Always Be Onboarding: Creating Community Arcades

Communities should think hard about their onboarding process for new and returning users. They should understand what information is shared and needed to engage with the community, and what path those users are going on. They should think about how to summarize context to be more consumable for both new and returning users.

Many people think of onboarding only when a member first joins a community, but onboarding happens every time a member re-enters a community space. Communities should always be onboarding. Onboarding is the process of providing members with the context necessary to function in the community. It is needed because context changes constantly.

Arcades should help members prioritize their path into a community. It should help them make decisions about where they want to go and what they want to do. If users know what information is important to them, they can make this decision better. The community arcade should give a view into the community from the outside without overwhelming users.