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Guide · Responsible behavioural design

Onboarding psychology, without the guesswork.

Explore the decisions behind first-use experiences, what behavioural evidence can—and cannot—tell us, and how to test an onboarding idea without manufacturing pressure.

Explore the decision mapCompare case studies

Three foundations for responsible onboarding

Start with the task

What decision is the person making?

Organise guidance around a real product choice, not a label borrowed from psychology.

Check the transfer

Does the evidence match the interface?

Separate direct interface findings from adjacent evidence and untested assumptions.

Protect agency

What happens if someone says no?

Keep refusal, correction, review and a route out easy throughout the journey.

Five decisions · One honest journey

Use the map before choosing a principle.

Each stage starts with a question a product team can inspect. The linked evidence and examples help form hypotheses; they do not predict an individual person’s behaviour.

Screen-level comparisons

See the decisions in complete product journeys.

Both cases separate what is visible in the captured interface from interpretation, evidence limits and questions to test.

Case study

Duolingo onboarding

How visible is the journey's full scope?

A 35-screen review of course choices, first value, streaks, account creation and upgrade framing.

Read the case study →Case study

Headspace onboarding

Where do wellbeing and commercial choices meet?

A screen-level review of account creation, wellbeing claims, permissions, a first exercise and trial terms.

Read the case study →