Action Onboarding
The redesign of Action’s onboarding aimed to increase user engagement by helping more users reach a key milestone: following two or more experts and tracking two or more bets in their first week. The existing onboarding framework lacked the flexibility for A/B testing and optimization, so we launched a full redesign to improve adaptability and performance.
Role
Lead Designer
Timeline
3 months
Platform
iOS, Android
Areas
Strategy, Design, User Flows, Research
Why Redesign?
75% of users who follow 2+ experts and track 2+ bets in their first week return the following week.
However, only 4% of users were hitting this milestone. Our goal was to improve the outdated onboarding experience and reduce friction to help more users reach this key engagement point.
Business + Product Goals
Enable A/B Testing
The existing onboarding framework lacked the flexibility needed for A/B testing and optimization, which limited our ability to experiment and optimize the experience over time.
Foundation for Personalization
We were also working on a larger initiative to increase app personalization. The redesigned onboarding needed to capture user preferences to support future personalization efforts.
Auditing the Current Experience
Before redesigning the onboarding flow, we conducted a thorough audit of the current experience.
Lack of Clarity
Several pages and features had no explanation or were blank upon landing, leading to user confusion and lower engagement.
Low Visibility CTAs
Key actions that unlocked pages or core features had hard to find call-to-actions.
Buried Onboarding Cards
Our current onboarding cards, which were meant to educate users, were hard to find, buried at the end of a list of new user offers.
User Testing Findings
We conducted both an unmoderated and moderated usability testing to assess user comprehension of the onboarding journey, identify any frustrations, and gather feedback. Our finding revealed a couple themes:
Structure & User Control
Users wanted the option to skip or engage at their own pace. Suggestions included offering onboarding in stages with flexible, user-controlled completion and reminders to track progress.
Messaging & Transparency
Users struggled to understand the app's purpose and value proposition on the first screen and after completing onboarding, suggesting unclear feature discoverability and confusing messaging.
Strategy Workshop
I facilitated a workshop with key stakeholders and product managers to review onboarding feedback and align on a strategy that streamlined the experience while ensuring users understood the app’s core value.
During the workshop, we brainstormed and prioritized the key actions that would matter most to each of our target user groups, ensuring the onboarding aligned with their needs and expectations. We also identified the absolute essential steps that should be part of the initial onboarding to allow users to start using the app effectively without overwhelming them.
Goals of Redesign
How might we make onboarding more informative, flexible, and action driven?
Clarify Value
Implement contextual onboarding steps and clearer messaging to ensure users understand key features and how the app meets their needs.
Flexible Structure
Support A/B testing by allowing stages and steps to be moved around in the flow or removed without disrupting the overall experience.
Adaptive Onboarding
Give users the ability to engage with onboarding steps at their own pace, allowing for a more streamlined initial onboarding experience.
Final Solution
Sign Up & Account Creation
Refined Messaging
In the workshop, we discovered that our users had a core motivation: To make smarter bets. We used that motivation to craft a more targeted and relevant introduction that immediately addressed users' goals.
Information Clarity
Asking users “What brings you here” introduces the app's core capabilities while setting clear expectations about what the app can do. This step also primes users to guide their focus toward the available features to increase the likelihood of them engaging with those tasks.
Progressive Onboarding
Onboarding Checklist
We made the onboarding steps more visible by placing an onboarding checklist module on the profile screen, allowing users to complete the steps at their own pace.
Contextual Guides
Upon landing in the app, we walk users through each tab with a spotlight design to help them more easily find key features. We also updated our tutorials for important user tasks like tracking a bet to simplify them and make the experience more efficient.
Engaging CTAs
On pages that required an action to unlock the functionality, we redesigned the CTAs to be more visually prominent and communicate the benefit to the user of doing that task.
Outcome
A/B Testing Started
We’ve already been able to A/B test the positioning of the PRO subscription upsell in the onboarding flow, allowing the team to increase subscription revenue from onboarding by 9%.
Opportunity for Refinement
With the new flexible structure in place, the team can continue to refine the progressive onboarding balance and optimize the flows of those key actions.
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