During a recent update meeting about Project Zero, Second Life's new cloud-streaming option, Linden Lab asked community members for ideas to improve new user onboarding, which remains the virtual world's most vexing, unsolved problem. I.E., roughly 99% of new user sign-ups never, ever return.
But then Charlotte Bartlett of Scarlett Creative posted this detailed onboarding proposal to the official Feedback site, and it's one of the best group of ideas I've ever seen. You should go here to read the whole thing and consider giving it an upvote, but it's so good, I'm excerpting it at length here:
First 30 seconds:
“Pick Your Vibe”
Ask ONE quick question: "What excites you the most?"
Exploring Virtual Worlds
Roleplaying
Fashion and creating an Avatar
Architecture and Interior Design
Travelling by Land, Sea and Air
Earning Money
Creating
Socializing & Hanging Out
[The over 18's stuff]
etc etc
This lands them immediately in a theme, with pre-made avatar & environment, eliminating the "nothing" of 30 seconds.
After they answer, and are in their themed journey:
Use a guided AI NPC (voice & chat): "Welcome to Second Life! You chose [Theme]. Let's get you set up in 10 seconds!"
Instant Gratification Rewards
First Reward Unlocks Instantly: As soon as they click to do something, they receive a free item or currency.
Example: "Boom! 500L$ just for starting—let’s use it!"
Use Haptic Feedback (mobile) & Sound FX to reinforce the reward dopamine hit.
Next 30 Minutes:
Engagement & Retention
Objective: Keep them entertained, engaged, and socially invested.
Gamified Onboarding (Micro-Tasks & Challenges)
Instead of dumping them into a complex world, give structured, engaging mini-challenges.
Loops via Instant Achievements
Mini-Leveling System: "You just hit Level 2 in Style my finding how to adjust your shape! Here's your reward!" (they figured out how to detach Charlotte's house they put on their bottom).
Badges & Social Validation: "You just got 5 likes on your avatar first selfie on PrimFeed!"
Timed Mystery Rewards: Every 10 minutes for the first hour, they get a free randomized reward and linden dollars if they keep playing and interacting.
***
"My thoughts were perhaps having some focus on new users, who may be younger generations, having more familiar elements could help some stick," Charlotte tells me, when I ask about her inspiration. And her proposal definitely does make Second Life look and play like a modern life sim game.
Which is exactly why it's so good: It works with gamer's expectations, not against them. Put a version of this new user experience on Second Life's iPhone/Android app, along with Steam — it's mind-boggling SL is still not on Steam — invest $10,000 or so on advertising, and it's likely SL would gain a huge influx of new users.
As for whether Linden Lab would ever implement something like Charlotte's proposal, that's another huge question. My sense is the company is so culturally opposed to making Second Life play like a game — even if that only happens in the first-time user experience — there would be massive internal resistance to dramatic changes like this. But as Second Life's active user base keeps slowly but steadily dropping, my hope is they consider a Hail Mary like this.
More later. Meantime, go here to read, review, and consider upvoting Charlotte's proposal.
Hat tip: Salt Peppermint!
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
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