1. The Problem
Users sign up excited. Log in once. Get confused about what to do first. Never come back.
You spent months building the product. Weeks perfecting the landing page. Users finally sign up—30 new trials today. You're celebrating. Then you check the dashboard next week. 18 of them never logged in twice. Of the 12 who did, only 3 completed a meaningful action. Your activation rate is 10%. Your churn rate is 60% in the first week. The product works. Users just never get far enough to see why it matters.
60% churn
In first 7 days
Users sign up, log in once, see a blank dashboard or feature list, don't know where to start, close the tab. You lose them before they experience a single win.
10% activation
Reach first value moment
Of 100 signups, only 10 complete the action that shows product value. 90 users never see why your product exists. They bounce before the aha moment.
$50K wasted
On acquisition annually
You're paying $50 per signup. 60 users churn immediately. That's $3K wasted every month, $36K per year, acquiring users who never activate. Burning cash on confusion.
"We'd watch users sign up, click around for 90 seconds, then leave forever. Our product was great—they just never got to the part that proved it. We were losing $40K a month on users who quit before seeing value."
— Product Manager, Series B SaaS (requested anonymity)
2. The 3 Core Prompts
Example: 01: Map User Journey
Map the ideal user journey from signup to first value moment for this product. Include: **Product description:** [Describe your product in 2-3 sentences. Example: "Project management tool for remote teams. Users create projects, invite teammates, assign tasks, track progress with Kanban boards and Gantt charts."] **First value moment (what proves the product works):** [Example: "User creates first project, adds 3 tasks, invites 1 teammate, sees real-time collaboration"] **User personas (who signs up):** [Example: "Team leads managing 5-15 people, switching from spreadsheets or email. Non-technical, time-pressed, skeptical of new tools."] Output as a step-by-step journey map with: 1. Each step the user needs to take 2. Why that step matters (what value it unlocks) 3. Potential friction points (where users might get stuck) 4. Success criteria (how you know they completed it) 5. Estimated time for each step Format as a table: Step | Action | Value Unlocked | Friction Risk | Success Metric | Time
✅ Generated Output:
✅ Intro Paragraph:
| Step | Action | Value Unlocked | Friction Risk | Success Metric | Time | |------|--------|----------------|---------------|----------------|------| | 1 | Sign up & verify email | Account created, ready to start | Email not received, verification link broken | Email verified, account active | 2 min | | 2 | Create first project | See product interface, understand structure | Blank canvas confusion, unclear naming | Project created with name | 3 min | | 3 | Add 3 starter tasks | Experience core feature, see how tasks work | Don't know what tasks to add, skip this step | 3+ tasks created | 4 min | | 4 | Invite 1 teammate | Unlock collaboration value, see real-time updates | No teammate to invite yet, unclear invite flow | 1+ user invited | 3 min | | 5 | Assign task to teammate | See collaboration in action, understand workflow | Teammate hasn't accepted yet, unclear assignment | Task assigned, notification sent | 2 min | | 6 | Move task to 'Done' | Experience completion, see progress tracking | Don't complete real work yet, skip to explore | 1+ task marked complete | 1 min | **Total journey time:** 15 minutes **First value moment:** Step 5 (assign task to teammate and see real-time collaboration) **Critical path:** Steps 2, 3, 4 must complete or user never reaches value **Biggest friction:** Step 4 (no teammate available to invite immediately)
✅ Meta Description:
Why this works: Most products fail onboarding because they don't map the journey from the user's perspective. You know your product inside-out. New users see a blank screen and 47 features. This prompt forces you to identify the MINIMUM path to value—the shortest route from 'I just signed up' to 'Oh, this actually works for me.' // Use it now: Replace the bracketed examples with your product details. Run the prompt. You'll get a journey map that shows exactly where users get stuck and which steps unlock value. This becomes your onboarding blueprint. // Pro tip: The 'First value moment' is NOT 'user explores all features.' It's the earliest point where the user thinks 'This solves my problem.' For Slack, it's sending the first message and getting a reply. For Figma, it's seeing real-time cursor collaboration. Find YOUR moment.
3. Quick Win: Test in 10 Minutes
Run these 3 prompts right now and build your onboarding foundation
You don't need a developer or designer to start. You can map your entire onboarding journey, write the copy, and design the activation triggers in the next 10 minutes. Here's how to do it immediately.
Map Your Journey
Open ChatGPT or Claude. Copy Prompt 1. Replace the bracketed examples with your product details (product description, first value moment, user personas). Hit enter. You'll get a complete journey map showing every step from signup to activation, with friction points and success metrics.
Write Onboarding Copy
Copy Prompt 2. Paste your journey map from step 1. Add your product context (who signs up, where they come from, what they're trying to accomplish). Run it. You'll get complete onboarding step copy—headlines, body text, CTAs, help text, success messages—ready to hand to your team.
Design Activation Triggers
Copy Prompt 3. Fill in your product details, first value moment, and current drop-off points (check your analytics for where users abandon). Run it. You'll get a complete activation playbook—email sequence, in-app prompts, friction reducers, metrics to track—ready to implement.
Scale This Across Your Team?
We build custom AI that integrates with your stack, handles compliance, and scales with your team. Imagine this onboarding system running automatically, learning from user behavior, optimizing based on real activation data.