As product managers and founders, we all know the advice: get users to their Aha moment as quickly as possible. It’s that pivotal moment when users understand exactly why your product exists and how it benefits them. The challenge is, how do we get them there quickly without making them feel rushed? Let’s look at how TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Spotify approach this critical stage. Each has perfected the art of getting users to their Aha moment, but they go about it in their own way, offering valuable lessons along the way.
Spotify: Taking the Long Road, But With a Purpose
Spotify takes a longer onboarding process than others, with 11 screens before users can start listening to music. But it’s not a journey without purpose. Every screen is designed to gather personalization data so that users are immediately given content that resonates with their preferences.
Step 1: Email, password, birthdate, and gender.
Step 2: Choose a name, select artists (at least three).
Step 3: Optionally choose podcasts and agree to allow ads tracking.
The reasoning behind Spotify's longer sign-up process lies in its focus on personalization. By asking users for their preferences early on, Spotify ensures that the recommendations users get are relevant from the start, offering a highly tailored music experience. The app collects data to match users with artists they already like and even customize podcast suggestions, ensuring users immediately feel that the platform is tuned to their individual tastes.
Pinterest: A Bit More Information, A Lot More Personalization
Pinterest's user flow includes 7 screens to gather essential data before users dive into the content. While it’s a bit longer than TikTok or YouTube, Pinterest also does a great job of personalizing the user experience based on interests:
Step 1: Email, password, birthdate, and gender.
Step 2: Users specify location and select 5 interests.
Pinterest’s strategy with asking for this data is that it helps evolve the user experience over time. The app uses the selected interests to curate content, ensuring users are shown things they care about right from the beginning. As users interact, Pinterest’s feed adapts, making it feel even more relevant with every use.
The choice to ask for gender may seem unnecessary, but it could be a way to improve ad targeting and provide more tailored recommendations within certain interest groups. By collecting this data, Pinterest ensures users feel like the content is truly curated for them.
YouTube: A Balance Between Speed and Personalization
YouTube's onboarding process involves 6 screens in the user flow, but unlike Spotify and Pinterest, it keeps things simple by focusing on content discovery and user engagement:
Step 1: Users are asked to turn on notifications.
Step 2: Email and password are entered.
Step 3: YouTube invites users to start watching videos to help build a personalized feed.
What’s interesting here is that YouTube doesn’t ask for gender or birthdate—it skips demographic questions in favor of getting users to engage right away. This approach highlights YouTube’s focus on content as the primary driver of user engagement. By prioritizing video consumption, YouTube allows its algorithm to learn what users enjoy based on actual behavior, rather than assumptions about age or gender.
TikTok: The Fastest Path to Engagement
TikTok takes the fastest route to the "Aha moment"—just 3 screens . Users are taken directly to the “For You” tab, where the personalized content experience begins:
Step 1: Enter date of birth (for age verification).
Step 2: Accept privacy terms.
Step 3: Immediately shown a “Swipe up for more” prompt to begin engaging with the content.
What makes TikTok’s approach so effective is its minimal setup. By cutting out unnecessary data collection (like gender, for example), TikTok gets users straight into its core feature—content discovery—immediately.
TikTok doesn’t ask for gender, which could be a strategic choice. Avoiding this step helps streamline the experience and focuses on getting users engaged with content, not demographic profiling. Moreover, TikTok’s drag-and-drop CAPTCHA serves as a security measure designed to prevent automated bot activity and ensure that the sign-up process is only completed by human users. This extra step helps safeguard the platform from spam and manipulation, something that other apps might not prioritize at the same point in their user flows.
Conclusion: Getting to the Aha Moment Faster
The lesson is clear: Minimize friction in the onboarding process and ensure that users experience your product’s core value as quickly as possible. Whether through personalization or immediate content access, the faster users can experience the value of your app, the better.