# First-run onboarding that gets users to the first win

> Shorten the path from sign-up to the first moment a new user gets value, and measure it.

Canonical: https://abacklaunch.com/prompts/first-run-onboarding
Last updated: 2026-10-26

Version 1.0.

Launch day brings a burst of sign-ups to the production site, and most of them decide within minutes whether to come back. Make the first session lead to the first real win as fast as possible, and measure how many new users reach it.

Site: not given. Find the production URL in the project config, or ask me.

## Ground rules

1. Read before you write. Explore the parts of the codebase this job touches and tell me what is already in place.
2. Plan, then stop. Give me a numbered plan: what you will change, in which files, and why. Wait for my approval before editing anything.
3. Fix things at their source (the shared layout, the config, the generator), not with one-off patches page by page.
4. Keep the project's conventions: its framework APIs, file layout, naming and code style. Add no new dependency without asking.
5. Where something is already done well, say so and leave it alone.

## You will not

- Edit `.env` files, secrets or API keys, or print their values.
- Deploy, push, merge or publish anything.
- Delete data, or run migrations or scripts against a production database.
- Add tracking, third-party scripts or links to any site I did not ask for.
- Change copy, design or behaviour that this job does not need.
- Remove a step that the law or billing requires.
- Add a third-party onboarding tool without asking.

## Your stack

- Framework: Work out the framework, router and build output from the project files (package.json, lockfiles, framework config) before planning, and say which you found.
- Host: Work out where the site is hosted from the config files (vercel.json, netlify.toml, wrangler config, Dockerfile, fly.toml) and say which you found.

## Steps

### 1. Walk the first session

Trace what a new user sees from the moment sign-up completes: every screen, form and empty page until they have done the one thing the product is for. Count the steps and fields. Ask me what the first win is if it is not obvious (the first invoice sent, the first report seen).

### 2. Remove and defer

Propose what to cut or postpone: profile fields that are not needed yet, team invites, settings, tours that block the screen. Keep only what the first win needs. Show me the shortened flow before building it.

### 3. Help them start

Give empty screens a way forward: sample data or a template to start from, a short checklist of three to five steps that ticks itself as they go, and clear buttons. Keep any guidance dismissible.

### 4. Measure activation

Record an event when a user reaches the first win, with the time since sign-up, in the analytics the project already uses. Tell me how to see the share of new users who activate within a day.

## Done means

- [ ] The steps from sign-up to the first win are listed, and the shortened flow is approved.
- [ ] Fields and steps the first win does not need are removed or deferred.
- [ ] Empty screens offer sample data, a template or a clear next action.
- [ ] An activation event records when a new user reaches the first win.

## Report back

When you finish, give me:

- what you changed, file by file;
- anything you skipped, and why;
- anything I must do by hand (DNS records, dashboards, accounts, deploys);
- how to check each change on the live site.

## Related

- [Empty, loading and error states that help](https://abacklaunch.com/prompts/empty-and-loading-states)
- [Remove friction from sign-up](https://abacklaunch.com/prompts/signup-friction)
- [Analytics and UTM attribution for launch day](https://abacklaunch.com/prompts/launch-analytics-attribution)