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Everyone’s Talking About Your Web3 Product... But No One’s Using It. Here's What’s Missing…

Most Web3 founders are seeing solid traction on Twitter, in their Discords, and through marketing, but when it comes to actual users interacting with their product, the numbers just don’t add up. This guide breaks down why that happens and how to fix it with an onboarding process designed around your users, not just your tech.

Andre Costa

Published on:

May 5, 2025

mins read

Strategy

Development

You spend months building the product — late nights coding, endless design revisions, polishing tokenomics, triple-auditing smart contracts.

Eventually, you start sharing updates publicly.

Your Twitter engagement is strong. Discord is growing fast. VCs are watching and even liking your updates.

And it feels like the hard work is starting to pay off.

But then you check your product metrics, and the numbers don’t add up.

Low DAUs, short sessions, and high churn rates.

The same people who were excited on Twitter aren’t using the product.

Even the people hyped on Twitter aren’t sticking around once they land inside the product.

You go back to check everything again… the product, the contracts, the marketing.

And yet… it all seems fine on the surface.

But something's not working… and it’s not your tech. It’s not your marketing.

And it’s not even your core value proposition.

It’s your ONBOARDING.

The Real Reason Users Quietly Leave Your App

I’ve seen this happen firsthand across dozens of Web3 startups we’ve worked with.

Smart teams. Solid technology. Great traction online.

And yet they still lost 80% of their users within days.

The mistake’s pretty simple.

Founders think that if the app is valuable, users will just figure it out.

Or if they love the interface and UX, users will love it too.

But that’s not how it works.

If your onboarding is confusing, slow, clunky, or just doesn’t match the level your users are at,

They’re not going to sit around and figure it out.

They’ll bounce. Fast.

This is WHY seamless user onboarding is important.

They should get to know how to use it with minimal effort and in as little time as possible.

And the window for YOU to make a good impression is tiny.

Here’s the real data from projects we’ve analyzed:

80% of your potential Web3 users drop off during onboarding
67% of users who drop off never come back
The average user spends just 2 minutes trying to figure out a new Web3 app before giving up

So, you have less than 3 minutes to win them over … or lose them forever.

And you won’t even know it happened until it’s too late.

Why Onboarding Matters More Than Your Core Tech (At First)

It feels wrong to say that your onboarding matters more than your functionality.

But early on… it does.

Because if users can’t even experience your core value,

If they can’t get in and understand what to do,

They never get to appreciate the product you built.

And in Web3, where the average user still struggles with wallets, transactions, and technical jargon, this friction becomes deadly.

When users drop off during onboarding, you don’t just lose a signup.

👉 You lose future users.

👉 You lose community growth.

👉 You lose momentum that could have snowballed into actual traction.

Worse part… your DAU and retention metrics tank.

Which kills investor conversations before they even start.

What Broken Onboarding Looks Like (And Why It Happens More Than You Think)

Here’s what it looks like…

🤔 Users click "Connect Wallet" and are confronted with 8 confusing options

🤔 They try to create an account but never receive the OTP email

🤔 They connect a wallet but get no feedback on what to do next

🤔 Terminology like "mint," "stake," and "liquidity pool" is thrown at them without explanation

🤔 They complete one action and hit a dead end with no guidance

🤔 Unexpected gas fees pop up and scare them off

🤔 The app freezes during blockchain interactions, and users think it’s broken

🤔 They’re asked to manually switch networks without any explanation or guidance

🤔 They try to approve a transaction, but it fails with a cryptic error and no next step

And these aren’t rare issues.

These are common… and they’re quietly killing promising projects every day, leaving your users thinking:

"Am I doing something wrong, or is this thing just broken?"

"I don’t want to risk losing money just clicking random buttons."

"Forget it. I’ll try another easier app."

How Bad Onboarding Crushed a Promising DeFi Startup

Last year, we worked with a DeFi project that had just raised $1.2M from early-stage investors.

On paper, they had everything in place:

A strong founding team with real technical experience
A genuinely useful DeFi product designed to solve a clear pain point
A clean, modern MVP ready to go live

But six weeks after launch, their daily active users were sitting below 100.

The founder was confused.

Marketing was generating traffic, the protocol was live, and the early buzz looked positive.

But the numbers inside the app just didn’t move.

So we decided to try the onboarding flow ourselves.

