Our onboarding had a 14% completion rate. One question fixed it.
When we first launched Murror, our onboarding looked like every other app. Five screens. Set your goals. Pick your interests. Create a profile. Upload a photo.
14% of users made it through. The rest disappeared before they ever journaled a single thought.
We assumed the problem was friction -- too many steps, too many taps. So we cut it down to three screens. Completion went up to 22%. Better, but still terrible.
Then we talked to users who dropped off. What they told us changed everything.
It wasn't about the number of screens. It was about what we were asking them to do. We were asking people to define their emotional goals before they'd even had a single experience with the product. "What do you want to work on?" "How are you feeling today?" These questions feel harmless, but for someone who just downloaded an app to understand their emotions better, they're intimidating.
You're essentially asking someone to be vulnerable with a stranger before you've earned any trust.
So we replaced everything with one open question: "What brought you here today?"
No multiple choice. No categories. Just an empty text field. Users could write one word or three paragraphs. They could be specific or vague. The app responded with: "Got it. Let's start there."
Completion hit 67%.
But here's what surprised us more: the people who completed this onboarding journaled 3x more in their first week compared to users from the old flow. They weren't just getting through onboarding faster -- they were arriving in the product already in a reflective mindset.
The old onboarding treated setup as a prerequisite to the experience. The new one made setup part of the experience.
The lesson we keep learning: for emotional products, the first interaction isn't about collecting data. It's about setting the tone. If your onboarding feels like a form, users will treat your product like a tool. If it feels like a conversation, they'll treat it like a space.
Anyone else building something where the onboarding itself needs to feel like part of the product experience?
Replies
This matches a problem on my own product. We help people align their lives to their values, and the most useful questions are the ones that ask the most before any trust exists. So the thing I'm taking away is: make the first question feel welcoming, not like a test.
More on Gal's point: when someone opens with something heavy, does "Let's start there" still fit? Did the interviews change how you handle that first reply?Â
Was "What brought you here today?" the first open question you tried, or did you test a few before it landed?
@alieksia this reminds me that onboarding should demonstrate value before asking for information. I think many products get that order backwards.
Murror
@alieksia Love that you're building in a similar space. To answer your questions: yes, we tested about 4 different open questions before landing on "What brought you here today?" The first version was "How are you feeling right now?" which felt too clinical. Another was "What's on your mind?" which was too casual for some users. "What brought you here today?" hit the sweet spot -- it's inviting but not intrusive, and it naturally surfaces intent.
On handling heavy responses: when someone opens with something really difficult, "Let's start there" adapts. The app doesn't try to reframe or fix -- it acknowledges and creates a softer landing. Something like "That takes courage to name. Let's go at your pace." We're still iterating on this, but the principle is: match the weight of what someone shares with an equally thoughtful response.
@monatruong_murror Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I really appreciate you taking the time to share these insights - they gave me a lot to think about.
Thank you for sharing, we're struggling with the very same problem at the moment.
How did you reach them? In our case even more engaged users ignored a personal email.
Murror
@artk Great question. Email didn't work for us either at first. What actually worked was in-app micro-surveys triggered right at the moment someone hesitated -- like hovering on the back button or pausing for more than 10 seconds. We'd ask one question: "What made you pause?" The response rate was way higher because the context was still fresh. We also did a small batch of 15-minute video calls with users who churned within 48 hours -- offered a $10 coffee gift card. Even 5 conversations gave us more signal than months of analytics.
@monatruong_murror great advice, thank you!
the 3x journaling number is the real tell, not the completion rate - it means the open question isn't just lower friction, it's actually priming the right mental mode before they start. one thing I'm curious about: with a totally open first answer, do you ever get someone writing something that reads as a crisis rather than a mood check-in right there in onboarding, before any trust or safety framing has been established? that seems like the one case where "got it, let's start there" as a universal response could be the wrong move
Murror
@galdayan You're right that this is a real edge case we think about a lot. Yes, it does happen -- maybe 2-3% of first responses read as genuinely distressed. Our approach: we built a lightweight sentiment layer that flags high-distress language. When it triggers, the app skips the "got it, let's start there" response and instead says something like "It sounds like you're carrying something heavy. Murror is here whenever you're ready -- no rush." It doesn't try to be a therapist. It just holds space. We also surface crisis resources gently without being clinical about it. You're right that a universal response would be the wrong move -- the whole point is meeting people where they are.