what their answers "unlocked" (personal plans, goal dates, tailored course pages, projected outcomes). ## Position 4: Paywalls During Onboarding - Stated figure: **22% of 900+ apps/websites throw a paywall during onboarding**. - Patterns noted: - Quiz + one-time offer for urgency. - **Timely**: full page of social proof before the paywall. - **Focus Flight**: paywall shaped like a flight ticket with haptic vibration — "a paywall that actually feels delightful." - **Grammarly**: quiz-based tailored pricing → **almost 20% increase in plan upgrades** (narrator's reported figure). ## Position 5: Long Flows That Don't Feel Long - **Duolingo**: among the longest flows; ~**60 screens before sign-up**; account creation comes *after* the first completed lesson. - **Bump** (as transcribed): creative loading states, animated verification. - **Bipul** (as transcribed): 61 screens, animations, virtual pet raccoon, value emphasized ("you'll lose weight by an exact date"), then a paywall. ## Position 6: Progressive Guidance Over Front-Loaded Education - **Cake Equity**: makes dry concepts (equity, vesting) approachable via reassuring copy and tooltips. - Small friction-removers: real-time password requirement checkoffs, progress indicators, microcopy. - **To-do apps**: pre-populated empty states instead of blank screens, "no guided tours, no pop-ups." - **Mural** (narrator's claim): replacing pop-ups/banners with a six-step checklist → **10% relative increase in one-week retention**; checklists persist after dismissal. - Pre-notification custom screens (e.g., **Brilliant**, **Center**): narrator claims this "improves accept rates significantly"; Center teases the actual notification content. ## Contrarian / Qualifying Observations - The narrator flags an unexpected finding: a company ("House" as transcribed) split its sign-up form into multiple screens and saw a **15% increase in conversions**, prompting: *"Maybe the friction we add in one place removes friction in another."* - Stated figure: web onboarding is **21% shorter than iOS**, possibly because mobile has more permission and paywall screens baked in. - **Cultural caveat**: users in Eastern markets may prefer information-heavy interfaces — "what feels like clutter to one audience feels efficient to another, which is partly why we can't just copy what worked." ## Final Position - The narrator explicitly disclaims a universal formula: *"I don't think there's one right or wrong way to design an onboarding flow that's best in class."* - Common thread in favorite examples: they "brought users to value quickly" — via delight in long flows, personalization, or **getting out of the way**. - On "do we even need onboarding?": for products like Mobbin ("the product speaks for itself") and AI chat apps ("the first prompt is where users find value"), the narrator suggests the best experience may be **no onboarding at all**. - Closing tentative thesis: *"Maybe it all boils down to the product."* ## Housekeeping Claims - Onboarding flows are "the second most searched" topic on Mobbin (narrator's claim). - Next video teased: dashboards. ## Unresolved Tensions Preserved - Long vs. short onboarding: the narrator never resolves this; both long (Duolingo, Bipul) and non-existent (AI chat apps) onboarding are praised. - Added friction (multi-screen sign-up) improving conversion contradicts the friction-reduction theme; the narrator leaves this as an open question rather than a conclusion. - All percentage/conversion figures are the narrator's reported findings; the video provides no cited methodology beyond screen counts of studied flows. # Speaker & Provenance Record — "I Studied 1,460 Onboarding Flows. Here's What I Found." ## Speakers & Roles | Speaker | Role | Basis | |---|---|---| | Unnamed host | **Creator / narrator** (first-person throughout) | Single continuous first-person voiceover; no guests or interviews identified | | "You sign up, set up your account…" segment | Same creator, quoted phrasing | No second speaker is actually distinguished in transcript | - No guest speakers, interviewees, or third-party narrators are identified. - No on-camera identities, channel name, or creator name is supplied in metadata or transcript. ## Referenced Sources & Claims (third-party, as stated by creator) > The following figures are creator claims from a self-described study; no underlying dataset or citations are provided in the transcript. ### Study scope - **1,460 onboarding flows studied** (title); transcript alternately cites "over a thousand," "900-plus apps and websites," and "986 apps" for specific stats — inconsistent denominators recorded as stated. ### Specific third-party claims (companies + numbers) - **Average app**: 25 onboarding screens; longest categories: finance, health & fitness, education; 7 of 10 longest are finance apps. - **Shortest flows**: three are AI products. - **Headspace**: allowing multiple goals → **10% increase** in free trial conversion. - **Dollar Shave Club**: conversational quiz copy → **5% increase** in subscriptions. - **Grammarly**: tailored pricing plans from quiz answers → **~20% increase** in plan upgrades. - **Mural**: checklist replacing pop-ups → **10% relative increase** in one-week retention. - **"House" (company as named)**: split sign-up form → **15% increase** in conversions. - **23% of apps** personalize during onboarding; **AI apps at 7%**. - **22%** throw a paywall during onboarding. - **Web onboarding is 21% shorter than iOS** (creator's explanation: more permission/paywall