And It took us 30+ minutes to complete what should’ve been a basic first interaction:

Connecting a wallet required switching to a custom RPC network, with no guidance
The landing dashboard had 15+ charts and data points…no single call to action
Performing a basic swap required 3 separate approvals with no explanations
Any error returned unreadable dev messages, like execution reverted, or insufficient output amount
There were no walkthroughs, no contextual hints, and no user-facing guidance anywhere

The product was solid. But the experience was built for other devs, not for everyday users.

Which is why most people never made it past the first few steps.

We helped them rebuild the onboarding from scratch:

Simplified the login flow, added an interactive product tour, cleaned up the UI, and layered in helpful tooltips at critical points.

Three weeks later, they were sitting at 3,800 DAUs, with better retention and fewer support tickets.

Same tech. Same marketing budget. Just a smoother, more thoughtful onboarding experience.

The 7 Non-Negotiables Every Web3 Onboarding Process Needs (If You Want Users to Stick)

Here’s the exact onboarding framework we build into every Web3 product we work on… whether it's DeFi, GameFi, DAOs, or marketplaces.

It’s battle-tested across dozens of real startups and user flows.

1. Multiple Authentication Options

Don’t force users into a wallet connect wall on day one.

Offer Web2-style logins first (email + OTP, Google, Apple)...

And then let them upgrade to wallet-based login when they’re ready to transact.

This single shift alone can improve signup conversion by 2–3x.

Most users are crypto-curious, not crypto-native.

Meet them where they are, not where you want them to be.

2. Progressive User Education

Instead of dumping everything on users at once, introduce complexity gradually.

Think of onboarding as unlocking levels in a game.

Each new interaction should reveal just enough context for the next one.

Use overlays, smart hints, and contextual nudges that only show when the user needs them.

The goal: don’t teach everything upfront. Teach what matters in the moment.

3. Friendly, Non-Intimidating Terminology

What makes perfect sense to you sounds intimidating to new users.

Words like “mint,” “stake,” “sign transaction,” “gas fees” … these create mental friction.

So, swap them out or explain them in plain English.

Use terms like “Start,” “Confirm,” “Network Fee Estimate,” “Join,” or “Unlock Access.”

Even better, test multiple wordings and track the difference in clicks.

Don’t speak crypto when your user is still thinking Web2.

4. Clear Visual Guidance

First-time users shouldn’t have to guess what to do.

Use guided onboarding tours, highlight key buttons, blur the background around your CTAs, and use pulsing animations to focus their attention.

Give them 1–2 clear actions to take, and visually show them what’s next.

The more visual clarity you give upfront, the faster they get to the "aha" moment.

5. Instant Feedback That Builds Confidence

Every action a user takes should be followed by some kind of response, even if it’s just a loading animation.

Show progress bars during multi-step tasks.

Use green checks when something’s complete.

Trigger success messages when onboarding goals are met.

Because confidence is built through clarity…

And so every click should feel like progress, not confusion.

6. Pre-Transaction Simulators

One of the biggest user fears in Web3 is committing to a transaction without knowing what’s about to happen.

Fix this by simulating the outcome before asking them to sign.

Show the cost, expected results, and a simple explanation of what they’re doing before it hits the chain.

When users feel in control, they’re far more likely to complete the action.

7. Track the Full Funnel And Fix Real Drop-Offs

Set up detailed event tracking from signup to first transaction.

Know how many users complete:

Account creation
Wallet connection
First action
First successful transaction
Returning visit

Use this data to fix what’s broken… not what feels broken.

We've seen founders spend weeks tweaking UI colors when 40% of users were dropping during wallet connect.

So,make sure to track the funnel… Fix the friction… And Repeat.

Fixing Onboarding Alone Can Save Your Startup (But It's ONLY the First Step)

Onboarding is the beginning of trust.

It’s your first proof to users that your app was built for them and not just for you.

When you get it right, users stay. When you get it wrong, they disappear.

But onboarding is just one piece of the puzzle.

Real traction comes from getting the entire user experience right…

Seamless onboarding, fast feedback loops, scalable architecture, and intuitive growth flows.

And that’s where most teams fall apart.

We’ve helped dozens of funded Web3 startups across DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, and DAOs fix their onboarding and UX…

Not just to stop the bleeding, but to rebuild real momentum and user growth without wasting more money on marketing.

For example:

We helped Zenrock gain 35,356 users in 29 days by turning a complex cross-chain protocol into an intuitive, gamified MiniApp experience.

We helped Emerald launch a staking Dapp that hit $180K TVL within 48 hours by designing a frictionless reward system that kept users engaged.

We helped Draftables sell out their NFT collection and triple their active user base by building an Engagement & Incentives Dashboard that kept the community hooked pre-TGE.