I studied the user onboarding flow for Typeform, the $935 million company. Here is what I found.

Typeform is a $935 million company & generated $92 million in 2023 with 2.6 million forms created. It's a simple software and takes a product led growth approach.

Typeform optimizes for 3 key actions across the user journey (a) creating the form (b) publishing the form and (c) sharing the form.

User onboarding is a key component of any product led growth strategy & Typeforms is no different. So I studied their onboarding flow - here are the 7 key ideas I found interesting.

  1. Optimize your sign up screen - The first sign up screen for Typeform that the user sees is very benefit-oriented. It uses a lot of social proof, product shots, & value-add copy rather than ship a generic looking sign-up page. This creates a great first impression on the user and primes him to be a successful Typeform customer from the get-go.
  2. Use progress bars during user onboarding - Typeform uses progress checklists during the user sign up flow to help the user visualize his progress. This also helps with user retention & reactivation as Typeform triggers email sequences to remind the user to complete his journey & perform key actions.
  3. Use tiles to show options to users - Typeform gives users three options by which a user can create his form. Each option is embedded in a tile and has an icon, a 3-4 line header & a subheadline (all benefit heavy) that prompts the user to take action. This screen is super important from Typeforms perspective because it is the pre-activation step before the user does the main action - create a form.
  4. Use tips to guide users to perform key actions - To help users create their first form (which is their activation metric), Typeform uses tips to prompt & guide them. These tips are super actionable & reveal non-obvious information while also showing the power of the platform. The screen is also designed in such a way that the user can execute on the tips right from the screen itself in just a few seconds. Tips are used consistently across the entire user journey.
  5. Use modals to zero in on one action item - Typeform uses modals in the user journey especially in cases where it wants the user to perform one key task (like creating a form using AI). This keeps the user laser focused on that one key task & reduces noise. This is crucial when you're optimizing for user activation.
  6. Use In-app messages & banners in the main dashboard - Since Typeform is PLG, it has a static in-app banner that reminds the user to upgrade. It also has tooltips to get additional context on pricing or how to create a specific feature. The dashboard also uses suggestions to prompt the user to get to the activation step (which is creating a form).
  7. Leverage in-app customer support - Typeform has an in-app customer support component which users can access any time & ask questions related to the product. This is pretty standard practice nowadays.

I've made a short slide of the entire onboarding flow, pointing out key elements in that screen & why it works. I have found that visually presenting these ideas can be pretty powerful so if you're interested, you can check that out here.

I hope you guys found it useful! Lemme know your thoughts & if there's anything I missed?

Author: haphazardwizardofoz