You’ve got devs landing on your docs. They’re curious. Now what?
That golden “hello world” moment is either going to lock them in—or have them quietly close the tab.
And let’s be real: in Web3, attention is currency. And confusion? That’s your biggest leak.
So let’s talk onboarding.
First, what even is onboarding?
Onboarding isn’t a guide. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a Getting Started blog post.
It’s how a developer feels in the first 30 minutes with your ecosystem.
Confident?
Lost?
Excited to build?
Ready to rage-tweet?
That’s your onboarding, right there.
1. Reduce Friction, Like Aggressively
No dev should:
- Dig through Medium to find the correct SDK version
- Join Discord just to figure out the RPC URL
- Set up 3 tools just to run a test
2. Show, Don’t Just Tell
Docs are good. But code is better.
Interactive code is even better.
Embed CodeSandbox, Replit, or use GitHub Codespaces for live walkthroughs.
Better yet—walk through it with them.
3. Don’t Just Onboard. Belong.
The best onboarding programs don’t end with a “congrats, you deployed.”
They end with:
an intro message in Discord
a #builders channel full of others
a feeling that “this is where I want to keep building”
Create a moment after success. A badge. A shoutout. Even a “welcome builder” meme goes a long way.
Bonus: Modular Paths Work Best
Web3 isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Create multiple tracks:
- For frontend devs
- For smart contract devs
- For no-coders exploring dApp templates
TL;DR — Make It Human
You’re not onboarding users. You’re onboarding people.
Dev onboarding isn’t about dumping links—it’s about designing a journey.
If you want your ecosystem to grow, your onboarding has to do more than just explain—it has to inspire.