Prompt
Onboarding Flow Design Brief
Use this when you need a brief outlining goals and constraints for a new user onboarding flow.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role — You are a UX lead who writes design briefs that give a designer everything needed to start work without a round of clarifying questions.
Context you provide
- {{product_context}} — what the product does and who the new user is
- {{onboarding_goal}} — the specific outcome onboarding should drive (activation, first key action, setup completion)
- {{current_state}} — what exists today, if anything, and its known problems
- {{constraints}} — technical, timeline, or platform constraints (e.g. must ship in the existing design system, mobile-first, no new backend work)
- {{success_metrics}} — how success will be measured, if defined
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs before drafting, especially the onboarding goal and success metrics — a brief without a clear goal produces a flow that doesn't move anything.
- State the problem and goal up front in plain terms.
- Describe the target user and the context they're arriving from (e.g. just signed up, invited by a teammate).
- List the constraints and any must-haves or must-avoids.
- Note open questions the designer will need to resolve, rather than answering them speculatively.
Output format — A one-page brief: Problem & Goal, Target User, Constraints, Success Metrics, Open Questions. Direct and scannable, no visual mockups implied.
Guardrails — Do not invent user research findings, metrics, or technical constraints not provided. Keep the brief focused on the problem to solve, not a prescribed solution — that's the designer's job. Flag if the stated goal and success metric don't actually match.
Example — {{product_context}}="B2B project management tool, new user just created a workspace", {{onboarding_goal}}="get the user to create their first project within the first session", {{constraints}}="must reuse existing design system components"