A new user signs up with one question: can this thing do what I need? Everything they see in the first session either answers that question or gets in the way. An onboarding checklist, done well, is the shortest route to the answer. Done badly, it's a list of features you're proud of, and people close it on sight.
The difference is almost always in what goes on the list.
What belongs on the checklist
Work backwards from the first moment a user gets real value. For a project tool, that's a project with a teammate in it. For an analytics tool, it's a chart built on their own data. Then list only the tasks that stand between signup and that moment.
- Three to six tasks. Fewer feels thin; more feels like homework.
- Ordered by dependency. Connecting data comes before building a report on it.
- A quick win first, something that takes under a minute, so the bar moves early.
- Only tasks the user can finish inside the product. "Read our pricing page" is not onboarding.
How to word each task
Start with a verb, name the object, and keep it under six words: "Invite your team", "Connect your data", "Create your first invoice". If the reason isn't obvious, add it in the line underneath: "so you can assign work". Avoid feature names people haven't learned yet. "Set up Smart Rules" means nothing on day one; "Sort new emails automatically" does.
Example checklists
| Product | Checklist | First real result |
|---|---|---|
| Project management | Create a project · Add three tasks · Invite a teammate · Assign a task | A teammate working in a shared project |
| Analytics | Install the tracking snippet · See your first event · Build a chart · Share a dashboard | A chart on their own data |
| Invoicing | Add your business details · Add a client · Create an invoice · Send it | An invoice sent to a real client |
| Help desk | Connect your support inbox · Reply to a ticket · Add a teammate · Create a saved reply | A real ticket answered from the tool |
Notice what's missing: settings, integrations nobody needs yet, and the feature the founder loves most. Those belong in week two.
Where the checklist should live
Inside the product, in a corner the user can come back to. An email checklist gets read once. An in-app one sits next to the work, shows progress at a glance, and is there when the user returns tomorrow. Let people collapse it, but don't let it vanish until the tasks are done or they dismiss it on purpose.
Tick tasks off when they're actually done, not when someone clicks a checkbox. Progress that reflects real work is motivating. Progress you can fake is just a to-do list.
Every task needs help attached
Here is where most checklists quietly fail. The user clicks "Connect your data", lands on a settings screen with six options, and stops. The checklist told them what to do but not how. So the task sits unticked, and the session ends.
Give every task a short guide that opens from the checklist itself: a one-minute video for people who want to watch, a click-through version for people who want to try, and the steps written out for people who want to skim. We wrote more about what makes these work in customer onboarding videos, and there's a planning template in the customer onboarding guide template.
Common mistakes
- Turning the checklist into a feature tour. Ten items, half of them optional, none of them leading anywhere.
- Tasks that can't be finished in one sitting, like waiting for a teammate to accept an invite, with no way to move on.
- A checklist that never goes away, even for users who finished onboarding months ago.
- No help behind the tasks, so the list shows people where to get stuck.
How Steperly does it
Steperly's onboarding checklist lives in the help widget inside your app. You record each setup task once, and each becomes a guide with a narrated video and a click-through demo. New users open a task, follow its guide, and the task ticks itself off when they finish it.
Comparing tools for the rest of onboarding? Our guide to customer onboarding software covers the main options, and contextual help patterns covers what to show users after the checklist is done.