Guided Product Onboarding
Design a first-run journey that teaches a team lead to configure and publish one useful workflow without blocking exploration.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
A workforce planning product has many settings, but new customers receive value only after they publish their first weekly rota. Long product tours delay that moment and are difficult to recall.
User context
Maya manages a twelve-person bakery team. She has imported staff names but has never built a rota with availability rules and needs to publish next week's plan before closing.
Product problem
Maya needs enough guidance to complete a real schedule while retaining the freedom to skip explanations, correct mistakes, and return later.
Objective
Create a short onboarding path that turns imported staff data into a valid first rota and leaves Maya confident about the next action.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Choose a setup goal and inspect the expected outcome
- Add opening hours and one availability rule
- Build the first rota with contextual guidance
- Review, publish, and understand what happens next
Screens and states
- Welcome and goal selection
- Essential setup
- Guided rota builder
- Publish review and completion
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
Maya chooses to create next week's rota
- 02
She enters store hours and reviews imported staff availability
- 03
Contextual prompts help her resolve one uncovered shift
- 04
She publishes the rota and receives a concise follow-up checklist
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Explain why each requested setup detail matters
- Keep progress visible without implying that every optional step is required
- Allow users to skip guidance and resume it from the same point
- Use real interface states instead of a detached feature tour
Constraints
- The core workflow must remain usable with onboarding dismissed
- Setup answers must be editable after completion
- The experience must support keyboard and screen reader navigation
Reality check
States worth considering
Finish line
What to deliver
- Four responsive onboarding screens plus a dismissed-guidance state
If you want more
Optional extensions
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.