My Role
Lead UX Designer driving research, prototyping, and testing for onboarding improvements.
The Problem
New users abandoned at 62% before finishing setup. Eleven screens, surprise document uploads, and compliance jargon made the flow feel hostile.
Results Top 5
–42%
Drop-off rate
+28%
Activation rate
14
User tests run
98%
WCAG compliance
6
Screens reduced
Tools & Skills
User ResearchJourney MappingPrototypingA/B TestingFigmaWCAG 2.1
The Story
01
The brief
I inherited a flow nobody was proud of. My first task was to sit with real users and document every hesitation, re-read, and drop-off.
02
Finding the truth
14 moderated tests revealed a clear pattern: users trusted the brand but not the form. Jargon-heavy copy and surprise upload requirements broke the relationship.
03
Designing within constraints
Working with legal and engineering, we negotiated each step. Six screens maximum. Inline document scanning removed the biggest single cliff-edge in the flow.
04
Shipping it
Launched in Q3. Drop-off fell 42% in the first month. WCAG AA achieved throughout.
Outcome
A 6-step flow with plain-language copy, inline scanning, and AA compliance by default.
Learnings
Starting with observation instead of assumptions changed everything.