How Cal.com hides complexity without removing it

time we're going to take a look@cal.com so if you're losing people somewhere between sign up and that first moment of value, then this one's definitely for you.

Onboarding is definitely an expensive part of the funnel to get wrong.

you might have already paid to get these guys in the door, so the last thing you want to do is waste the opportunity.

so if you're not familiar with Cal.com it is a meeting schedule tool, a little bit like Calendly or tidycal, and the plan is to sign up for the product, go through it as a new user and then I'm going to point out every little bit of friction where users might lose confidence and, they might consider just giving up.

All right, so let's get started then I'm going to go up here.

Click on this one.

All right, so first impressions are love this sign up page.

I mean sure you could argue it's a little busy but for me it ticks all the right boxes.

So we've got a really simple layout here and then over here on the right we've got a ton of social proof.

So they've got awards ratings from Product hunt, Google and G2.

And then for me most importantly they've also got the screenshot of the product over here on the right.

So I can see what I'm going to get into once we've gone through onboarding.

I think it's important because it just gives users an idea of what they're going to get into once they've gone through the onboarding.

And then at the bottom here so they've highlighted some features as well.

So we can connect calendar, we can set specific availability and then we can share a link or embed the calendar on the website.

So for me this makes a really good first impression.

So let's go through the process of creating my account then.

So this is free for individuals And then below that we asked for our data region.

let's go for European Union.

Now we have an option to continue with Google.

Always a big fan of the social sign on.

or we can continue with an email address.

The other option here, Salm In all fairness I'm not quite sure what that is.

And then bottom left here, if we've come to this page by accident for whatever reason then we can click sign in as well.

So that's always helpful.

Anyway for the purpose of this I'm just going to click sign up with Google because I want to get into the product, get the calendar set up, So let's do that.

Then let's Okay, so that obviously just took a couple of seconds to go through and first step of the process now then is selecting a plan.

they talk about this, personalizing the experience and then we're basically asked whether you want a personal plan.

Are we using this with our team or is this for our organization?

So it's really easy for us to See the three options at a glance here.

And then by default, they've selected the free plan, which is the personal one.

And I'm guessing that's what the illustration on the right refers to, although that isn't particularly clear.

Let's say if we click with team.

Yeah.

Okay, cool.

So we've got the illustration that updates, depending on which plan we select.

So I like how interactive that is.

Anyway, I'm going to stick with the free plan for now.

Let's click Continue.

Okay, so it now looks like, we've got to add some personal details here to set up the account.

but luckily for us it's pulled through my name, assuming that's been taken from the Google account and it's already created an avatar that's probably relevant especially for those who just kind of want to get into the product.

And then it's also given us a username over here as well Alright, so it's done quite a bit of heavy lifting for me here to be fair.

I am going to just upload a profile picture.

I really like the fact that they've given us a recommended size and a file limit here Okay, so I've just added a.

And the profile picture in there.

Let's hit save.

Nice.

Okay, so you'll notice then, as we've gone through that process, it's now uploading what looks like to be my profile over here on the right.

So it's This already feels like a very polished experience.

All right, so I think that'll do for the profile.

let's click Continue then.

Okay.

So next job is to connect my calendar, which obviously makes sense, for scheduling tool.

But they're really good at like justifying this as well.

So look, we need to connect your calendar to prevent double bookings and conflicts.

I think far too many products ask for permission, from users without really justifying why.

And although it is obvious in this case, I do think they've done a pretty good job here.

And we've also got a selection of other calendars we could add.

we can simply scroll through these and click Connect.

And because we've used Google, obviously it's pulled through my Google calendar here and that one we can see is connected.

So it's really clear I don't actually use this Google account very often, which is why we don't see anything over here on the right.

but I presume if we did have some events, they'd show up here on the right as well.

And then at the bottom here we can go back if we need to.

Not, quite sure why we want to do that at this point.

Or we can skip it, which I think is an interesting one to be honest, because I'm trying to think through whether the value of a product like this would be diminished if users were to just sign up with their email and then not connect their calendar.

I mean, I'm sure you'll be able to create a meeting, but without cross checking for double bookings and conflicts.

You you might be setting yourself up for a fall there.

Although I suppose you could argue the option is there if you just want to get into the product quickly.

Anyway, I think we're all set with Google.

So I'm going to hit continue.

All right, so it looks like, looks like we're all set.

welcome to Cal Eu.

everything's been set up now we've got access to all these different features.

Let's hit continue.

Okay, so it looks like by default we're taken to the event type page, which, which I think makes a lot of sense to be honest.

And you can see that we aren't bombarded with a load of onboarding tooltips or product tours or product videos that are just getting in our way right now.

It looks like they have created three different events for us by default.

which is obviously really convenient.

I'm assuming these specific event types have been created based on the popularity of events created by others in Cal.com so I'm sure there's a reason why we have a secret meeting, a 30 minute meeting and a 15 meeting here.

So first impressions are is really nice.

The interface is really slick.

The experience so far has been pretty good and and the attention to detail is kind of obvious for us to see here.

So what I am going to do is I'm going to create our own event and I'm going to go through that process as well because I think it's all fine and well getting into the product.

But if we can't navigate through one of the core workflows in this case setting up a new event type, then I think its value is somewhat diminished.

So I'm going to come up here and hit new.

Okay, so it's just popped up a modal window now.

so it's keeping us in context of the event type page.

And I've got a few different forms to fill in here.

Again all fairly straightforward title of this one.

Let's just go with quick chat.

And we can see as we're typing in the title, the URL is updating.

I'm going to leave the description for now.

But what I would say is the placeholder text here where we've got a quick video meeting.

It's quite dark.

so almost feels like I've already typed something in there when I haven't.

It's a small thing.

but I do think it could cause some confusion.

And then lastly we have duration.

Which I have to say is particularly awkward to change with these very small buttons here in my browser.

Now appreciate I can just come in here and type.

Of course.

But I'm not quite sure how useful these arrows are here.

All right, so that'll do.

We've got a quick chat set up, we've got our URL, I'm going to leave the description and then we've got the duration of 60 minutes.

So let's hit continue on that one.

Alright, so it looks like that's been set up now.

and interestingly enough we've been able to create our first event in a matter of seconds without having to worry about all of the other complexity that might be involved.

And it's only after we've gone through that process are we exposed to the complexity around making changes to specific availability, any kind of specific limits or advanced functionality here.

This is all available when you need it.

But creating an event is really quick and it's really easy.

So I think it serves new users well and I'm sure power users will be happy with all of the additional functionality on offer here after they've created their first event.

All right guys, so in fairness I think Cal.com have done a really good job here.

As you can see from the onboarding and this first use experience.

I think this is a really good example.

A product with a great signup page, awesome onboarding and when you get into the product, creating your first event is really simple and really easy for new users.

It's kind of hard for me to knock, to be honest.

So I think there's plenty of positives we can take from Cal.com and for sure some design patterns that I think you can apply to your own product as well.

Alright guys, I'm going to leave it there.

let me know what you think of Cal.com cheers.