How to figure out what new users want

Examples from Notion, Canva, Figma, Zapier, and Airtable

In my experience advising a range of different SaaS companies, I've witnessed my fair share of teams fumbling when it comes to understanding their users' needs.

You know the drill. Subpar onboarding, clunky user experience, missed growth opportunities. And most of the time, it’s because they’re asking the wrong questions – or worse, not asking any at all!

But hold on, don’t worry! Let's dive into the playbook of industry heavyweights like Notion, Canva, Zapier, Figma, and Airtable. They’ve got it down pat, asking the right questions to steer their users straight to the value zone.

The Shoe Store Dilemma: Why Understanding is Crucial

Imagine walking into a high-end shoe store in search of the perfect pair of dress shoes. The salesperson greets you, but instead of asking about your shoe size or preferences, they immediately start telling you about the latest trend in sandals. You're frustrated, bewildered, and wondering why they're not listening.

Similarly, when a new user interacts with your SaaS product, they're there for a reason - to get a job done. Failing to understand their needs and goals is like offering sandals to someone in search of dress shoes.

So, how do you determine what your customers want?

It's simpler than you might think – just ask them!

This is where most SaaS companies get it wrong. They either avoid asking questions altogether, fearing it will create friction, or ask the wrong ones, which can be counterproductive.

When you ask new sign-ups what they're seeking, you may not always get a helpful answer. If they opt to 'skip' or misunderstand the question, you might be forced to guide them down a generic user journey. However, just by posing the question, you open the door to potentially flawless personalization. Plus, you drastically improve your odds of providing immediate value.

The Art of Asking the Right Questions

The misconception that asking questions during onboarding is disruptive and off-putting stems from the fact that most companies ask questions that are self-serving or irrelevant to the user's immediate needs.

They ask things like, "How did you find us?" or "What’s your company ARR?" These questions, while valuable for marketing, sales or product development purposes, offer no immediate value to the user and only add to the cognitive load.

The key to asking the right questions is to ensure they align with the user's "job to be done" and help them reach their goals more quickly and efficiently.

Instead of asking questions for your benefit, turn the tables and ask questions that serve the user. For example, “What would you like to do first?”, "What task are you trying to accomplish?" or "How can we make your workflow more efficient?" These types of questions immediately convey that you care about their needs and are dedicated to providing value.

Let's return to the shoe store analogy. Instead of offering you the latest sandal trend, the salesperson asks about the event you're attending, the style of your outfit, or any specific requirements you have for the shoes. By doing so, they're better equipped to find the perfect pair of dress shoes for your needs.

Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all here and every company will need to experiment with this depending on their different user segments.

The universal rule of thumb is to ask questions that uncover users' objectives, their jobs-to-be-done, and the motivation behind their sign-up.

Let’s take a look at how some of the leaders in the game are asking the right questions.

Notion and Canva

“How are you planning to use Notion”

“What will you be using Canva for?”

Notion and Canva have creatively grouped their users and their relevant desired outcomes by the type of use - Personal, team, business, school, etc…

This allows them to personalize a new user’s first steps in the product which could be the difference between immediate value or confusion.

Pro tip: Add a one-liner subheading that emphasizes the fact that you’re going to use this information to help the user get what they want quicker. It may seem obvious or unnecessary but it goes along way and adds a positive boost to the user’s experience.

Figma

“What kind of work do you do?”

“How will you primarily use Figma?”

First, Figma segment their users by the kind of work that they do.
(IMO this is a much nicer way to ask the boring old “What’s your role?”)

Next, Figma takes a similar approach to Notion and Canva and ask, “How will you primarily use Figma”, to understand what that the user is trying to get out of Figma.

Combining these two answers, Figma is now supercharged with powerful insights to create a fully customized initial product experience.

Figma doesn’t stop there… they go ahead and ask a total of 7 questions.

Note how they use 3 techniques to remove friction from this flow:

1. In every slide they offer a “skip” button.

2. One question per slide - This makes it feel really smooth and easy.

3. They use a progress bar at the bottom to remind you that this will take super quick. Showing users that there are only a couple steps to go, also provides a subconscious sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue.

From my experience, asking this many questions is only the way to go if you’re already a mature player in the space. If you’re a fresh startup and/or still securing your product market fit, I recommend limiting the number of questions to 2, maybe 3 if completely necessary.

Zapier

“Help us customize your experience by telling us a bit about yourself

1. Select the role that best describes you
2. How many employees does your company have?”

Zapier supports 5,000+ apps and offer thousands of different templates.

First, Zapier asks a very simple question that will allow them to get one step closer to giving you a personalized experience. Based on your answer they’ll have a better understanding of the types of tools that you’re likely to use.

But they take it one step further to and simply ask, “What apps do you use?”

The personalization has already begun and your first positive product experience starts when you see the apps that you were hoping to automate with Zapier.

Even here, they still allow you to skip if you’d like and dive right into the product.

As we mentioned, every company is going to need to ask different types of questions based on their user segments. Zapier understands that their product’s value is built on automating workflows and in order to get users to automate their first workflow as quickly as possible they need to understand 2 things:

1. The type/s of workflows that different users are interested in.

2. The apps that different users work with.

Now that they have this information from the onboarding flow, they’ve set themselves up for success being ready to give their users a powerful “aha moment” the moment they land in the product.

Airtable

“What team are you on?”- Another great way to ask what a new user’s role is. These little language changes make a bigger difference than most people think.

Take a look at how Airtable adds a dynamic side screen which changes according to your answers. This is one of many creative ways to allow users to feel that they’re already building something rather than just filling out a questionnaire.

With thousands of different templates and resources to guide new users towards, Airtable brilliantly captures their intent first (categorized by the team they’re on) so that they can show them a personalized and relevant intro to the product

Conclusion

By asking questions that demonstrate your intent to swiftly steer users towards value, you're not creating friction.

In fact, you're doing quite the opposite: you're boosting user motivation as they feel understood. The most effective way to deliver value to users is to lead them straight to what they seek.

Align your questions with your users' desired outcomes, and you'll set the stage for a memorable first impression and enduring loyalty.

Thanks for reading!