Activation & onboarding review

MEMO

To: Onboarding squad Re: Where we lose people, and what to fix first

Where we lose people

• Signup to connect (100% to 41%): The largest loss. Most of our users are PMs and marketers who don't have database credentials, and the flow gives them no way forward without them.
• Connect to first chart (41% to 33%): About a fifth of people who connect never build a chart. Sync and the empty canvas are the likely causes.
• First chart to invite (33% to 9%): Expected, since invites come after value. Lower priority for now.

Retention is the reason to care about the first chart: 62% of users who reach one are active in week 2, versus 11% of those who don't. This is correlational, since engaged users may be the ones who build charts, but it is the strongest signal we have.

What to fix, in order

1. Add sample data and a skip at step 5. Users without credentials currently hit a dead end. Sample data gets them to a chart in minutes, which is the milestone that predicts retention. This also targets the top support ticket (41%). Reason: highest expected impact on the number that matters.

1. Let people in before email verification, and drop the role and team screens from the critical path. Step 2 blocks all progress, and steps 3–4 ask questions before the user has seen any value. Move role and team to after the first chart, where they can personalize templates. Reason: removes the earliest friction, when drop-off is highest.

1. Rebuild the credentials path. Replace the 14-page guide with short, per-warehouse steps for Postgres, BigQuery and Snowflake, and add a "send these instructions to your data engineer" link that delivers a connect-only invite. The person who has the credentials is often not the person signing up. Reason: addresses the remaining credential tickets and the step 6 drop-off.

1. Fix sync. Let leaving the page not cancel the sync. Show partial results as tables finish. Pre-select likely tables and add search to the step 7 list. Make CSV upload the fastest route to a first chart. Reason: sync failures are the second-largest ticket category (18%), and cancellation on exit loses users mid-setup.

1. Make the first chart appear without effort. Templates (step 9) should render a live chart immediately. Replace the empty canvas at step 10 with a suggested chart the user can edit. Reason: a blank canvas is the last hurdle before the retention milestone.

1. Move team invites after the first chart, and prompt for them there. Keep the skip link. Reason: invites are useful but come after value; test this once the upstream fixes land.

Measurement

Track signup-to-first-chart as the primary metric, with week-2 retention as the outcome. Run fixes 1 and 2 as separate experiments so we can see which one moves the funnel.

To: Onboarding Squad Subject: Where onboarding is leaking—and what to fix first

The biggest loss is before a data source is connected: only 41% of signups get that far. Another 8 percentage points drop before a first chart. Just 9% of signups invite a teammate. The strongest activation signal is the chart: week-2 retention is 62% for users who reach one, versus 11% for those who don’t. Prioritize getting people to a useful chart; treat invites as a later step.

Fixes, in priority order

1. Offer a sample-data path that reaches a real first chart. Let users skip connecting their own data and explore a preloaded dataset, with a clear route to connect later. Many signups are PMs and marketers, and the most common onboarding ticket is missing database credentials (41%). A required technical connection is an especially poor first step for them. This also gives users value while they wait for access.

1. Make connecting data simpler and recoverable. Replace or supplement the 14-page guide with short, connector-specific instructions and troubleshooting. Validate credentials early, explain the required access, and offer a clear retry path. Don’t cancel a sync when someone leaves the page; send progress and failure notices and let users resume. The credential and sync tickets point to concrete blockers, and successful connection is the gateway to the high-retention chart experience.

1. Get users to a chart with fewer decisions. Replace the database-wide table list with suggested tables and plain-language descriptions; cut the 12 dashboard templates to a few recommended starting points. Provide a prebuilt chart or guided first-chart flow rather than an empty canvas. The 8-point drop between connection and first chart, plus the sync burden, suggests too much work remains after connection.

1. Remove early friction that doesn’t create value. Test deferring email verification until after users enter the product, and move role/team questions until they can personalize something useful. These steps currently delay access before users see value.

1. Make inviting a teammate contextual, not a hurdle. Keep it optional; prompt after a user has made or shared a chart, and explain the benefit. Only 9% of signups invite someone, but chart reach—not inviting—is the clearest retention signal.

Track step conversion and time-to-first-chart by path, especially sample-data versus live connection, before expanding the changes.

To: Onboarding squad Subject: Prioritize getting users to a useful first chart

Our biggest leak is before data connection: 59% of signups—7,316 people—never connect a source. Another 8 percentage points disappear before the first chart. Only 9% invite a teammate, but collaboration should come after users see value.

First-chart users have 62% week-2 retention versus 11% for everyone else. That makes time-to-first-chart our priority, although this correlation does not prove that creating a chart causes retention.

Fixes, in priority order

1. Remove the database-credentials gate. Offer a prominent sample-data path and a clearly explained CSV path. Let users request access from a data owner without abandoning onboarding. For database connections, replace the 14-page guide with source-specific instructions, inline examples, and actionable error messages.

Why first: Our audience is mostly PMs and marketers, yet onboarding assumes database expertise and access. “I don’t have the credentials” accounts for 41% of onboarding tickets. Sample data can demonstrate value immediately, but we should separately measure whether those users eventually connect their own data.

2. Make syncing resilient and asynchronous. Run syncs server-side so leaving the page does not cancel them. Show status, provide completion notifications, and support retries with clear failure explanations. Where technically feasible, sync a useful subset first rather than requiring a full load.

Why second: A wait of up to 20 minutes is already costly; requiring an open tab makes it fragile. Sync failures account for another 18% of tickets and block users who have overcome the access hurdle.

3. Deliver a chart, not another blank canvas. Recommend relevant tables rather than listing everything. Reduce twelve templates to a few guided choices, then populate a starter chart that users can edit.

Why third: Choosing a template and then seeing an empty builder breaks the promise of guidance. About 20% of connected users fail to reach a first chart. Focus on a useful result, not merely recording a chart-creation event.

4. Shorten the route to value. Move role and team-size questions until after the first chart, unless they directly personalize onboarding. Allow users to explore before email verification where security requirements permit.

Why fourth: These steps add friction before any payoff, but we lack screen-level evidence that they explain the largest losses.

5. Make invitations contextual. Prompt users to share a useful chart after success; keep invitations optional. Distinguish “ask a data owner for access” from “invite a collaborator.”

Why fifth: Low invitation rates may reflect weak activation, not a broken invitation screen.

Instrument every screen, connection method, and sync failure. Evaluate changes on useful first-chart completion, time to value, own-data activation, and week-2 retention—not just step clicks.