Improving the Onboarding Experience

Project Overview

Client: Smith Micro Software

Project: Tier 1 Carrier Family Safety App

Project Duration: [July 2024] – [October 2024]

Role: Manager, Customer/User Experience

Team: Sr. User Experience Researcher, Data Scientist, Product Manager, UI Designer

 

Tools & Methods:

  • Google and Firebase Data Analytics
  • App and Play Store Reviews
  • Alchemer (Apptentive) No Love Surveys
  • User Interviews
  • Usability Testing
  • Data Synthesis and Analysis
  • Design Recommendations

 

Overview

As the Manager of User Experience Research for a family safety mobile application, my primary goal was to enhance the onboarding flow to facilitate smoother user experiences and reduce churn. This app features parental controls and location tracking, essential tools for ensuring family safety. The onboarding process was identified as a critical area needing improvement to reduce user abandonment and increase engagement.

  1. Identifying Challenges and Usability Issues

During initial assessments, several challenges and usability issues in the onboarding flow became evident:

  • Complexity: Users faced too many screens, leading to frustration and drop-off.
  • Confusing Terminology: The language used was not intuitive, causing misunderstandings.
  • Time Consumption: The manual setup process required significant time, discouraging users from completing onboarding.

 

  1. Key Areas for Improvement

Based on the identified challenges, I determined that improvements could be made in:

  • Screen Reduction: Streamlining the number of screens and steps required.
  • Clarity of Instructions: Enhancing the language and visual cues to guide users better.
  • Automation: Automating repetitive tasks to simplify the onboarding process.

 

  1. Analyzing Existing Analytics Data

To inform our redesign, I analyzed existing data from Google Analytics and Firebase Analytics, which revealed high abandonment rates on specific screens:

  • Admin Profile Created Screen: 10.3%
  • Family Profile Registration Button: 24.7%
  • Family Profile Type Selected: 34.4%
  • Parental Controls Consent Accepted: 4.3%
  • Parental Control Set Up Screens: 8.5%
  • Invitation Screen Viewed: 7.0%
  • Hub Screen Viewed: 29.7%
  • Percent of users who completed onboarding, reached the Hub, and used the Feature: 27.1%

 

  1. Conducting In-Depth User Interviews

Research Objectives: Identify challenges and usability issues in the setup process. Determine key areas for improvement in the onboarding experience.

Research Methodology: Conducted 8 in-depth interviews with current users.

My team and I conducted in-depth interviews with actual users, focusing on:

  • Their onboarding experiences. (User Quote: “It just took too long to get through.”)
  • Specific pain points they encountered. (User Quote: “I tapped the button to send the invite link, but they never received it.”)
  • Suggestions for improvement. (User Quote: “I wanted to get to the hub faster so I can just start using the app, but there were too many screens to set up.”)

Users expressed frustration with the length of the onboarding process and the perceived complexity of the setup especially when it came to pairing a child’s device and sending the invite code.

 

  1. Reviewing Findings with Internal Team

Compiled all findings and presented to the internal team of designers, data scientist, and product managers. This collaborative review session generated additional insights and validation for proposed changes.

Key Findings:

  1. High Priority: Update Setup Device Screen
  • Not being able to send invite code to family member is considered a blocker for many users, preventing them from proceeding with other steps.

 

Potential Ideas & Issues to Resolve

  1. Add step-by-step instruction to follow along because many users thought the process was complete after tapping the “Send invite” button. They also didn’t know they need to take action on the device they are inviting and click send on the SMS Composer screen as they thought that the “Send Invite” button would automatically send the code to another device.
  2. Update the UI to ensure that users have better visibility of the 2 invite options (Invite Code & QR Code.) Users who have added family members a few times started to notice the QR code option and thought it’s much easier.

 

  1. Investigate if it’s possible to add “Companion” into step 1 when adding Child’s profile as users thought it would be clearer that it’s the child’s companion app, not the parent’s app

 

  1. High Priority: Update Permission Screens
  • Many users got confused when taken to the native settings screens and are not aware if they have set everything up correctly. Many users did not pay attention to the first time set up and wanted to get things do fast.

