Onboarding is everything that happens between someone deciding to try your product and the moment they get real value from it. It's your product's first impression, and often the point where people decide whether to come back.

That makes onboarding one of the highest-leverage parts of any product. A new user who reaches that first moment of value quickly is far more likely to stay. One who meets long forms, unexplained screens or a tour of every feature often leaves before they understand why the product exists. Every person lost there is a person you already paid to acquire.

Good onboarding isn't a welcome tour or a series of tooltips. It's the shortest path to a first success. It asks only for what it needs, teaches in the moment instead of up front, and makes the next step obvious at every point. Done well, it barely feels like onboarding at all: people simply start using the product and it makes sense.

Onboarding also isn't only for new signups. Every new feature, empty screen and returning user who has forgotten how things work is a small onboarding moment, and the same principles apply.