What sets all top onboarding apart?

Yup, it’s time to change your user onboarding… again! We know it’s a never-ending mission to improve activation, especially as your product changes, users expectations adjust, and design patterns evolve, so we’re bringing you the latest trend: 

"Shifting Left". 

This continues the movement we’ve seen around PLG (or more self-serve UX) and adds a few more dimensions that we’ve started seeing:

  • 1 Ungated product access: Anonymous users can start using the product (and getting value) before creating an account (e.g. to save their work, or take gated actions)
  • 2 Reverse trials: Giving full access to all features (typically associated with an “Enterprise plan”) to trialists without manual provisioning or speaking to a sales rep
  • 3 Interactive Demos: showcasing key functionality and workflows on the marketing site and in-product to enable users to actively see value without implementation or setup.

In this guide we cover the importance of “Shifting Left” in your approach to your user onboarding, showcase a range of examples of companies doing so, include some real experiment data from our own attempts, and hopefully provide some inspiration to you for the next round of iteration of your user onboarding! 

Oh and the good news is that with Interactive Demos you don’t need to make any product changes, there is proven conversion lift, and Chameleon will be offering these soon!

When does user onboarding really begin?

User onboarding doesn’t start when users log in—it starts the moment they notice you. Maybe it’s an ad they click, a blog post they read, or an interactive demo they explore. The practice of moving key onboarding and educational touchpoints earlier in the user journey—often before they even sign up—is called "shifting left". It’s all about hooking users before they even consider creating an account.

Why does it matter? Simple: curiosity is highest before commitment. If you wait until after signup to engage and educate, you’re missing out on prime real estate, when users are most open to forming opinions. And when you leave them hanging, confusion takes over, confidence plummets, and churn comes into play.

"Shifting left" helps you build a more complete onboarding journey before the user even logs in. Think of it as putting together most of the puzzle with content marketing, digital ads, and interactive demos, so by the time they sign up, they’ve already got a sense of your product’s value. The sign-up becomes the last piece of the onboarding puzzle, not the first.

First impressions count. Those early touchpoints are when users decide if your product is worth their time. Offering value upfront builds trust, like getting a helpful tip from a friend—no sales pitch, just genuine help. And when it’s time for users to make their choice, guess who they’ll remember? You.

How does “shifting left” drive growth?

Companies relying on traditional user onboarding risk losing users before they even have a chance to experience the product’s actual value. 

This isn’t a new concept—it’s the backbone of the product-led growth (PLG) movement. "Shifting left" has the same principle: show your product’s worth upfront before they even create an account. Instead of holding the product hostage behind sign-up forms, PLG hands users the keys and says, “Go ahead, take it for a spin.”

Here’s how "shifting left" drives growth:

"Shifting left" delivers what users want right away, boosting conversions, reducing churn, and building stronger relationships right from the get-go.

  • 1 Shortens time to value: Users want results and fast. Embedded experiences or sandbox demos let them jump in and see value instantly. The faster they see the benefits, the smoother their journey with your product.
  • 2 Boosts conversion rates: Ungated demos? They're like sneak peeks that hook users before they’ve even committed. Benchmarks show ungated experiences can boost activation rates by 4x. At Chameleon, adding interactive demos spiked conversions by 200%. Early engagement makes the sign-up decision a no-brainer. Curious about the experiments we ran? Check out Chapter 3.
  • 3 Reduces churn: Well-prepared users are more likely to stick around. When they see how your product fits into their workflow early on, they’re less likely to walk away when things get tricky.
  • 4 Strengthens customer relationships: Offering value upfront—no strings attached—builds trust. According to Cialdini’s principle of reciprocity, users feel a natural pull to return the favor when they give something valuable for free. Ungated access fosters that connection, creating trust and paving the way for long-term loyalty.

What are some misconceptions about "shifting left"?

"Shifting left" sounds great, right? Yet, some companies still have a few misconceptions holding them back. Let’s clear those up:

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"It’s just a marketing tactic"

"Shifting left" isn't a gimmick to drive more signups. It’s about delivering the right value at the right time so users can make informed decisions. It shifts user onboarding from a reactive process to a proactive one, showing that you’re invested in your user’s success before they even sign up.

"It’s only applied at the time of onboarding" 

"Shifting left" applies throughout the entire customer lifecycle. We’re talking feature adoption, upsells, renewals, and even those crucial customer success touchpoints. The earlier you deliver value, the easier it becomes to keep users hooked and coming back for more.

Interactive demos, for example, are your secret weapon. They let users dip their toes into your product without the pressure of commitment. It’s like letting them try on the outfit before they buy it. Except this time, they’re doing it in a perfectly controlled environment with just the right guidance (no overly enthusiastic sales clerk hovering nearby).

By keeping things low-risk and high-value, you’re giving users the freedom to explore your product at their own pace. This way, you minimize the risk of overwhelming them while maximizing their interest. The result? More users who are ready to take the next step, whether that’s adopting a new feature, upgrading their plan, or staying loyal for the long haul.

"It replaces user onboarding"

"Shifting left" doesn’t mean abandoning traditional onboarding. This means improving it with more public-facing product experiences. The result? A better transition into your product, followed by a more substantial, more comprehensive onboarding experience.

Now, dropping users straight into your product without them having seen it before? That's a common mistake—and it’s risky. Many tools rely on static traditional website content like blog articles or feature pages to explain their product, but that often falls flat as it doesn’t guide users through personalized use cases. Without hands-on direction, users can quickly feel overwhelmed and bounce before they understand what your product can do for them.

For example, interactive demos before user onboarding help you take control of the narrative, offering a key advantage over typical in-product walkthroughs. While still using the product interface, they are tailored to a specific use case, keeping users focused on the core features they need without overwhelming them with other options. 

Interactive demos skip straight to the solution without needing users to sign up or handle setups like brand guidelines or API keys. This lets users see the product’s value—before they even touch the “real” product. So, user onboarding becomes a lot easier, and when users do decide to sign up, they’re more motivated to finish it, knowing exactly what the product can deliver.

"It’s only for low-touch products"

"Shifting left" isn’t just for those slick, self-serve, freemium-loving products. Nope—it’s just as powerful for high-touch sales-led companies. Even if your product needs a sales conversation or hands-on support, giving early access to value—whether through interactive demos, ungated content, or sandbox environments—can completely level up the buyer journey.

You're fast-tracking the whole process by letting decision-makers sample the goods upfront. Suddenly, that long sales cycle gets a lot shorter because prospects already know how your solution fits their needs.

Take HubSpot, for example. Sure, they’ve got a huge sales team, but they also let prospects play around with ungated tools like their Website Grader, warming them up without dragging them through endless demos. The result? Higher engagement and a much smoother conversation when the sales team finally steps in.

"It's the same as ungated experiences"

Ungated experiences offer instant access, like an open house—users can walk in, explore, and interact with your product without any commitment.  "Shifting left", on the other hand, is more strategic. It starts onboarding from the first touchpoint—whether a blog, ad, or demo. Users pick up key information early, so by the time they sign up, they’re already familiar with the product.

So, are "shifting left" and ungated experiences the same? Not quite.

You can use these strategies together or on their own, depending on what works best for your product and audience.Â