# Welcome survey plus tailored setup checklists: +21% setup rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Onboarding (SaaS)
- Elements: Onboarding checklist, Personalization, Survey
- Test run by: [MYOB](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/myob/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.appcues.com/customer-stories/how-myob-increased-new-user-activation-by-21-with-thoughtful-personalized-onboarding
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-myob-personalized-setup-checklists/

MYOB replaced static home-screen tiles with a two-question welcome survey that routed new users into product-specific setup checklists, and its global setup rate rose 21%. MYOB's own team made the change, and it was published as an Appcues customer story. The survey, checklists and tooltips launched together and were compared before and after, so the lift belongs to the whole package.

## Result

**+21% setup rate**

- Global setup rate for new users: up 21%, as reported by Appcues.
- Some checklists now reach over 40% completion, according to the story.
- One product line started from a 14% setup rate before the change.
- No sample sizes, durations or significance figures were shared.

## Control

New users saw static tiles at the top of the home screen. Each tile linked to a guided tour for one product line, and few users engaged with them.

## Variant

A short survey asked whether users had used accounting software before and what they would use MYOB for. The answers led to a setup checklist for their product line, and each step opened tooltips that pointed to the exact fields to fill in.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Two questions let the product show each user only the tasks that fit their experience and goals.
- Checklists break setup into small steps, like connecting a bank feed or sending an invoice, so progress feels reachable.
- Tooltips on each step remove guesswork on crowded screens.
- Static tiles wait for the user to click. A checklist actively shows what to do next.

## Caveats

Bundled: the survey, checklists and tooltips shipped together, so no single element can take the credit. Before/after rather than a split test, and vendor-published.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we ask new users two questions and show a setup checklist matched to their answers, then more will finish setup because they only see tasks that fit their situation.
- Primary metric: Share of new users who complete core setup
- Guardrail: Survey drop-off rate
- Guardrail: Time to first key action
- Guardrail: 30-day retention
- Who should test it: SaaS products with several product lines or very different user types. It is less useful for a single-purpose tool where every user needs the same first steps.

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Credit: MYOB ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-myob-personalized-setup-checklists/).
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.