Checklists give users a visible path to activation by breaking onboarding into concrete tasks. A well-designed Checklist increases completion rates and helps users reach value faster. Here's how to set one up for success.

Define your activation goal first

Before building Checklist items, identify the activation goal for your product — the action (or set of actions) that correlates with long-term retention. Work with your team to agree on what "activated" means. Everything in the Checklist should drive toward that goal.

Keep it to 3–5 items

List the top actions a new user needs to take to reach your activation goal, then cut it down to 3–5 items. Checklists with more than five items see significantly lower completion rates — users either feel overwhelmed and don't start, or abandon partway through.

Each item should be action-oriented: "Create your first project" rather than "Learn about projects."

Use event-based completion

Configure each Checklist item to complete based on a real event or user property update, not just a page view or Flow completion. This ensures items check off when users actually perform the action, not when they passively click through a walkthrough.

For example, if one item is "Build a report," set it to complete when the report_created event fires — not when the user finishes the associated Flow.

This approach also supports self-directed learners. Users who skip the guided Flow and figure things out on their own still see the checkmark, which reinforces the Checklist and motivates them to continue.

Prompt learning by doing

Each Checklist item can either link to a page in your product or trigger a Flow. Whenever possible, choose the option that gets the user doing the task rather than reading about it.

For example, instead of linking to a help article about reports, trigger a short Tooltip Flow that walks the user through creating their first report inside the product.

Congratulate users along the way

Add encouragement as users complete items and when they finish all tasks. Learning a new product takes effort — acknowledging progress keeps users engaged and signals that you value their time.

You can use a completion Flow that triggers when all Checklist items are checked off, or simply add a congratulatory message to the Checklist's completion state.

Create persona-specific Checklists

If your product serves multiple personas with different activation paths, create a separate Checklist for each one. Use segments to target each Checklist to the right audience.

For example, an admin might need to configure integrations and invite teammates, while a regular user needs to complete their profile and run their first task. These are different paths and should be different Checklists.