Account Creation & Onboarding Redesign
Project Background
Context
The majority of people who find the The Mighty do so by way of Google searches that lead them to articles which are interesting and/or relevant. It’s not necessary to be a Mighty member in order to read and many potential users never do join The Mighty (another topic altogether). Once these ‘lurkers’ attempt to interact with articles though by liking, saving, or commenting, they are prompted to become Mighty members, a process that was awkward and cumbersome that only 22% of prospective members successfully completed. It was imperative that The Mighty improve the rate at which people successfully completed their account creation process.
My Role
I was the sole product designer, working in conjunction with a cross-functional team that included the product management and engineering leads and incorporated inputs from content design, QA, privacy, and legal stakeholders.
Approach
I mapped out the existing account creating flow, noting all the spots at which we observed user drop-off, while simultaneously performing a heuristic evaluation which was intended to help identify the issues leading to the flow’s poor performance. Through these efforts a set of requirements was created and the design process began.
I created numerous flow options which were tested, internally at first and then later with participants who were unfamiliar with The Mighty. I continued to iterate on the designs, all the while incorporating user feedback, until we arrived at a new, much more effective flow.
Problems & Solutions
An Arduous Process
One of the biggest issues with the former Mighty account creation process was the sheer volume of screens. It was overwhelming to users and the lack of indication of the length of the process or the number of remaining steps only added to the difficulty. The overall cognitive burden was clearly excessive and created an almost insurmountable barrier to users attempting to join The Mighty.
The Solution
By being purposeful about the information sought from users, only soliciting the most essential details and removing screens that offered little value and/or whose purpose was confusing, I was able to simplify the overall process, dramatically decreasing the number of screens and subsequently the amount of time it took to onboard onto The Mighty.
An Abrupt Transition
Any attempt by users to interact with an article by liking, saving or commenting abruptly navigated them away, without any warning or explanation, to the onboarding flow’s ‘What is your email address’ screen. It was a disorienting, contextless transition that didn’t set users up for account creation success.
The Solution
A screen was introduced that explained the need to create an account which provided a much friendlier, more graceful transition to the onboarding flow. We additionally introduced a screen at the beginning of the account creation process explaining what is The Mighty and its value to prospective members.
An Unintuitive User Experience
There were numerous screens in The Mighty onboarding flow seeking information from users that was confusing and/or seemingly redundant. Other screens failed to explain why certain information was being sought, giving users concerns about the privacy of their sensitive information.
The Solution
By being purposeful about the information sought from users, only soliciting the most essential details, addressing privacy concerns and UI inconsistencies, and removing screens that offered little value and/or whose purpose was confusing, we were able to remove considerable friction, greatly simplifying the account creation process.
The Outcome
The results of The Mighty’s account creation process’ redesign were dramatic.
>15
Number of screens removed
32 sec
Average time to completion
78%
Success rate
+ 355%
Success rate % improvement
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If you have a product to design please don’t hesitate to reach out. I have helped some of the world’s best known brands achieve big successes and I would be delighted to do the same for yours.
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