Enable your new SaaS users to customize their (work)space, project, or dashboard before or while creating their free plan/trial account.
People must sign up with their email to access a new platform. The entire process takes two steps maximum, allowing the new users to get their hands on the platform.
Once they’ve accessed the space, though, they’re let to their device with a bunch of onboarding tips that, in most cases, guide them to:
As a result, the following challenges may arise:
To keep this from happening, engage your new users immediately by offering a customizable signup experience. Allow them to personalize their (work)space, project, or dashboard before or while signing up to access the platform.
When entering the personalization process, ask them to choose elements such as:
This way, you’ll involve your users off the bat, creating a micro-commitment. After all, once they’ve personalized the platform to signup, they’ll be more interested in exploring it.
📓 Generic signup: A signup experience that requires people to introduce their email, giving them access to a generic dashboard that lacks any personal elements
📓 Customization/Personalization: The action of modifying a SaaS (work)space, project, or dashboard, to suit individual needs or preferences.
Gather provides a free plan, allowing people to access the platform immediately.
Before creating an account, though, people are encouraged to personalize their space.
First, they have to choose between different use cases, such as:
If people select the option “Organize an event,” they have to choose between different answers to questions, such as:
❓What type of event are you planning?
❓What category does your event fall into?
❓Is this an internal or external event?
❓How many people are you expecting to attend?
❓Would you like to create a new Gather space?
Next, people can add up to 10 virtual rooms to their space. They can choose between:
After adding rooms, they have to name the event and choose the event dates and hours.
People can sign up and create a Gather account after customizing the space and clicking on Create Event.
► Quick note: The customization game continues after signing up to the account, as people can personalize their avatar and other space-related elements.
✅ Add a (work)space, project, or dashboard (depending on your platform) personalization workflow to your signing up process.
✅ Although companies such as Gather take new users through a complete personalization experience, you can make your workflow shorter and include two or three customizable elements (depending on your software). Here’s an example from InfluenceKit, an influencer marketing reporting platform:
👉 Step 1.
👉 Step 2.
👉 Step 3.
✅ Choose the customizable elements you’ll include. If you want to keep it simple, you can encourage your users to personalize their (work)space, project, or dashboard by adding:
✅ If your platform offers multiple use cases, you can ask people to choose which one best suits their needs. It’s worth noting that it’s not always necessary to change the platform experience based on the use case.
► Quick note: Going back to our previous example with an event management software, it’s worth noting that people will access the same platform, whether they’re running a conference or a networking event. However, choosing a use case gives users a sense of control over their experience. Also, it helps you gather more data about the people signing up to try or use your software.
✅ To make things easier for your users, ask them to sign up with their email only.
✅ The personalization experience can continue even after signing up, as you can ask people to customize their profile or other platform-related elements.