 

Potential Ideas & Issues to Resolve

  1. Update copy and add better instructions as a step-by-step guide with photos to follow along, especially to show which menu users need to tap. Android will have different models but would go with the most used one.
  2. Consider adding a permission checklist page to show the status of each permission settings.
  3. High Priority: Remove Parental Controls Set Up
  • Not all users use parental controls. The current set up flow is perceived to be very long, and users want to get only what’s necessary for set up so they can reach the hub and start using the app.

 

Potential Ideas & Issues to Resolve

  1. Remove Parental Controls set up screen & add tool tips or red dots to help guide users if they want to set up.
  2. Auto setup based on child’s birth month and year as most users don’t know what the right settings should be for kids their age. Pre-setup and having the ability to customize could help streamline the set-up process.

 

 

  1. Medium Priority: Other Improvements
  • Issue: Users don’t know how long it will take and what they need to do to set up
  • Solution: Have an overall checklist with progress bar to guide user

 

  • Issue: Users don’t know where to invite family
  • Solution: Show tool tips for invite family members

 

  • Issue: Users don’t understand what VPN is and why it’s needed
  • Solution: Update copy to explain why VPN is needed & what to do when there are conflicting VPNs
  • Issue: Users misunderstood that “While in use” is not the correct setting
  • Solution: Highlight “Always”

 

 

Low Priority: Other Improvements

  • Issue: Users don’t know where to get help
  • Solution: Show tool tips for Help section

 

  • Issue: Users thought as soon as they tap “Send invite” the other family member was invited and the process was done.
  • Solution: Update instructions in the app and in the SMS.

 

 

  1. Creating a New Prototype

Based on our analysis and user feedback, we developed a new prototype of the onboarding flow, implementing the following changes:

  • Reduced the total number of screens and steps required to reach the Hub.
  • Streamlined instructions and incorporated visual aids for clarity.
  • Updated copy writing to be clear and succinct.

 

  1. Conducting Usability Tests

We conducted 10 usability tests with the new prototype, to understand how users interact with the new onboarding prototype focusing on:

  • Ease of navigation.
  • User understanding of the process.
  • Overall satisfaction and completion rate with the onboarding experience.

 

  1. Analyzing Usability Test Data

The usability test data indicated significant improvements in user comprehension and engagement. However, additional tweaks were necessary to optimize flow:

  • Simplified language further in key areas.
  • Adjusted screen layouts for better visual hierarchy.

 

  1. Finalizing the Flow with Design

I worked closely with the design team to finalize the onboarding flow based on data-driven insights. Key decisions included:

  • Removing the “Create Owner Profile” screen, allowing for automatic profile creation.
  • Streamlining the Welcome screen from multi-screen carousel to one.
  • Updating the copy on the permission screens.
  • Removing the parental control set up screens.
  • Improving and adding instructions and copy on all screens.

 

  1. Implementation and Documentation

Finally, created Jira tickets for the development team detailing the new onboarding flow. I also wrote new screen copy and updated the Figma board to align with our refined language strategy.

 

Outcome

The redesigned onboarding flow led to substantial improvements:

  • Screen Reduction:
    • 67% reduction in total screens (from 11 to 4 to reach the Hub).
    • 18% reduction in screens needed to add one child and one adult profile (from 27 to 22 screens).
    • 66% reduction in screens for creating an additional child profile (from 3 screens to 1).
  • Enhanced User Experience:
    • Improved Welcome screen allowed users to understand the features of the app and which action to take to proceed forward.
    • Removal of creating Admin’s profile manually allowed for automatic creation to save additional time.
    • Improved copy on the Permission screens led to less confusion and skips and ensured the settings were set for optimal performance.
    • Automatic setup of parental controls based on the child’s age significantly streamlined the process and saved users time manually setting up each feature.
    • Clearer options on the “Set Up Device” screen significantly improved user confidence and completion.
    • Users reached the Hub faster and were prompted to add family members and customize parental controls immediately through tool tips and rich dialog boxes.

 

Future Improvements

Phase 2 will focus on additional enhancements, including:

  • Redesigning the Permissions screens for even better clarity.
  • Implementing a Yellow Tamper Banner with instructions on how to add a device to a profile.
  • Including a Next Steps screen to inform users of the steps and time it will take to complete the process.

By leveraging data and user insights, we transformed the onboarding experience, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and engagement with our family safety app. The overall completion rate of users who reached the Hub and used the feature increased from a 27.1% to 61.2%.