screens on mobile). - **Duolingo**: ~60 screens before sign-up; among longest flows. - **Bump / "Bipul"**: 61 screens (names as transcribed; possible ASR ambiguity). ### Companies cited as examples (no numeric claims) Timehop, Runkeeper, "Elma," Superhuman, One Year, Tinder, Airbnb, Basecamp, Tide, Focus Flight, Endless, Byte Pal, Brilliant, Speak, Timely, Cake Equity, Mobbin, Center, Netflix, Duolingo. ## Promotional Content - **Promotional flag — Mobbin**: The video promotes the creator's product **Mobbin** throughout: - "If you go on Mobbin and do an AI search for onboarding checklist…" - "Mobbin is a place to find design inspiration. The product speaks for itself." - "…onboarding flows are the second most searched on Mobbin?" - Mobbin is also cited as an example ("for Mobbin, it's finding a screen…") — same creator affiliation implied but not explicitly confirmed in-source. - Channel-growth CTA at close: "Subscribe if this vibes with you," plus tease of a **future video on dashboards**. ## Comment Availability - Not mentioned in transcript or metadata. **Unavailable.** ## Uncertainty Notes - Creator identity, channel name, and relationship to Mobbin are **not explicitly stated** in the source. - Company name spellings ("Elma," "Bipul," "House," "Byte Pal," "Focus Flight") are as transcribed and may contain ASR errors. - The 1,460 / 986 / 900-plus figure discrepancy is recorded verbatim; no reconciliation exists in-source. I've studied over a thousand onboarding flows to find out what makes good onboarding and do we even need one? A lot of what I've read says keep it short, but based on what I found, the average app has 25 onboarding screens. The longest categories are finance, \[music\] health and fitness, and education. Seven out of 10 of these longest apps are actually finance apps as \[music\] well. Some of the apps with the longest onboarding flows are also one of the most successful ones. When we look at apps with the shortest onboarding flows, three of them are AI products. So, maybe keeping our onboarding flows short was never the point. The best onboarding seem to follow this pattern. \>\> \[music\] \>\> You sign up, set up your account, you hit the aha moment. That's where you actually feel the product's value. For Airbnb, it's making your first booking. For Netflix, it's finding and watching a show. For Mobbin, it's finding a screen or an animation that you love and saving it to your collection. So, what are these apps actually doing? The best onboarding screens I've kept seeing had one thing in common. They're not listing features, they're selling the outcome. Timehop does this really simply. \>\> \[music\] \>\> Their welcome screen is just showing the product in action on both their mobile app and desktop. Runkeeper does this with animation. The moment you open the app, you get a feel for what it does without reading a single word. And Elma \[music\] goes one step further. It lets you try the core experience before you sign up. I rarely see apps with AI features who lets you try it out before signing up an account. And sometimes it could just be a copy tweak like Superhuman. They turn a boring sign up screen into a pitch with logos on the side as social proof. Some apps skip the pitch entirely and just feel human. This is an app called One Year. So, in their onboarding flow, they included a founder's note, which had \[music\] a handwritten signature and a hand-drawn flower in it. It's pretty cute. And Tinder \[music\] acknowledge when your birthday is around the corner. Airbnb, well, this one's not even in the onboarding flow, but when you successfully list your first space, they show you a video from their CEO. It's a founder's touch at the aha moment. As for Basecamp, they put a personal note from the CEO after you've created an account. It feels like the product was made with intention. And one of the best onboarding flows add personalization into the flow, and they make it worth your time. 23% of apps personalize during onboarding, with AI apps at only 7%. It seems like AI tools don't ask questions about your users up front. They let the product learn from us instead. Looking at Tide's onboarding, it's short and sweet. You just download the app, answer two questions, watch it customize your recommendations, and it'll prompt you to sign up. That's it, very simple. Headspace found out that their users come to their app with more than one pain point to solve. So, instead of asking users to pick just one goal that they want to achieve \[music\] with Headspace, they let them pick more than one. It's only like a very simple tweak, but it led to 10% increase in free trial conversion. There are also other apps that allow multi-intent queries. \[music\] Focus Flight lets you choose your map style during onboarding. It makes the app \[music\] feel like yours before you even started using it. Sometimes, \[music\] it can be even simpler than that. Dollar Shave Club tweaked the quiz copy to be more conversational. This alone led to 5% increase in subscriptions. Some apps don't just collect answers during the quiz. They actually show you what those answers unlocked. So, in Endless onboarding, you answer six questions, and then they show you this. You haven't even used the product yet, but it already feels like it's going to work. Byte Pal does the same thing. After the quiz, they build your personal plan and then tell you exactly when you'll hit your goal. Brilliant \[music\] shows you courses that are personalized to your responses. As soon as