Original process
The original signup process (before I got on it) took about 22-24 clicks with 16 text input forms. I conducted an internal analysis with the team to find out what information we absolutely needed, what could be postponed to a setup flow, and what could be removed all together.
Mockup V1
The dev team said we needed their name, email, password, info on their company, and payment information to ensure that they were a real person. I advocated that a paywall would in fact impede most users, but security was a top concern.
On v1 of the mockup, I attempted to consolidate what was deemed necessary in to a 3 step signup, but thought this was still too many steps! I convinced the team in the next iteration to remove the name and company info at least as we could easily collect that while they get setup.
Iteration V2
Now it's time to throw in some wrenches into the mix (aka feature enhancements?). The team decided that since we are rebuilding the kitchen countertops, we might as well get a new sink.
In hopes that KaizenPrice would be more enticing to potential customers, a free trial plan was offered. We had to include messaging and the ability to pick what kind of free trial plan they wanted. Also, in never ending quests for complete security, I had to design an email verification code input field even though I warned it could be another drop off point as the user would have to leave our platform and go check their email. This is standard practice nowadays, but I was worried that we would see low completion rates with a paywall in the next step. This flow became implemented regardless.
After a few rounds of usability testing and using Google Analytics to see where users were in this flow, we finally had enough evidence to showcase that most people don't want to hand out their credit card information even for a free trial. After consulting with companies like Gartner and doing more research, the team agreed that a better approach is essentially to offer a "freemium" version of your software with the ability to upsell a customer later.
As shown in this customer journey map that I created from real feedback and analytics from Google, the signup flow was a critical hurdle that was preventing most potential users from using the rest of the app. We had to fix this!
Iteration V3
In this final iteration, we removed the order details box and the billing details step. The dev team was able to implement other security measures in these 2 steps, so we did not have to have a paywall to prevent bots and malicious actors. (What a relief!)
Over the year, we saw a HUGE uptick in completion rates! About a 6000% increase in successful signups were documented. Of course, this huge number has to be credited to stellar marketing efforts as well, but would not have been possible without making simplicity a priority.
Conclusion
The signup flow went from 22-24 clicks and 16 text inputs to 5 clicks and 3 input fields. A huge uptick in successful sign ups was documented (60X what we were seeing before!) It is worth it to prioritize simplicity while still making sure security is still a priority. Of course, stellar marketing efforts contributed to this success, but wouldn't have made a difference if we didn't make an effort to simplify things.
From the sign up flow, the new user automatically signs in and has access to KaizenPrice. They are placed into an onboarding setup flow that they need to complete before their dashboards provide them insights. I was working on the setup flow design in parallel to ensure that we collected all the information and data necessary for KaizenPrice to work properly.
The next steps:
Iterate and improve the onboarding setup flow. It was originally a manual process that took weeks and was high-touch with many emails and calls. I created an easy step-by-step flow that allowed the user to do setup themselves in 5-10 minutes while allowing them to integrate directly with their Point of Sale systems.
