Improve post-signup activation with ak:onboarding-cro

Use ak:onboarding-cro to examine the experience after signup and help new users reach a defined first-value outcome. The Skill produces an onboarding audit, proposed flow, checklist and empty-state guidance, supporting copy, measurement, and experiments. It does not change the product or contact users unless you separately approve implementation or outreach.

Choose ak:onboarding-cro for post-signup activation

Use ak:onboarding-cro when

• You need to define or validate an activation event from retention evidence.
• You want to reduce time or steps between signup and first value.
• You need to review first-run setup, empty states, checklists, tours, milestones, triggered email, or stalled-user recovery.
• You have cohort or funnel evidence that can locate onboarding drop-off.

Choose another workflow when

• The issue is account creation before first login. Use the signup-flow CRO workflow.
• You need an ongoing lifecycle email sequence rather than the product flow. Use the email workflow.
• You need only one selected experiment. Use ak:ab-test-setup after the audit.
• Retention evidence does not support an activation event yet. Start with analytics and cohort research instead of declaring an “aha moment” by opinion.

Prepare product and cohort evidence

Provide the product type, audience, core value, current post-signup sequence, candidate activation event, cohort retention evidence, activation and completion definitions, step-level drop-off, device split, and known support issues. Include consent, accessibility, notification, data-handling, and brand requirements.

Complete Onboarding, and confirm Marketing Kit is installed for the runtime and scope you are using.

See Runtime adapters for component-level differences.

Run the Skill

/ak:onboarding-cro "Audit the supplied first-run funnel and cohort data. Define activation from observed retention, keep every step dismissible where possible, protect consent and accessibility, and propose drafts and tests only"

/ak:onboarding-cro "Audit the supplied first-run funnel and cohort data. Define activation from observed retention, keep every step dismissible where possible, protect consent and accessibility, and propose drafts and tests only"

$ak:onboarding-cro "Audit the supplied first-run funnel and cohort data. Define activation from observed retention, keep every step dismissible where possible, protect consent and accessibility, and propose drafts and tests only"

Understand the onboarding stages

1. Define first value. The Skill looks for the earliest behavior associated with retention and states when the evidence is only correlational.
2. Map the current flow. It follows signup through setup, first action, activation, and later retention, identifying step and cohort differences.
3. Choose the first-run shape. It compares product-first, guided-setup, and value-first approaches against product complexity and user needs.
4. Design supporting states. It proposes concise checklists, useful empty states, contextual guidance, real progress, recovery, and milestone copy.
5. Coordinate channels. It may outline behavior-triggered email, push, or human help, but each contact and permission path remains separately governed.
6. Plan measurement and tests. It defines activation rate, time and steps to activation, completion, cohort retention, adoption, guardrails, and bounded hypotheses.

Protect autonomy and informed choice

• Use actual progress and explain what each required step enables.
• Make tours, checklists, and optional personalization dismissible; preserve a clear route back when the user wants help later.
• Ask for push, email, contact, import, and integration permissions at a moment where the value and data use are understandable.
• Keep example or demo data clearly labeled and separable from user data.
• Do not infer long-term retention from activation alone; monitor downstream quality, support burden, complaints, and opt-outs.
• Approve product edits, tracking, account configuration, outreach, and rollout separately from recommendations.

Review the outputs and evidence

A complete result should include:

• An audit with evidence, friction, recommendation, priority, and uncertainty.
• A stated activation goal and the evidence linking it to later value.
• A screen-by-screen or state-by-state flow with optional and required steps.
• Draft checklist, empty-state, tooltip, milestone, and email copy where needed.
• Event definitions and cohort cuts for activation, time-to-value, completion, retention, adoption, and harm guardrails.
• Test hypotheses with no claimed lift before measurement.
• A clear line between design guidance and separately approved implementation.

Troubleshoot the workflow

Know the limits

• Correlation with retention does not prove that an action causes retention.
• Day-based retention targets and product-type patterns must come from your own business context; the Skill does not guarantee a benchmark.
• The Skill cannot verify a live flow, notification system, analytics pipeline, or accessibility behavior without relevant access and evidence.
• The documented package releases contain identical ak:onboarding-cro content and invocations.

Continue with ak:ab-test-setup for a selected hypothesis, or review the Marketing Kit overview.