New user onboarding with Google’s NotebookLM
This week, I had the chance to explore Google’s experimental AI tool, NotebookLM.
While the tool is loaded with innovative features for a wide variety of use cases (like automated podcast audio 🤯), I found their onboarding tool to be most interesting.
Instead of relying on traditional onboarding, such as “enroll in a course” or “watch a video” to learn how the tool works, Google trained a custom chat bot (called a “notebook”) that teaches new users how to use the tool.
The chatbot serves as a personalized interactive guide to answer any question you have about how the tool works.
All you need to do is…ask it whatever you want to learn. For example:
- How should I structure my notebooks?
- How do I delete a source?
- What are some ways I could use this tool in my particular role to solve X problem?
NotebookLM teaches you how to use itself, based on the personalized questions you ask it. If you already know how to do one thing, it doesn’t waste time telling you again (like traditional learning content does).
This approach makes onboarding a more dynamic, personalized experience. This use of AI could be a peek into the future of SaaS onboarding.
The problem with traditional onboarding
Data suggests the first 30 days of sign up are the most important time to for users to find value in a new product (actually it’s probably more like the first 7 days). Disengaged users are more likely to drop off during the onboarding phase, putting a big dent in retention rates.
The point is…onboarding customers is critical for business health.
The challenge with using traditional methods (elearning, videos, instructor-led training) is that you’re dealing with a wide range of user experiences, goals, and questions.
A one-size-fits-all instructional video doesn’t work for everyone. Some users will get bored watching steps they already know, while others may miss critical details relevant to their use cases. It’s frustrating for users and inefficient for companies.
Traditional learning methods also don’t allow for direct interaction with the product from day one. Most users prefer to dive in and start tinkering with the tool, rather than sit passively through a learning module.
While certainly effective at times, traditional methods are often difficult to measure causally and require significant resources to convince C-levels of their effectiveness.
Chatbots, a personalized and interactive onboarding buddy
This is where AI chatbots improve the onboarding experience. They allow new users to engage directly with the product, making the onboarding process more engaging, helpful, and—most importantly—personalized.
The two differentiators with AI onboarding chatbots are that the experience is:
Personalized learning
Instead of telling new users what they should know, the bot allows users to ask specific questions about what they want to learn.
If you already know how to navigate the basic UI, for example, you can skip straight to the advanced features that are most relevant to your needs. This makes learning the product a much faster and more enjoyable process.
No generic instructions, no irrelevant content—just immediate, personalized responses to help solve your problem at a point-of-need.
This level of learning personalization can have a significant impact on customer retention. When users feel like they’re getting the help they need right from the start, they’re more likely to continue engaging with the product over time.
Instead of being frustrated by irrelevant or overwhelming onboarding materials, they feel empowered to use the tool in a way that fits their unique workflow. AI chatbots are able to provide that personalized guidance at scale, which would be impossible with traditional onboarding.
Full control, in the hands of the learner
With AI chatbots, onboarding becomes a two-way interaction.
Users control the learning experience, asking questions as they arise rather than being spoon-fed generic content. They can now self-serve their way through the product, at their own pace.
This shift toward self-serve onboarding is a growing trend in SaaS. Tools like Drift and Intercom have also integrated chatbot-driven onboarding experiences.
These tools allow users to interact with a chatbot that can answer questions, offer suggestions, and guide users through complex features without needing human intervention.
Benefits of AI onboarding chatbots for Saas companies
They can build trust and create a positive first experience
First impressions are important for building trust with new customers.
When a new customer first logs into you product, you want to build trust with them as quickly as you can. AI chatbots help you do this.
When I was navigating NotebookLM for the first time, I found the onboarding chatbot to be like a comfortable, trusted friend. If I was confused, I could ask it and get an immediate response.
Because the AI was so fast, accurate, and helpful, it provided a level of comfort navigating a new tool. I felt confident having a chatbot I could ask if I got confused about any part of the tool.
The chatbot’s reliability and helpfulness make a huge difference in shaping the user’s perception of the product.
They can help you scale onboarding at a low cost
One of the key benefits for SaaS companies is scalability. As your user base grows, traditional onboarding methods can become a bottleneck, requiring more human resources to accommodate new customers.
AI chatbots solve this by offering 24/7, real-time support without the need for additional staffing. Whether you onboard 100 or 10,000 users, the chatbot can handle all incoming queries, guiding users through your product at their own pace.
This scalability not only reduces operational costs but also ensures that every new user gets a consistent and personalized experience, no matter how large the influx.
They can improve product adoption and user retention
AI chatbots help improve user retention by making the onboarding experience smoother and more engaging.
Keeping users engaged with your product doesn’t stop after the “onboarding” phase. By offering ongoing support even after the initial onboarding phase, chatbots help users overcome roadblocks as they continue using the product.
This ongoing guidance continues to build trust, reduces frustration, and enhances the user experience, all of which contribute to keeping customers loyal.
You will also be able to more easily collect data on user interactions, a task that requires significant resources when you use traditional onboarding methods. That data can be used to provide more effective solutions, more proactive solutions or tips, ensuring customers don’t abandon the product due to confusion or difficulty.
The future of SaaS onboarding is AI chatbots
While AI is continuing to evolve rapidly, it seems clear that AI chatbots will play a significant role in shaping customer onboarding in the future.
Personalized, scalable, real-time assistance that enhances user experience, builds trust, and drives product adoption, will always win. Traditional methods don’t stand a chance.
That said, humans are still necessary and important in this process. The AI chatbot in the NotebookLM example was trained on resources built by humans. Humans still need to create training docs, build valid use cases, and help guide the chatbots on the best answer given the questions.
So for now, our jobs aren’t going away.
But, you should be ready for the future. As AI chatbots become even more sophisticated, the onboarding process will continue to evolve, making traditional methods more obsolete (or just much lower value).
So if you work in the world of learning or customer education, be on the lookout for ways to experiment with AI chatbot tools for your audience. It’ll benefit you and your customers to stay ahead of it.
