Part of Forge DevKit ecosystem
◇ forge-onboarding
From signup to aha moment
The problem
Users sign up and never come back
Average SaaS activation rate is 36% - top products hit 65%+. The gap is almost always onboarding design, not product quality.
Empty states that kill momentum
User sees a blank dashboard. No guidance, no sample data, no clear first action. They close the tab.
Onboarding designed after launch
Activation flow is an afterthought. Engineers build features first, onboarding never catches up.
How it works
Install
One command adds forge-onboarding to your environment.
Configure
3-gate wizard reads product context and identifies your activation metrics.
Design
Generate activation flows, empty states strategy, and first-run experience specs.
Verify
Audit existing onboarding against generated specs. Identify drop-off points.
Key capabilities
◇Activation flow design
Maps the shortest path from signup to value. For each step: required fields, skip conditions, progress indicators, and fallback paths.
◇Empty states strategy
Every blank screen gets a purpose: sample data, guided actions, or contextual education.
◇5 psychology biases
Endowment effect, commitment escalation, and more - applied to onboarding design decisions.
◇Onboarding audit
Compares your live onboarding against generated specs step by step. Produces a gap report: what's missing, what's confusing, what's unnecessary.
Sample output
A real-world example of what this module produces.
◆ Activation Flow - taskflow-app
Step Screen Goal Drop-off Risk
1 Welcome Set role (freelancer/team) Low
2 Connect bank Link Stripe for payouts High
3 First invoice Create + send in < 60s Medium
4 Aha moment Client pays the invoice Low
Time to value: ~3 min | Aha moment: First paid invoice received
Risk: Step 2 requires bank details - offer skip + manual payout optionWho is this for
Product Manager
Design activation flows before launch - not as a post-launch patch.
UX Designer
Get structured empty states strategy and first-run experience specs with drop-off analysis.
Growth Lead
Map the shortest path to your aha moment with psychology-informed design decisions.
forge-onboarding vs Trial-and-error onboarding
| Dimension | Trial-and-error onboarding | Forge DevKit |
|---|---|---|
| Design timing | After launch, as a patch | Before coding, as part of product spec |
| Empty states | Blank screens or generic placeholders | Purposeful: sample data, guided actions, education |
| Verification | No way to check if it works | Audit mode identifies drop-off points |