You Only Get 9 Seconds: Why Onboarding Defines Success in Games and Beyond

Blogs

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September 22, 2025

Introduction: The Nine-Second Rule In gaming, players decide whether to stay or leave within seconds. Mark Otero, CEO of Azra Games, described the shift in mobile RPGs: early games took 30–45 minutes to reach the fun, but by the third generation it dropped to 6–9 minutes. The newest generation? Nine seconds to fun. That same reality applies to your product, platform, or service. Whether you’re shipping a new app, selling a SaaS tool, or handing over a physical product, you have a razor-thin window to prove value. Onboarding isn’t just a process. It’s the whole first impression.

Why Onboarding Matters

Retention starts here: Apps that deliver value in the first minute can see retention rates improve by 30–40%.
Emotion beats logic: Mark’s “Hierarchy of Fun” shows that people feel something at each stage — moment-to-moment, core loop, progression, mastery, and love. If you blow the first layer, they’ll never reach the emotional bond.
Cross-industry truth:
- Games: A clunky tutorial means churn.
- SaaS: A complex setup means abandoned trials.
- Physical goods: Over-designed packaging or poor instructions means returns and bad reviews.

The 9 Seconds to Value Framework

Think of onboarding as a stopwatch:

Second 1–2: The Welcome
Visuals, copy, and tone set expectations. Do they feel invited or overwhelmed?
Second 3–5: The First Action
The first click, first interaction, or first unboxing moment. Does it feel natural, rewarding, and intuitive?
Second 6–9: The Spark of Value
The “ah-ha” moment. The player scores, the SaaS user generates their first result, the customer sees the product working.

If that spark doesn’t happen by second nine, you’ve already lost them.

Lessons from Gaming Leaders

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes succeeded not just because of its IP, but because it cut the time to fun from minutes to seconds.
Unsuccessful launches often ignored this principle, prioritizing features over first impressions. The result: churn before players even hit the core loop.
Otero’s insight: “The game has chosen you” — meaning onboarding isn’t about showing what you built, it’s about letting the player (or user) feel chosen by the experience.

How to Apply This Beyond Gaming

SaaS Onboarding: Remove extra fields, auto-populate data, deliver a result instantly.
E-commerce & Physical Goods: Simplify packaging, reduce setup steps, create “quick start” experiences.
Customer Support: First response time is onboarding too. An unresponsive support team can turn a new customer into a lost one.

Make It Count: Be People-Driven, Be Player-Driven

Onboarding is not a feature buried in your roadmap. It’s your front door, your first impression, your nine seconds to prove value.

If you get it right, you don’t just retain customers — you build loyalty, advocacy, and love.

So the question is: when someone opens your app, signs into your tool, or unboxes your product… what happens in those first nine seconds?

Why Onboarding Matters

Retention starts here: Apps that deliver value in the first minute can see retention rates improve by 30–40%.
Emotion beats logic: Mark’s “Hierarchy of Fun” shows that people feel something at each stage — moment-to-moment, core loop, progression, mastery, and love. If you blow the first layer, they’ll never reach the emotional bond.
Cross-industry truth:
- Games: A clunky tutorial means churn.
- SaaS: A complex setup means abandoned trials.
- Physical goods: Over-designed packaging or poor instructions means returns and bad reviews.

The 9 Seconds to Value Framework

Think of onboarding as a stopwatch:

Second 1–2: The Welcome
Visuals, copy, and tone set expectations. Do they feel invited or overwhelmed?
Second 3–5: The First Action
The first click, first interaction, or first unboxing moment. Does it feel natural, rewarding, and intuitive?
Second 6–9: The Spark of Value
The “ah-ha” moment. The player scores, the SaaS user generates their first result, the customer sees the product working.

If that spark doesn’t happen by second nine, you’ve already lost them.

Lessons from Gaming Leaders

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes succeeded not just because of its IP, but because it cut the time to fun from minutes to seconds.
Unsuccessful launches often ignored this principle, prioritizing features over first impressions. The result: churn before players even hit the core loop.
Otero’s insight: “The game has chosen you” — meaning onboarding isn’t about showing what you built, it’s about letting the player (or user) feel chosen by the experience.

How to Apply This Beyond Gaming

SaaS Onboarding: Remove extra fields, auto-populate data, deliver a result instantly.
E-commerce & Physical Goods: Simplify packaging, reduce setup steps, create “quick start” experiences.
Customer Support: First response time is onboarding too. An unresponsive support team can turn a new customer into a lost one.

Make It Count: Be People-Driven, Be Player-Driven

Onboarding is not a feature buried in your roadmap. It’s your front door, your first impression, your nine seconds to prove value.

If you get it right, you don’t just retain customers — you build loyalty, advocacy, and love.

So the question is: when someone opens your app, signs into your tool, or unboxes your product… what happens in those first nine seconds?

Why Onboarding Matters

Retention starts here: Apps that deliver value in the first minute can see retention rates improve by 30–40%.
Emotion beats logic: Mark’s “Hierarchy of Fun” shows that people feel something at each stage — moment-to-moment, core loop, progression, mastery, and love. If you blow the first layer, they’ll never reach the emotional bond.
Cross-industry truth:
- Games: A clunky tutorial means churn.
- SaaS: A complex setup means abandoned trials.
- Physical goods: Over-designed packaging or poor instructions means returns and bad reviews.

The 9 Seconds to Value Framework

Think of onboarding as a stopwatch:

Second 1–2: The Welcome
Visuals, copy, and tone set expectations. Do they feel invited or overwhelmed?
Second 3–5: The First Action
The first click, first interaction, or first unboxing moment. Does it feel natural, rewarding, and intuitive?
Second 6–9: The Spark of Value
The “ah-ha” moment. The player scores, the SaaS user generates their first result, the customer sees the product working.

If that spark doesn’t happen by second nine, you’ve already lost them.

Lessons from Gaming Leaders

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes succeeded not just because of its IP, but because it cut the time to fun from minutes to seconds.
Unsuccessful launches often ignored this principle, prioritizing features over first impressions. The result: churn before players even hit the core loop.
Otero’s insight: “The game has chosen you” — meaning onboarding isn’t about showing what you built, it’s about letting the player (or user) feel chosen by the experience.

How to Apply This Beyond Gaming

SaaS Onboarding: Remove extra fields, auto-populate data, deliver a result instantly.
E-commerce & Physical Goods: Simplify packaging, reduce setup steps, create “quick start” experiences.
Customer Support: First response time is onboarding too. An unresponsive support team can turn a new customer into a lost one.