Product StrategyEmerging Pattern

Design onboarding for your actual usage context, not theoretical best practices

Q: How many founders have validated "design onboarding for your actual usage context, not theoretical best practices"?

1 founder has proven this pattern works. Examples include John Makavoy (Murmigo).

Users downloading a bus tracking app are often literally standing at a bus stop needing immediate value, not sitting at home willing to go through 20 screens of onboarding. Design your activation flow for the real physical and temporal context of first use, even if it means breaking conventional onboarding practices.

When to use

When your product has a clear, urgent use case with specific context constraints at first use

Don't do this

Following generic onboarding best practices without considering actual user context and urgency

1 Founder Who Did This

Murmigoby John Makavoy

Designed ultra-fast onboarding with no 20-screen flow because users download app at bus stops or train stations needing immediate value, not extensive tutorials

Result:Onboarding optimized for real usage context contributed to 400K monthly active users and strong retention

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