Super Mario Bros.

The Mario level: teach by design, not tutorials

Shaan breaks down how Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 teaches every mechanic with no tutorial—the scrolling screen pushes you right, the Goomba's angry face signals an enemy, and the coin boxes lure you into a jump that lands on the Goomba's head. Great products are designed so the only thing you can do is the next thing you need to learn.

“And that's how you want to design great products, is where you actually don't need clippy. You just make it where there's really only one thing you could do, and that's the next action you need to learn as a player in the game of like, oh, click this, good thing happens, great, now I know when to use that technique.”

Steal thisDesign onboarding so the only obvious next action is the one you want the user to learn—no tutorial needed.