# Experience-based onboarding checklist: users 26% likelier to install

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Onboarding (SaaS)
- Elements: Onboarding checklist, Personalization
- Test run by: [Hotjar](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/hotjar/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.appcues.com/customer-stories/how-hotjar-increased-installations-by-26-with-a-personalized-approach-to-onboarding
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-hotjar-personalized-onboarding-checklist/

Hotjar replaced its generic onboarding checklist with one of three matched to the user's experience, and users who answered the question were 26% more likely to install Hotjar. Hotjar ran it, and it was published as an Appcues customer story. This is not a clean split test: the story does not say what the answering users were compared against.

## Result

**users 26% likelier to install**

- Install rate: users who answered the question were 26% more likely to install Hotjar.
- The comparison group and method are not stated, so we treat this as a before/after style result rather than a controlled A/B test.
- Hotjar then built the question into its native sign-up flow.

## Control

Every new account saw the same generic onboarding checklist.

## Variant

New users were asked "Have you used Hotjar before?" and then shown a Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced checklist. The first step in all three was the same: install Hotjar on your site.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Asking about experience may have made the checklist feel relevant, so users trusted the next steps.
- Clearer later steps could have shown users what they'd get once installed, giving them a reason to install.
- Users who choose to answer a question may already be more engaged, which could inflate the lift.

## Caveats

Before/after style result: it only covers users who answered the question, and the comparison is not described. Vendor-published, with no sample size, duration or confidence shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we ask new users about their experience level and show a matching onboarding checklist, then more will complete the key setup step because the guidance feels relevant to them.
- Primary metric: Share of new accounts that complete setup (for example, installing the tracking code)
- Guardrail: Sign-up completion rate
- Guardrail: Share of users who skip the question
- Guardrail: Week-1 retention
- Who should test it: SaaS products with a key setup step and users of mixed experience. Randomize all new sign-ups, not just those who answer, or self-selection will skew the result.

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Credit: Hotjar ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-hotjar-personalized-onboarding-checklist/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.