Line2- Onboarding
Line2 is a cloud-based business phone service and a part of J2 Global’s Marketing Technology (martech) vertical.
For individuals, it’s an easy way to keep work calls and texts separate from personal ones.
For small and medium size businesses, it’s a full-featured VoIP phone service that allows teams to communicate with their customers through mobile app, desktop app and a web browser user portal.
Overview- why onboarding?
We started this project as Line2's objective was to reduce churn and increase retention rates.
To understand the problems new users were facing, I teamed up with our Product Manager,
a Customer Success Manager and another UX designer from one of our sister brands and together we took a closer look at what was causing customers to cancel their subscriptions.
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We started our preliminary research by a thorough evaluation of the entire user journey from sign up to a first time dashboard visit. Through remote user testing, interviews, customer support tickets, online app reviews and a comparative analysis we discovered many issues and pain points users were facing and areas that needed major improvements from technical issues to usability and dated UI. We decided to focus on the onboarding flow because it would have the biggest impact on our users, and if done right-- will allow them to start using the product as soon as they sign up.
The problem
The current Setup Wizard was a frustrating experience that not only looked dated but was also an ineffective way to introduce users to core features and as a result prevented them from using the product altogether. It was evident that new users of Line2 struggle to know what actions they should take to finish setting up their new Line2 account vs. what is already set up and requires no setup.
This slideshow is a breakdown of the old setup wizard flow and a summary of user insights.
Research insights
After an evaluation of the current setup wizard which followed by interviews with 12 participants, we identified four main friction areas:
Password creation
New users of Line2 receive a temporary password through email and require to set up a new one in the setup wizard, but they can skip it altogether, which in that case leads to expired password and troubles logging in again.
Most commonly used features are hidden
Common features like voicemail and greetings are hidden along with more complex features that are not as commonly needed for the target customer base.
Optimal experience requires an app to be downloaded
Users of Line2 need to download a mobile or desktop app to receive the full benefits of Line2. These downloads are not being highlighted as a necessary step in setting up their account.
Dated UI
Not only the portal’s UI is dated and simply not appealing, most people would associate bad design with bad service (a result of non-designers designing the initial product).
Design + Solutions
We went through many iterations before deciding on a simple 3-step onboarding flow that starts right after users finish the sign up flow. The goal was to tackle the pain points we identified during the discovery phase by creating a simple, quick and effective experience that would help users set up their accounts so they can start making calls and send messages to their customers.
First screen after sign up and intro to the onboarding
Encouraging copy to help set users' expectations for the duration of the flow.
Fresh and updated UI that matches the marketing team's new styleguide and the public site.
Step 1- Complete Login Details
Most people don't enjoy filling out forms as it is time consuming and feels like work. The more forms, the more users need to work. And the more work the users need to do, the higher the risk of dropping out.
Therefor, one on the first goals we wanted to achieve was to reduce cognitive load and the length of the forms throughout the flow. Meaning, we keep decisions bite-sized and easy to complete so our users don't have to think too hard.
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The next thing we did was adding the password creation on the very first step to get it out of the way.
We also added a couple more fields: 'Business name' and 'What is your industry', both for marketing purposes and future optimization.
Adding checkmarks next to the fields that have already been filled helps motivate the users to complete the account creation details.
Adding a progress bar served 2 purposes:
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It clearly shows the number of steps that are required to finish the setup.
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Motivates users through a feeling of progress and accomplishment.
Step 2- Set Up Voicemail Greeting
The second step was the Aha-moment: when new users realize the value of the product. One of the main product features for Line2 is the Voicemail Greeting that allows users to have a professional welcome greeting through a technology called 'Text-to-Speach' where they can type their message and select different voices and accents to customize the greeting.
By allowing users to customize the greeting and make it their own, they begin attributing value to the product early, creating an emotional connection with the app and increasing the likelihood of higher retention rate.
To make the experience even easier we placed a placeholder text inside the field with a pre-populated message with the user's business name we collected earlier in the funnel.
We added informative tips to help guide the user and assure them they can also upload an audio file after the set up is complete as well as why it's recommended to have a voicemail greeting.
Once the user starts editing their message, they have the option to revert to the default message.​
Step 3- Get the Line2 App
The third and final step of the flow was to download the app. One of the main issues users were facing was not getting calls and therefor not being able to use one of the core features of the product.
The reason was tied to how VoIP (Voice Over IP) apps are working: A VoIP phone system is a technology to make phone calls through the internet connection instead of a regular landline or a mobile network.
And so in order to receive calls users must have the mobile or desktop app, but in the old experience it wasn't highlighted or communicated to the user.
We wanted to convey the importance of having the app as a necessary step for users to start talking and texting. And so to make it easy to download the mobile app we added a field where users enter their mobile number and a direct link to download the app is sent to them.
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I used the same UI form pattern to make it look more like a necessary step and a part or the flow rather than having the usual 'Find it on the App Store' black icon which most users are conditioned to overlook.
Encouraging microcopy to help the users take action and also letting them know they have reached the finish line!
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'I'll do it later' tells the users this is something they can skip, but assuring them there's a way to find it later on again.
1. Encouraging the users to download the app by providing additional value ("you can manage your contacts".
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2. We intentionally put less emphasis on downloading the desktop apps as the majority of users forward calls to their mobile phones or wanted to have the option to.
Useful tooltips
Setup completed confirmation screen
Goals and Success Measurement
The success measurements we put in place are number of app downloads, setting up a new greeting and overall reduced churn.
95%
of new users complete
a download of either a mobile app or a desktop app within the first 24 hours after initial sign-in.
50%
of new users have set up
a custom greeting within 7 days of initial sign-in.
50%
of new accounts receive calls or messages within 30 days of initial sign-in.
5%
Reduced churn rate over
a 3 month time period.
Next steps
Get user onboarding right, and you can look forward to all sorts of good things—like better engagement and retention rates, happier and more successful customers, and a more profitable product. Get it wrong and you can expect high user abandonment rates, unsustainable revenue churn, negative product reviews, and diminishing returns. (Scary stuff!)
But onboarding doesn’t (or shouldn’t) end after the first user session, especially if you have a complex product. Learning is a process, and the user journey map should take into account how regular users interact with different features or perform different tasks over time.
Initial onboarding is for getting the basics down—it’s about that first aha moment. Once this experience is tackled, it’s time to ask: How can we keep our users learning? How do we continue to engage them once they’re in a routine? How do we continue to provide new value tomorrow, and the day after that?