Onboarding project | ToolJet

📄

Onboarding project | ToolJet

💻 Product

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ToolJet's main product- application builder interface

Core value proposition

ToolJet is a low-code, open-source application builder targeted toward building internal tools, and back-office applications that need to be connected with various data sources. Its core value proposition lies in the ability to customize tools for specific use cases and integrate them with existing workflows.

The platform's low-code nature, multiple integrations, and user-friendly interface are key factors that encourage users to develop custom solutions using ToolJet.

👩🏻‍💼 Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

ToolJet has two versions of the product-

Cloud, hosted by ToolJet itself
On-premise, hosted by the company itself

Low-code integrations, data security, and ownership are key considerations when picking a service to build internal tools. Large companies prefer to use the on-premise version of the product and host it in their environment. Whereas, smaller companies usually have simpler use cases with a shorter lifespan. They often lack the resources or time to host and maintain the tool themselves and prefer the cloud product.

Hence, cloud and self-hosted are considered to be two different product lines that cater to two different ICPs.

🏢 Company Profiles

	Cloud	Self-hosted
Company size*	1-100 employees	500-2500 employees
Industry domain	All	Telecommunications, Finance/Banking, Supply Chain
No. of devs	1-10	>30, including DevOps
Growing/ Saturated	Growing	Growing
Org structure	Teams	Divisional or hierarchal
Current solution for internal tools	Spreadsheet, Business intelligence tools	Developers building with code from scratch
Kind of apps created	POCs, forms, survey reports, data tracking, etc	Internal tools to optimize processes

*100-500 range companies vary on which version of the product they pick based on their use case

For Cloud ICP- The value of the product is realized with how quickly they can connect a data source and start iterating on their application.

Self-hosted ICP- The value of the product is realized the most in operations-heavy companies that will require multiple custom applications which is not only cost-effective but also allows control over data, access, and authorization across the company.

Growing companies - When product and org requirements are fast and erratic, the extra value a solution like Tooljet can bring is more noticeable, and it allows teams to build POCs faster and validate ideas as well. Saturated companies with set solutions and processes can also benefit from this, however, the delta of the value they realize compared to growing companies is smaller. Hence our focus is on fast-growing organizations.

☁️ Cloud ICP

	Admin (Buyer)	Builder (Influencer/Blocker)
Job title	Engineering Manager/CXO	Software Developer
Organisation goals	Optimizing for agile resources, faster development	To be able to take up more projects, learn more, and impact the team
Role in the buying process	High	High/Medium
Reporting structure	Heads the team	Reports to Manager
Preferred channels for outreach	Email	Email
Products used in the workplace	Teams/Slack, Email, Zoom, Google Sheets, Zoom, VS code, Python/Javascript/etc	Teams/Slack, GitHub, Email, Zoom, VS code, Python/Javascript/etc
Where do they spend time	LinkedIn, GitHub	GitHub, Stack Overflow, Developer community events, Linkedin
Motivation to shift	Faster development, cost-efficient	Save time and effort
Key features used	User management and permissions, white labeling, data sources,	App builder, data sources, git sync
Frequency of use	Once a week to manage resources, users, releases, approve of work, etc	Almost every weekday during the application development & testing phase, once a week after release for bugs and maintenance mostly
Buying decisions influenced by	Value for money, agile in terms of resources needed	How easy the tool is to use and quick to get started with
Product retention	Medium/Low- Kind of apps built are for quick iterations and filling gaps in process and product with it and hence have lower shelf-life Can shift easily if a product is targeted to their use cases at a better price	High- Familiarity and ease of a tool is a key factor in continued use

👾 Self-hosted ICP

	Admin (Buyer)	Builder (Influencer/Blocker)
Job title	CEO/CTO/Head of Engineering	Software developer, Dev Ops, Quality Assurance tester
Organisation goals	Optimizing teams for efficiency, streamlining processes, and data security	To be able to submit deliverables on time, solve complex requirements easily, and move up the hierarchy ladder
Role in the buying process	High	Medium/Low
Reporting structure	Top of the funnel	Reports to Manager
Preferred channels for outreach	Email, usually followed by a Zoom/Google Meet	Email, usually followed by a Zoom/Google Meet
Products used in the workplace	Teams/Slack, Email, Zoom, Google Sheets	Teams/Slack, GitHub, Email, Zoom, VS code, Python/Javascript/etc
Where do they spend time	LinkedIn, G2, Gartner, Product Hunt, Leadership events	GitHub, Stack Overflow, Developer community events
Motivation to shift	Multiple use cases being solved in one platform- easy to maintain, cost-efficient	Save time and effort
Frequency of use	Once a week to manage resources, users, releases, approve of work, etc	3/4 times a week during the application development & testing phase, once a week after release for bugs and maintenance mostly
Key features used	Single-Sign-On (SSO), User management and permissions, data sources, white labeling, multiple environments, workspace constants (secret key manager)	App builder, data sources, git sync
Buying decisions influenced by	How secure and reliable the product is	How easy the tool is to use and quick to get started with
Product retention	High- Kind of apps built are for internal processes and of long-term use Shifting from one product to another requires a lot of effort because it's integrated into a process with multiple other tools	High- Familiarity and ease of a tool is a key factor in continued use

Leaders should adopt low-code solutions like ToolJet to enhance developer efficiency and optimize the use of company time and financial resources. These tools simplify building processes through abstraction while offering custom code control for data manipulation, creating a familiar yet efficient development environment.

💼 Jobs to be Done (JTBD)

"When I use a low-code application builder, I want to be able to connect my data source to quickly create multiple tools, so that I can optimize the company's processes."

