Intro

The Business App Onboarding redesign project focused on improving the user onboarding experience by making it more intuitive and self-guided. The primary goal was to enable users to onboard themselves more effectively, without relying heavily on channel partners. This project reimagined the “Get Started” flow with a focus on building trust, saving time, and simplifying the setup process to ensure users could easily activate key features and maximize their use of the app.

Challenge

The current onboarding process was complex and heavily partner-driven, creating barriers for SMBs to adopt and find value in the Business App. The project’s challenge was to simplify this experience, improve user activation, and empower SMBs to navigate the app without needing partner assistance. Additionally, we needed to account for different onboarding flows for both channel partners and SMBs, while improving key integration points like Google Business Messaging and Web Chat setup.

My impact

My role involved leading the design process from research and discovery to usability testing and final designs. I conducted in-depth research on the SMB user base, shadowed onboarding sessions, and led usability testing to identify pain points. My designs emphasized simplicity, reducing cognitive load, and making onboarding steps easier and faster, while also ensuring that the flow was aligned with best practices in onboarding design.

Process

The process began with stakeholder interviews and observing real-time onboarding sessions with Broadly. I mapped the existing onboarding flow and identified key pain points, particularly around integration steps and communication channels. From there, I developed a phased roadmap to redesign the flow, starting with the most critical user interactions, like account creation and key feature integrations. The process also included multiple rounds of usability testing to refine the designs based on real user feedback.

Comparative analysis

A comparative analysis was conducted to benchmark industry standards. I compared Business App’s onboarding against GoHighLevel, Podium, Salesforce, and other competitors to identify best practices. This analysis revealed gaps in our onboarding process, particularly in the ease of integrations and quick user activation, which shaped our design decisions to streamline and clarify these elements.

Stakeholder interviews

Stakeholder interviews were a crucial part of the discovery phase, helping to align the design process with business goals and user needs. I conducted interviews with key stakeholders, including the CEO of Broadly, the onboarding team, product managers, and customer success managers. These conversations revealed critical insights into the challenges SMBs face, such as time constraints, technical barriers, and the need for trust-building features. The interviews also helped clarify which key onboarding items to prioritize in the current project, while identifying future focus areas to improve the onboarding process further. These insights directly informed the design strategy, ensuring it met both user and business requirements.

Service blueprint

Due to the complexity of Vendasta’s software and the multiple levels of user interactions, I used a service blueprint instead of a traditional user journey map. This allowed for a deeper understanding of how users, partners, and internal support teams interact across different touchpoints. By breaking down the onboarding process into segments—customer experience, front-stage actions (Business App), partner actions (Partner Center), and internal support processes—I was able to better visualize these interactions and lines of responsibility.

This blueprint helped identify any gaps or key areas of focus, such as where friction points might exist in the onboarding flow. By mapping the journey from account creation to setting up integrations like Inbox messaging, Google connections, and SMS registration, I gained insights into optimizing the process and streamlining user activation, ensuring users found value faster and with fewer hurdles.

In-app onboarding

Early sketching and iteration

Early versions helped visualize how users would navigate through the Business App, while minimizing friction and addressing common pain points like unclear navigation or complex setup processes. As I iterated, I moved towards reducing text and improving visual hierarchy to make the process more intuitive. Each iteration aimed to simplify the flow, ensuring users could easily understand the value of completing each step, from setting up Inbox messaging to syncing social accounts and submitting SMS registration. These early sketches laid the foundation for more detailed wireframes and ultimately informed the visual designs and onboarding flow, ensuring that every iteration brought us closer to a streamlined, user-centered experience.

Usability testing

Internal usability testing sessions were conducted to evaluate the clarity, navigation, and task completion within the redesigned “Get Started” flow. The test focused on three core tasks: clarity and comprehension of the initial page, ease of navigation, and task completion—specifically Facebook Messaging integration. The testing results revealed heuristic issues, including unclear system statuses, poor mental mapping between checklist items and app features, and unexpected steps in integration processes. User feedback underscored the need for clearer explanations for integrations and a better connection between the onboarding checklist and the app’s navigation. These insights were pivotal in refining the onboarding process, ensuring a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

Account creation

Current flow analysis

The current account creation process is overly complicated, with too many fields, unclear navigation, and redundant steps like reCaptcha alongside email verification. Users often encounter errors when searching for their business, struggle with poorly designed dropdowns, and face confusion due to unclear instructions. The flow frequently leads users into loops or dead ends, making it difficult for them to complete sign-up or even access the app. These obstacles create significant friction, reducing the likelihood of successful onboarding.

Proposed flow

In the ideal flow, we simplify and streamline the process. Users can sign up quickly with their work email or Google/LinkedIn. While this flow currently uses email for verification in the future we would have users verify their account via SMS, and create a password seamlessly. This removes unnecessary steps, allowing them to get into the app faster. By reducing complexity and offering a faster entry, we enhance the user experience and reduce sign-up friction, ensuring users can begin exploring the Business App right away.

Design considerations

Several design considerations were made to address the core SMB needs: trust, time, and ease. To build trust, clear messaging around data privacy and security were incorporated. The onboarding flow was streamlined by reducing steps and using a checklist-style setup, allowing users to track progress and complete integrations quickly. Visual hierarchy and scannability were improved by minimizing text, making key tasks like setting up Web Chat or connecting social accounts easier to navigate. These changes delivered a more intuitive experience, helping users find value in the product faster with less external support.

Key components

Account Creation: A seamless account creation process that supports both partner- and SMB-initiated signups.

Get Started Page: A central dashboard guiding users through essential actions like integrating Google Business Messaging and setting up Web Chat.

Final designs

The final designs featured a clean and streamlined interface, emphasizing key actions like account setup, integrating messaging platforms, and configuring automated features. The visual hierarchy was improved, and checklist items were linked to clear actions, with progress indicators guiding the user through each step. Mobile and desktop versions were developed to cater to SMBs accessing the app on different devices.

Results

Although the design is still in development, the research and usability testing conducted laid a solid foundation for its launch, scheduled for Q4 2024. Extensive stakeholder interviews and user testing revealed key pain points, guiding us to refine the onboarding flow to better meet SMB needs. The redesigned experience is expected to simplify account setup, speed up activation, and reduce user drop-off. These improvements, based on user feedback and analysis, will be further tested in future iterations to validate their impact on engagement and overall product adoption.

Reflection & key learnings

This project reinforced the importance of user-centric design, particularly for SMBs who are time-constrained and may lack technical expertise. One key takeaway was that onboarding isn’t just about designing a single “Get Started” page—it’s a complex process requiring seamless integration across multiple features and tools. Given Vendasta’s software complexity, the initial onboarding flow can only cover a fraction of the setup. To address this, we need in-context onboarding throughout the platform, guiding users as they interact with individual products or configure advanced features.

I also learned the value of reducing complexity, creating clear, actionable steps to help users complete essential tasks, and ensuring that setup flows are intuitive. Moving forward, I plan to apply these learnings to future design projects, emphasizing simplicity and clarity, while leveraging ongoing testing and iteration to ensure the product delivers value and a frictionless experience for end users.

Ⓒ Amanda Nogier