Early wins

Early wins are the small moments of success a new user experiences in their first sessions. More early wins → higher retention.

Examples

• Sending the first message
• Creating the first project
• Getting the first response
• Seeing first data
• Completing first task

Design for

Build onboarding around achieving multiple small wins in the first session, not one big win at the end.

Celebrating wins

Acknowledge wins: confetti, notification, progress bar. Minor dopamine hits reinforce.

Avoid fake wins

Don't congratulate users for achievements that aren't real. Users feel condescension.