How to onboard new people to Web3?

Before we can openly discuss Web3 user onboarding any further, you need to know what user onboarding means. So, user onboarding is the process or action of integrating or familiarizing a new customer or client with particular products or services. This process is nothing new; however, it came more frequently used with the birth of mobile and web applications. These would often include some unique features that users need to get familiar with straight from the gate.

As such, the process of onboarding users is as complex as the product or service’s requirement to use that product or service. Moreover, while there are exceptions, as a rule of thumb, you should always aim to make onboarding as straightforward and quick as possible. Many intuitive applications’ user onboarding is nothing more than a signup process. In Web2 apps, the latter can be done using an email address and a password or using social login. We really can’t stress the importance of having a smooth and simple signup process enough. The last thing you want is to lose your users before they even start using your application.

Of course, if you can execute excellent marketing so that users know exactly why they are coming to your product or service, you can have a slightly more complex onboarding process. Furthermore, if your product or service is something that the market is not familiar with, there’s no way around a more unique user onboarding. However, keeping things as simple as possible and incorporating familiar steps is, without a question, the way to go. These pointers play an important role in Web3 user onboarding. So, how to bring new concepts of the blockchain world to a user-friendly level for traditional users? Let’s find out.

In case you’ve used Web3 applications before, you know that most of them rely on Web3 wallets to authenticate users. As such, MetaMask and WalletConnect are great solutions. Users that already have those wallets set up find the processes rather smooth. However, newcomers from the traditional Web2 realm can easily be overwhelmed with setting up a new wallet, adding the browser extension, etc. For a list of problems with onboarding Web3 users, refer to the section further down below.