Written by
Helena Dang
A while ago Brandon Tan, who I work with at 01 digital, wrote a very kind post about me. I have been blushing ever since. It was about something I did quietly: I collected more than 130 onboarding flows from apps I think do it really well, and gave the whole thing away for free.
A few people asked why. Here’s the long answer.
Flow research is a pain when you’re new
When you start out, nobody tells you where to look. You download an app, sign up, take screenshots, lose track of which step came first, then try to sign up again and get told you’re “already registered”. Do that for ten apps and you’ve lost a weekend and gained a folder called final_final_onboarding.
Senior designers carry a little library of patterns in their heads. Junior designers don’t have it yet, and that’s not their fault. They just haven’t seen enough flows.
So I gave away mine
I’ve been doing this job for more than four years, and that collection is a lot of what I learned, in screenshots. Keeping it in a private folder felt a bit silly. So I shared it with one note: I know it can be tough for young designers to dive into flow research, so here’s everything I’ve learned. Go wild.
What to look for when you study a flow
Don’t just scroll through them like Pinterest. Pick one and ask:
- How many steps before the user gets something useful?
- What do they ask for now, and what do they wait to ask for later?
- How do they explain permissions like notifications or location?
- What happens if you skip?
- What does the empty screen look like right after onboarding?
Answer those for five apps and you’ll start seeing the patterns everywhere. Also in your own designs, which is the fun and slightly painful part.
AI can copy a style. It can’t sit in your user’s chair.
Brandon’s post was about the human touch, and I agree with him. AI can generate a hundred onboarding screens before lunch. It can’t feel the tiny panic of someone opening their first banking app. Studying real flows teaches you that panic, and how good products calm it down.
Want the collection? Message me on LinkedIn. And if you make something with it, please show me. That’s my favourite part.
