For years, onboarding has been treated as a digital “first day at school.” Tooltips, pop-ups, guided tours—these have become staples of the onboarding process. However, in 2025, it’s time to challenge an industry dogma: Onboarding is not a tutorial. A truly user-centered product should teach itself, blending utility with delight so intuitively that users never feel lost, patronized, or overwhelmed.
The Traditional Trap: Why Tutorials Fail
Let’s be honest: Most onboarding flows are thinly veiled apologies for poor product clarity. They say, “We know this is confusing—here’s a quick lesson before you get stuck.” Instead of guiding, they disrupt. Instead of welcoming, they overwhelm. Moreover, retention data shows most users skip, ignore, or quickly forget these introductions. Tutorials create cognitive friction rather than reducing it.
Meanwhile, exceptional products rarely need a map. Consider the magic of apps like Notion or Superhuman—the moment you interact, the system responds naturally, nudges just enough, and reveals depth as needed. The “tutorial” is embedded in the experience, not tacked on.
Product Should Teach Itself: Principles for 2025
1. Progressive Disclosure
Great products reveal complexity gradually. Instead of dumping all features upfront, they surface capabilities contextually, aligned with user intent. This keeps attention sharp and learning lightweight.
2. Affordances Over Instructions
Buttons should look clickable. Search bars should invite typing. If your design needs an arrow or explanation to clarify its purpose, it’s not the user’s fault—it’s a design challenge. Build affordances so obvious that users feel guided by instinct.
3. Microinteractions as Micro-Lessons
Every tap, hover, or scroll is a teaching moment. For example, a gentle animation when dragging an item confirms, “Yes, this is moveable!” Instead of a modal that says “Drag items to reorder,” the interaction itself is the lesson.
4. Empty States as Soft Starts
Rather than presenting blank screens or “No data yet,” use empty states to gently onboard. Show examples, offer a first step, or invite exploration—without ever resorting to forced tours.
5. Feedback Loops—Real Time, Real Learning
Immediate, clear feedback for user actions isn’t just good UX—it’s how people learn. If every action results in a predictable, positive, or corrective response, users build a mental model on the fly.
The Business Impact: Self-Teaching Products Drive Growth
For digital leaders, this isn’t just about elegance—it’s about the bottom line. Products that “teach themselves” enjoy faster time-to-value, lower support costs, and higher Net Promoter Scores. Users become advocates because they feel clever, not coached.
Consider Airbnb: Early onboarding was minimal, but the interface itself taught hosts and guests through thoughtful defaults and subtle guidance. Today, most major SaaS players are moving away from laborious walkthroughs toward invisible, contextual education.
Onboarding’s New Role: From Gatekeeper to Guardian
This doesn’t mean “onboarding” is dead. Instead, its job is evolving. Rather than acting as the gatekeeper—holding the keys to entry—onboarding becomes the silent guardian, always ready with help if needed but never in the user’s way.
In summary:
- Design should guide, not dictate.
- Feedback should be felt, not explained.
- The product’s logic should be visible through use, not revealed through lectures.
Conclusion:
The next generation of products won’t need to “onboard” users—they’ll welcome them by making every interaction a learning opportunity. The products that win will be those that feel as natural as breathing: nothing to memorize, nothing to fear, and nothing to forget.