Onboarding
10-step conversational sign-up. Beacon asks about your child the way a therapist would, then uses every answer in every future conversation.
When to Use This
You only do this once. It reads like a chat: Beacon asks about your child one question at a time, and every answer is used later. What calms your child shows up in Crisis Mode. What lights them up shapes the Workshop tools. Their challenges and how they communicate shape every chat answer. Your top goal is the first thing Beacon remembers about you.
How It Works
Welcome + 2 Disclaimers
The first screen tells you two things. Your data stays private. Beacon is not a replacement for doctors, therapists or legal professionals. Tap the button under them to start.
Sign In From Your Email
Type your email and Beacon sends you a sign-in code and a link. No password. On the 'Check Your Email' screen, type the code or tap the link in the email, and you come straight back to where you were.
Ten Short Questions
Beacon opens with 'Hey, I'm Beacon. One tap so every answer fits you, then ask me anything. Who am I talking with?' You tap who you are, then it asks, in order: your child's name, age, where you are with the diagnosis, how your child communicates, the 3 things making life hardest, what lights them up, what calms them down and the one thing you want help with first. Your diagnosis answer gets a short reply that fits it. On the first questions a 'Go to Beacon' button lets you skip ahead: Finish setup any time from Settings, or when Beacon asks.
Pick Up Where You Left Off
If the page reloads, you pick up at the same question. Tap Back to change an earlier answer. Nothing about your child is saved until the last tap, so if you close the browser before then, you start the questions again.
A Real Example
Maya signs up after seeing a Facebook ad. 6yo Avery, recently diagnosed.
| Step | Beacon Says | Maya Answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Name | First, what's your child's name or nickname? I'll use it every time we talk. | Avery |
| 2. Age | Love it. How old is Avery? | 6 |
| 3. Diagnosis | Got it. And where are you in the diagnosis journey? | Recently diagnosed |
| 4. Communication | How does Avery communicate right now? | Some words |
| 5. Challenges (Up to 3) | What's making life hardest right now? Pick up to 3. | Transitions, sleep, sensory overload |
| 6. Motivator | Almost done. What are Avery's biggest interests? The things they'd do all day if you let them. | Trains, dinosaurs, swinging |
| 7. Regulator | And when everything gets too much, what brings Avery back down? | Deep pressure hug and her weighted lap blanket |
| 8. Top Goal | If Beacon could help with one thing first for Avery, what would it be? | Sleep through the night |
| 9. Confirmation | Got it. One more thing: I remember our conversations. What you tell me today helps me give better answers next time. You can update any of this in Settings whenever things change. Ready? | Taps “Let's Go” |
| 10. Result | (Beacon saves Avery's profile and Maya's top goal. Maya starts getting a few short getting-started emails.) | Lands in the chat, where Beacon already knows Avery's name |
What Beacon Auto-Knows
- Everything you told it during sign-up, used in every other feature.
- Your top goal, the first thing Beacon remembers. It keeps it in mind every time you open the chat.
- Which question you were on, so a reload brings you back to it.
How It Fits With Chat
- Onboarding doesn't have a Discuss button (it IS a conversation already).
- After onboarding, every other feature can Discuss. Beacon's first reply usually references your top goal: 'I remember sleep is the priority. This routine targets that.'
Try These With Beacon
“I got Avery's regulator wrong. The deep pressure hug doesn't work anymore.”
Points you to Settings: tap Edit on the My Child card and change what calms Avery down. Crisis Mode and the Workshop tools use the new answer the next time you open them. Beacon also offers to talk through what is working now, so the new answer comes from what you have seen.
“I want to redo onboarding. Avery's situation changed.”
Sign-up only runs once, so there is no redo button. You do not need one: tap Edit on the My Child card in Settings to change the name, age, what lights Avery up or what calms her down. For everything else, tell Beacon in the chat what changed and it uses the new picture from then on.
“I started onboarding 3 days ago and lost where I was.”
Your place is kept while the same browser tab stays open. Once the browser is closed, the questions start again from your child's name; nothing about your child was saved yet, so nothing is lost. It takes a few minutes, and you can tap Edit in Settings later to change any answer.
“My partner wants to add their own child profile.”
Beacon holds one child per account right now. For a second child, or a partner who wants their own space, sign up a second account with a different email.