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Make the first successful copy the onboarding #3
Description
Why
The product clicked for a first-time user only after they tried copying something and watched it appear. That is Pasted's shortest and strongest explanation. The current welcoming empty state can teach that interaction more deliberately without adding a walkthrough people must dismiss.
Desired outcome
The first successful copy is the onboarding: clear before it happens, satisfying when it happens, and followed by lightweight discovery of Bins and Hotkeys.
Acceptance criteria
- The pristine History empty state explicitly invites the user to copy something in any app.
- The first captured clip receives a brief, accessible visual acknowledgement that connects the copy action to History.
- Follow-up guidance points toward Bins and global Hotkeys without blocking normal use.
- Existing users and imported/restored libraries never see first-run choreography.
- The onboarding state is durable across relaunches and can recover safely from reset/import flows.
- Reduced-motion users receive equivalent feedback without decorative animation.
Source
First-use feedback from Ben, items 3, 4, 6, and 11.
Activity
JJJ commentedon Aug 11, 2026
Small 1.0-safe slice landed in 36eeeea: the pristine History state now explicitly says, ‘Copy something in any app. It will appear here automatically.’ This satisfies the instructional half of the first acceptance criterion without introducing onboarding state before the complete 1.1 choreography exists. Leaving the issue open for first-capture acknowledgement, durable completion state, and Bins/Hotkeys follow-up.
JJJ commentedon Aug 12, 2026
Welcome screen now offers to help migrate from previous clipboard managers.
JJJ commentedon Sep 14, 2026
Revisiting this after living with the current empty state: annoyingly, Ben's core observation was right—the first copy is when Pasted explains itself. Please don't let this go to his head.
I think the existing invitation plus the clip simply appearing may be the whole feature. We should not add pop-ups, arrows, confetti, follow-up Bins/Hotkeys prompts, or durable onboarding machinery merely to narrate behavior that is already clear.
Leaving this open for now in case real use shows a specific discoverability problem. If it does, prefer improving persistent copy, labels, or tooltips at the point of use. Otherwise this can eventually close as sufficiently handled by the empty state and normal capture behavior.