Saving time and money is crucial for getting the job done, which is why the following two points are interconnected, offering two different perspectives on the same outcome, with functionality serving as the primary objective."

Job	Goal
Functional (primary)	To be able to build applications on top of their data sources. It is important to note that the ability to easily connect to and manage data sources is a key distinguisher between the value prop of tools like ToolJet and tools like Webflow, Framer, etc with API connectors
Financial (secondary)	To be able to save on the cost of developer resources by empowering them with tools to iterate faster.

💥 Onboarding teardown

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View Onboarding Teardown

The presentation is best viewed in full-screen mode. Thank you for the effort & patience! 🙏

🏋️‍♀️ Activation metrics

💭 Hypothesis

1️⃣ Connect to 1 data source in 14 days

Connecting to a data source signifies a user's commitment to the platform, as it involves high intent and trust to integrate data with a tool. Observations from paying customers reveal that many of them connect to their database or integrate a workflow tool as early as two days into their trial, extending up to a month. Hence, a 14-day time limit was taken as average and since it is the length of the trial period user would be more likely to explore additional features and fully realize the product's value.

Moreover, until the user connects their data source, the true value of ToolJet's platform is not evident since the user won't be able to go much further in the building process without creating queries from the data source.

Does the metric demonstrate commitment? - Yes
Does the user realize the value of the product? - Yes
Does it affect conversion? - Maybe

2️⃣ Create 2 applications in 1 month

Creating applications is a core value proposition of the product, assuming that the first application would be created just to try out the app or from a template. Creating two applications after that (a total of 3) would demonstrate higher intent. Moreover, the value of the product is realized the most when a user can build applications for multiple use cases from one tool.

Does the metric demonstrate commitment? - Yes
Does the user realize the value of the product? - Yes
Does it affect conversion? - Maybe

3️⃣ Release & share 1 app in 1 month

Releasing an application demonstrates high commitment because the builder has put in the work to actually create a working application. Sharing the released app with an end-user implies that the use case of the application built was fulfilled. Moreover, this a clear demonstration of how quick the development process is in the tool.

Does the metric demonstrate commitment? - Yes
Does the user realize the value of the product? - Yes
Does it affect conversion? - Maybe

4️⃣ Configuring white labelling in 14 days

Customizing white labeling requires the user to upload a logo of their company which shows commitment. Moreover, the feature demonstrates the customizability of the platform to tailor it to their use case. This being a paid feature should ideally be configured within the 14-day trial.

For Cloud only-

Tracking how many configured their custom domain as well since that is high intent and commitment in terms of effort and is an important part of white labeling.

(This case is not valid for self-hosted since it's understood that they use their domain when they host it themselves. Moreover, it's not a paid feature in self-hosted.)

Does the metric demonstrate commitment? - Yes
Does the user realize the value of the product? - No
Does it affect conversion? - Yes

5️⃣ Invite 1 user in 14 days

Simply inviting a user won't help the user realize the value of the product but without inviting a user they would not retain too long unless builders or end users are added to it. The product is catered towards teams and not individuals so it's a key factor in the process. Moreover, adding builders could mean that their insights and opinions about the product might influence the buying decision and could lead to realizing the value of the product quicker.

Does the metric demonstrate commitment? - Yes
Does the user realize the value of the product? - No
Does it affect conversion? - Maybe

📈 Metrics to Track

1️⃣ Metrics to validate hypotheses

The metrics will be tracked on a workspace-level in cloud and instance-level in self-hosted since activity needs to be tracked for the team/company, not individual users. These will help validate the hypotheses and backtrack to identify key actions to determine the activation equation.

The average time taken to connect to the first data source (This includes using the in-built ToolJet database) - optimizing for less time
The average time taken to create the first application - optimizing for less time
The average time taken from when an app was created to when it was released - optimizing for less time
The average time taken to invite the first user - optimizing for less time
% of paying customers who configured white labeling in their trial period - optimizing for higher %

These hypotheses are reflected in the ✨ proposed onboarding flow ✨, hence these metrics will also be able to identify how effective the onboarding flow has been in achieving its goal.

2️⃣ Product metrics

The following is a list of metrics that will help give an overview of activation and retention as well as help us refine what activation and retention looks like for us-

Acquisition source- % distribution from each source and % of which convert to paying customers from each source. The current largest channel is sales and none of the other channels are being tracked right now.
Onboarding drop-off rate - % of users who do not complete onboarding, helps us determine any points of friction in the onboarding process. We will track all ICP's onboarding drop-off rate but the first user (buyer/admin) is crucial for us since it will dictate whether the other users will even get a chance to onboard or not.
Conversion rate - how many unique organizations sign up, and how many convert to paying customers.
Average turn around time (TAT) - measured by the time when the first user of an organization signs up till the organization purchases a paid plan.
WAU & MAU for builders- where the unit of activity is opening the app editor. ToolJet is not a daily use product, it is primarily used on weekdays during working hours, and based on which part of the development cycle they are in (development, testing, post-release maintenance) the activity would change. Hence, a weekly & monthly average user count is more appropriate.
DAU & MAU for end-users- where the unit of activity is when an end-user launches the release application. To ensure sustained value of the product there needs to be a demand from the end-users side for these applications and hence is an important metric to track for retention.
Sign-up vs retention rate- the ratio of how many unique organizations signed up vs how many are retained after x time based on hypotheses to ensure we aren't overpromising in our acquisition or onboarding pitch. A retained organization is an org with at least 1 active builder OR an active released app.
Product reviews- We need to understand what worked or didn't work for users in the product to get depth and validate the current investigation for activation. ToolJet's main product review source is G2 plus our feedback form we circulate every quarter or so.