Why Make.com (No-Code Tool) Feels Like Learning Rocket Science 😮

You've been manually copying data from Google Sheets to Canva for the hundredth time.

You think: "There HAS to be a better way."

You've heard about Make.com — flexible, powerful, cheaper than Zapier. Perfect.

You sign up. Excited to reclaim those 20 hours a week.

2 hours later?

You're staring at a screen asking for your "Spreadsheet ID" and wondering if you need a computer science degree just to stop copy-pasting.

Welcome to the Make.com onboarding experience

See My LinkedIn Post Here > https://linkedin.com/posts/summitnautiyal_make-product-teardown-by-summit-nautiyal-activity-7385656647064428544-DNL8

The Promise vs. The Reality

Make.com markets itself as the sweet spot between Zapier and n8n.

It's supposed to be for you:

• The operations manager
• The marketing coordinator
• The scrappy startup founder who doesn't want to bother the dev team

But here's what actually happens when you sign up:

Step 1: The Interrogation

A six-step survey before you've experienced any value.

Role. Company size. Tech stack. Automation goals.

It's like being interrogated at the door of a party you're not even sure you want to attend.

Step 2: The Overwhelm

You land on a dashboard that looks like a spaceship cockpit.

Before you can orient yourself, pop-ups assault you:

• "Make AI Content Extractor!"
• "Make AI Toolkit!"
• "Make AI Agents!"

You don't even know what a "Scenario" is yet.

And they're already upselling you on AI agents.

Step 3: The Technical Gauntlet

You finally click "Create my first scenario."

You pick a template—something simple like "Create Canva designs from Google Sheets."

And then... the platform asks you to find:

• Your Spreadsheet ID manually
• Your Folder ID
• Your Connection parameters

There's no dummy data. No sandbox. No safety net.

You're suddenly working with your actual, live Google account.

Terrified you'll break something.

The Breaking Point

I spent 3 days documenting this journey.

Yes, I counted.

I had:

• Authenticated three different services
• Copied and pasted multiple IDs from URLs
• Read through confusing modal pop-ups
• Still hadn't seen a single automation actually run

The "aha moment"—that magical instant when you see your workflow spring to life—was buried.

Buried under technical hurdles that most people probably give up before reaching.

The Data Doesn't Lie

User research shows it takes 1-2 months for people to feel competent with Make.com

In the world of SaaS onboarding?

That's not a Learning Curve.

That's a Learning Cliff.

What Make.com Got Wrong (And Why It Matters)

1. The Power Paradox

Make.com's strength is its flexibility.

But they applied that same philosophy to onboarding.

They threw everything at new users immediately:

• Every feature
• Every option
• Every possibility

They prioritized demonstrating power over achieving a quick win.

2. The Knowledge Gap

The entire experience assumes you understand API concepts.

"Map your data." "Add your Connection."

It's jargon wrapped in jargon, served with a side of external documentation.

3. The Fear Factor

No test mode means you're playing with live ammunition.

One wrong click and you might:

• Spam your entire client list
• Duplicate 1,000 rows in your production database
• Break a workflow that's actually important

That anxiety?

It's a conversion killer.

What Great Onboarding Actually Looks Like

Remember the first time you used Canva? Or Notion?

You were designing or organizing within 60 seconds.

Not reading documentation. Not authenticating three services. Creating.

The best onboarding gets you to value before you even realize you're being onboarded.

3-Part Fix Make.com Needs

1. A True Sandbox Give me dummy data. Let me play without fear. Let me click "Run" and see magic happen before I risk my real data.

2. A Beginner Mode Hide the complexity until I'm ready. Show me the basics first. Let me graduate to power-user status organically.

3. That First Win Fast Get me to success within 5 minutes, not 5 days. Let me feel the dopamine hit of automation working before asking me to become a technical expert.

Because here's the truth:

Your product might be powerful.

But if people can't figure it out, they'll never discover that power.

The Bottom Line

Make.com isn't a bad product.

In fact, for complex workflows, it's often the best product.

But it's committing the cardinal sin of product design:

Optimizing for power users before creating more power users.

The Cost of Bad Onboarding

Every person who bounces from that onboarding flow is:

• A potential evangelist lost
• A subscription unactivated
• A review never written
• A referral that won't happen

In the crowded automation space—where Zapier and N8N dominates and new tools launch weekly — you can't afford to waste that precious moment.

That moment when someone says, "I want to try this"

Because that moment?

It's fragile.

And a six-step survey might be all it takes to break it.

Have you struggled with "user-friendly" tools that felt anything but?

Drop your automation horror stories in the comments—misery loves company. 👇