Onboarding

Fewer decisions at the start, help at the step where people stop, visible progress from the first step, a first session that ends with something the user made, and a planned return repeated in the same context until it becomes a habit.

What the report found

1. Ask for fewer decisions at the start. A tasting stand with 6 jams sold to 30 per cent of those who stopped; one with 24 sold to 3 per cent. The effect is real only in some conditions, and a good default often does more than a shorter list.
2. Remove the friction that stops people, not the effort that commits them. Help filling in a financial aid form raised the share of students completing two years of college from 28 to 36 per cent. Information alone did nothing.
3. Show progress from the first step. A loyalty card with two stamps already given was completed by 34 per cent of customers; an equivalent blank card by 19 per cent.
4. Let people build something. People valued a toy they had assembled about twice as much as an identical one they had not, but only if they finished it.
5. Plan the return, then repeat it in the same place. Asking people to write down a date and time raised flu vaccination by 4 percentage points. Habits took from 18 to 254 days to form, and paying people to visit a gym eight times in a month doubled later visits among those who rarely went.

Who it is for

For anyone who designs a first experience, in an app, a bank, a gym or a public service, and anyone starting something they mean to keep.

How we work

Field Guides turn behavioural science into practical principles. Each principle sets out the idea, the evidence, a worked example, things to try and things to watch out for, and every claim is graded Established, Emerging or Untested.

Cite this report

The Why We Project (2026) Onboarding: How first experiences turn newcomers into regulars. Field Guide No. 02. Dubai: Why We Tech Ltd. Available at: thewhyweproject.com