you finish your onboarding flow, your home page is already populated with only the content that you want to see. Here's another one by Speak, a language learning app. They ask you what language you'd like to learn and your goals. Then, in one simple screen, it tells you, "In 2 months, you'll be able to communicate while traveling in France." There's a simple graph showing that speaking helps you reach your goals faster than reading. The \[music\] steps before this screen already had you speaking instead of typing. So, out of 900-plus apps and websites, 22% \[music\] of them throws a paywall during onboarding. Some apps also pair personalization with a paywall. The site pairs a quiz with a one-time offer to drive urgency. Timely does the same with a full page of social proof before showing the paywall. And Focus Flight makes the paywall itself fun. The one-time offer, it's shaped like a flight ticket, and your phone vibrates as it gets printed out. It's a paywall that actually feels delightful. As for Grammarly, based on your quiz answers, they recommend tailored pricing plans. This alone led to almost a 20% increase in plan upgrades. Okay, some of these onboarding flows are really long, yet they don't feel like it. The onboarding flows that I really love tend to make onboarding flows feel short. Out of 986 apps, Duolingo has one one the longest onboarding flows. And if we zoom in, it goes like this. You get started, choose the language that you want to learn, it learns about you, you start your first lesson, get the satisfaction of completing it, and then you create an account. By that point, you've already gone through 60 screens before you even sign up. And the crazy part is it doesn't even feel long. Okay, so Bump's onboarding flow is creative. Even the loading states are wild. There's always something going on throughout the onboarding flow. Smooth animations on things like verification that rarely \[music\] get special treatment. It adds fun. It doesn't feel like you're going through a boring onboarding flow. Bipul has 61 screens. The onboarding was a lot of fun. It has really amazing animations. The raccoon is quite lovable. And you even get to name your virtual pet raccoon. Throughout the onboarding, they emphasize the value. Like, your personal plan is ready and you'll lose weight by an exact date. And then bam, a paywall. All right. So, another pattern I noticed, some apps don't front-load all the education to you. Cake Equity is a great example. They're dealing with dry concepts like company equity and vesting schedules, and turns it into something approachable with copy that reassures users from time to time, and tooltips that explain the impact of each step so \[music\] that users feel like someone's guiding them along the way. Even something as small as a password field that checks off requirements in real time as you type, removes a reason to get stuck. Maybe it's a progress indicator, maybe it's microcopy. None of this is flashy, but it makes the experience feel effortless. To-do apps does this really well, too. Instead of giving users a blank empty state, they show you something like this with no guided tours, no pop-ups, just a little nudge in the right place. And when Mural replaced pop-ups and banners with a clear six-step checklist, it drove a 10% relative increase in one-week retention. Checklists stick around even after the user dismisses the initial flow. If you go on Mobbin and do an AI search for onboarding checklist, you will find more ideas like this. Another pattern that I kept seeing is a lot of apps show a custom screen before the notification pop-up. Apparently, it improves accept rates significantly. Here's an example by Brilliant. I'll remind you to learn so it becomes a long-term habit. Cool. Center takes it one step further. It also teases you the notification that you'll receive if you allow it. This might explain why web onboarding is 21% shorter than iOS. Mobile just has more permission and paywall screens baked in. Okay, this one surprised me. House split their sign-up form into multiple screens and they see a 15% increase in conversions. Maybe the friction we add in one place removes friction in another. Culture plays a role here as well. Users in Eastern markets tend to be more comfortable with information-heavy interfaces. So, what feels like clutter to one audience feels efficient to another, which is partly why we can't just copy what worked. And I don't think there's one right or wrong way to design an onboarding flow that's best in class. The ones that stuck with me didn't feel like onboarding. What I saw in common in these apps is that they brought users to value quickly. Sometimes it's adding delight to a very long onboarding flow. Sometimes it's letting users personalize their app experience for themselves. And sometimes it's getting out of the way. So, do we even need onboarding? Mobbin is a place to find design inspiration. The product speaks for itself. Same with AI chat apps. The first prompt is where users find value. For products like these, maybe the best experience \[music\] is just to let users get in fast and not have an onboarding experience that gets in their way. Maybe it all boils down to the product. We had so much fun diving into the data, and did you know that onboarding flows are the second most searched on Mobbin? For the next video, I have a feeling that we're going to dive really deep into dashboards and see what the data tells us. So, stick around. Subscribe if this vibes with you.