Been experimenting with different onboarding questions to understand why users actually download our app.
Most of mine feel too generic or leading. What open ended questions have actually given you useful insights about user intent?
We ask something like “walk me through what happened right before you started looking for this.” Gets the whole story.
Just ask what they tried before finding your app.
“What made you decide to look for an app like this today?” hits the trigger moment perfectly.
Tried this with a productivity app - turns out 40% of downloads happened because people just had a rough day at work, not because they wanted to build better habits long-term.
We completely flipped our messaging from “build better habits” to “get your day back on track” and installs jumped 22%. That word “today” is crucial - makes them focus on what’s happening right now instead of feeding you generic goals.
Ask “What problem were you hoping this app would solve?” instead of asking about features. People explain their real situation rather than guessing at solutions. You’ll get answers like “I overspent last month and need to track my spending” instead of generic requests for budgeting tools. The word “hoping” makes it less formal and gets more honest responses.
I ask “Tell me about the last time you got frustrated with this type of problem” and let them walk through the whole situation.
They end up sharing way more than they planned - their workflow, what they’ve already tried, exactly where things fall apart.
Everyone else focuses on what users want. I care more about what pissed them off enough to go looking for a fix.