A List Apart 424: Convert visitors to customers, and stakeholders to passionate believers.

TURN visitors into committed community members, and decision makers into ardent advocates of web performance. It’s easy, with the info in today’s A List Apart for people who make websites:

Performance: Showing Versus Telling

by Lara Hogan

The technical aspects of performance optimization are indisputably important. But the social work—convincing peers, managers, and clients that performance optimization merits their attention—often gets short shrift. Lara Hogan shows us how we can go beyond charts, graphs, and numbers to show performance rather than merely tell it—and effect a genuine culture shift in the process.

The Risky Business of Onboarding

by Rick Pastoor

Attracting—and keeping—new users is a delicate dance. Too many obstacles and people don’t sign up; too little interaction and they don’t come back. The ideal onboarding process turns potential users into loyal ones—by thoughtfully identifying new users, teaching them to use your product, and giving them a reason to return. Rick Pastoor shares his onboarding framework and what he’s learned about the difference between a good onboarding process and a great one.