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TL;DR
Problem
Our team identified skepticism from users in trusting an eCommerce funding solution like 8fig during the initial onboarding process, leading to a high rate of abandonment and a high number of CS inquiries and questions.
Solution
This redesign transformed the onboarding experience from a series of forms with little context to an informative experience that shows users the value of 8fig's funding solution.
Outcome
40% increase in store connections post-application
Reduced number of CS tickets with onboarding questions
My Role
Product Designer
UX Researcher
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8fig's onboarding happens in 4 phases
The suave "hello"
Social media
Ads
Website homepage
The first date
Sign up
Submit application
Connect eCommerce store
Waiting by the phone
Application submitted
Store connected
Waiting for the offer
The proposal
Offer received
Offer accepted
Contract signed
This case study focuses on the "first date" phase
DISCOVERY
Understanding the problem
When it comes to your small business, you want to protect it at all costs.
This is what our users were most concerned about when applying for 8fig funding. They were hesitant to trust a solution different from a typical bank loan. This led to a desire to talk to a real human before completing their application or connecting their store to the 8fig platform.
Users repeatedly asked the same questions to our CS team...
"Why should I trust 8fig as my funding solution?"
"How many steps does it take to get money from 8fig?"
"Why do you need me to share my store data?"
This lack of trust and hesitancy led to
95% of users abandoning the onboarding flow before connecting their eCommerce store
Between direct Customer Success feedback and this high rate of abandonment, our hypothesis is that users are extremely hesitant to hand over important store information to a platform they don't trust.
Qualitative goals
Quantitative goals
Form trust and understanding in 8fig
Replicate success found with live conversations with CS
Take collection of forms and turn into delightful experience for users
Increase funding applications
Increase store connections
Decrease CS tickets asking repeat onboarding questions
DISCOVERY
Gathering insights
We conducted a workshop to determine why users come to 8fig in the first place to understand their goals and needs.
Among the most common answers were
Get funding for my eCommerce business
Stabilize my cash flow
Grow my business
Below is a visual of all the feedback we obtained
We determined user problems using CS and workshop feedback. We also identified visual design issues by auditing the current experience. See original experience below.
Original onboarding design
DEFINITION
Prioritizing issues
Since most users told us they come to 8fig for some financial purpose, we knew we needed to keep the financial questions we had in the previous experience, even if it felt like a form.
However, since we knew from research that users are hesitant to trust a non-bank funding solution, we needed to focus more on giving a humanized experience that users could trust.
Thus came the 4 pillars/goals of the onboarding experience...
1. Story-selling with a logically consistent flow
2. A humanized experience that connects
3. Trust gained through transparency and clarity
4. High-impact education at exactly the right time
We used these four pillars to guide each design decision made moving forward.
Sofia
Users going through onboarding frequently asked to talk to a real person. We decided to add a humanized virtual guide that helps users by giving tips and positive value adds about 8fig.
[visual]
Conversational tone
Changing the tone of voice makes the information ingestion no longer feel like filling out a form. The use of "weekend language" creates an emotional connection with users.
Choice flow
Allowing users to choose the type of funding they want creates a clear connection between their desire for funds and the 8fig product. It also helps users understand the unique way 8fig does funding.
[visual]
Transition slides & stepper
Transition slides set the frame, context, and expectations for each stage. The stepper answers the user problem of not knowing how much is left in the process - they now will know where they are and how much they have left.
[visual]
IDEATION
Wireframes
We used these solutions to wireframe initial designs.
Since we learned from research and analytics that about 80% of our users sign up with 8fig on a mobile device, we designed our wireframes on mobile first.
IDEATION
Validation
We first ran our designs by the CS team to see if the new copy and designs would answer the questions they're asked most often. Then, after confirmation and excitement from this team that interacts with users the most, we moved on to user testing.
Customer Success
Answered questions most asked by users
Captured what they normally say to users when walking them through the onboarding flow
Provided lots of education on 8fig product
Feels more personalized + human than previous flow
5 Users
More digestible than previous flow
Liked picking what they got to fund - felt more personalized to their business and needs
Indifferent about stepper/transition pages - didn’t read them
Business Stakeholders
Liked that we had more opportunity to promote 8fig and educate users
“Better experience”
Believe this will drive store connections
Liked knowing where you are in the process
Too much text, worried about mobile experience
IMPLEMENTATION
Hi-fi, development, & iterations
I created high-fidelity designs in Figma. I worked closely with the front end team to specify any missing interactions not covered in the high-fidelity mockups. I conducted a UX review of each front-end ticket implemented to ensure it was aligned with the designs before it went live.
After the initial release, our company went through a rebrand and the design team made a large update to our working design system. I took the time to improve the UI of the initial designs and update them to reflect the new branding.
Click image to view full prototype
IMPLEMENTATION
Results & takeaways
Qualitative goals
Form trust and understanding in 8fig
Replicate success found with live conversations with CS
Take collection of forms and turn into delightful experience for users
Results
Users understood output more through choice flow
CS validated that this productized conversations had with users
More digestible flow
Quantitative goals
Increase funding applications
Results
Application submissions increased by 10%
Increase store connections
Store connections increased by 40%
Decrease CS tickets asking repeat onboarding questions
CS tickets with these questions decreased by 15%
Click image to view full prototype