Rebuilding the onboarding experience
Simplified the onboarding process to reduce drop off rate by 88% and drive self guided onboarding to help account executives focus on closing deals by doubling demo completion rate.
- Product designer
- Research & discovery
- UX strategy & planning
- Product design
- UX research
- Journey mapping
For the full director’s cut, I recommend viewing this case study on desktop. The mobile friendly version is streamlined —great for a quick scroll, but the full story plays out best on the big screen.
Cadence is a powerful but complex tool, especially when adapting it to fit a company's unique workflow. This complexity led to a heavy onboarding process that demands time and focus — especially when being set up for trial users. While the current flow flaunts the many weapons in Cadence's arsenal, it misses the chance to let users experience the core value early on. As a result, Account Executives struggled to complete demos and book meetings, finishing only around 40% of demos and managing just 2-3 bookings per week.
The current onboarding process for the Cadence tool is very complex and time-consuming. Numerous friction points hinder users' motivation to engage with the tool, resulting in a high drop-off rate before they even experience its features. Users deserve a smoother onboarding experience, allowing them to spend more time trying out the tool rather than setting it up. Account executives frequently spend too much time in demo meetings, which frustrates both them and the users. Often, there's not enough time to finish a demo in one session, leading to multiple meetings that can be unproductive. This makes it hard for AEs to focus on closing deals and clearly explaining the tool's benefits for the clients. To summarize
- The onboarding process is overly complex and time-consuming.
- There is a significant user drop-off rate.
- Account executives are only completing 40% of their demos.
- The average number of bookings per week is low, approximately 2 to 3.
The aim is to simplify the user onboarding process by reducing the complexity and number of steps the user has to take before reaching the actual platform. The objective is also to motivate and enable the user to be able self onboard themselves onto the tool.To achieve this objective we need to break down our current onboarding process into clear independent modules. These modules are as follows :
* Is only required for Salesforce integration
Given the problem statement the objective of the onboarding is to let the user gain quick and easy access to the tool. However the current onboarding process is more more aligned to the purpose of setting up the tool before letting the user actually use it. This brings brings us to the question of ‘what exactly is required to be set up to use the tool ?’ . The answer to this question will help us identify our friction points and essentially help define their nature.
Friction points are the steps in the onboarding process that can be skipped or set up later provided they do not hinder the functionality of our tool. Looking at the modules we previously created we now identify the friction points :
This step is required only when the tool needs to be connected with a CRM integration
This step can be skipped altogether as the core features such as Cadence (sequence) creation, task creation and completion and others that complete the tool’s purpose as a first touch point l can function with Google sheets and .csv files as source of leads. These sheets can be created directly from the CRM as well or can be provided from other inbound sources.
Is only required for Salesforce integration if Saleforce has been connected in the previous step
Can be skipped, however since this is what enable two way sync between the tool and SF there will be no real time updating of data and user will need to refresh to update
Can be skipped as it can be set by default
Can be skipped as it can be set by default
This step is required only when the tool needs to be connected with a CRM integration
Can be skipped if user does not require mail service, that is their use case and workflow does not require mails
This step is required if users connects tool with Google
Can be skipped if user does not connect with Google
Can be skipped as it can be set by default
Can be skipped as it can be set up later
Removed from onboarding we are now using Ringover OAuth for logging into the tool. This allows us to directly connect the Ringover dialler to the Cadence tool
Can be skipped as it can be set with some default values and can be changed later
Users can be added through invite and teams can be created inside the tool later. No features are directly linked to teams being created before-hand
Can be skipped as it can be set using the user’s Ringover account
Can be skipped as it can be set using the user’s Ringover account
Can be skipped as it can be set up later if the user requires it
After breaking down our onboarding process into independent modules and identifying the friction points we can now build a new onboarding keeping in mind the steps absolutely required to use the tool while ensuring a quick, simple and self guided process.
Going further, simply ensuring that the user gains quick access to the tool may not actually mean that the user is now able to use the tool. For first time/new users the onboarding experience should include a compact and crisp explanation to the tool as well. A short and simple onboarding may help in improving the motivation of the user to connect to the tool but if the tool itself remains confusing to the user the drop off rate will not decrease.
Currently we have potential clients set up demos for gaining access to the cadence tool, as a beta tester or as a trial user. This entire process is guided and is essentially for users who know what integrations they want for their cadence tool. We do not cater to users who want to first explore the capabilities of the product before selecting their required integrations.
From what we’ve seen so far, the problem isn’t just the onboarding process — it’s the entire experience of how users are introduced to the tool. Onboarding is only one piece of the puzzle; the real journey starts as early as the discovery call. To tackle this, we decided to break down the approach into parts
The aim is to simplify the user onboarding process by reducing the complexity and number of steps the user has to take before reaching the actual platform. The objective is also to motivate and enable the user to be able self onboard themselves onto the tool.
We first categorize our users broadly into 2 groups
Consists of users who have a fixed set of requirements. They know what they are looking for and will want to test whether or not the tool fulfils their requirements.
Consists of users who are still exploring and do not have a rigid set of requirements. They are still prospecting for a tool that can be used and would like to try out different products.
Next is the onboarding itself. By removing the friction points it is possible to have a simple and self guided onboarding. We will also allow users to skip certain steps that are not required in the initial set up in the onboarding if they want to.
The final piece of the solution involves improving the experience of the user once onboarded. To help the first time/new users understand the tool better and enable them to use the tool to its fool potential we will be introducing multiple compact but informative product tours covering some of the most important features of the cadence starting with launching a Cadence and completing your first task.
Additionally to help the user understand the tool better we will remove some features that add a certain complexity to the tool that may not be useful for new users who are still trying to understand how to use the tool. However these features will only be removed from the trial period and may still be provided for our group A users who have certain requirements in mind or if any users requests for it.
This also opens up the possibility of creating a tiered structure for Cadence licenses, offering different feature sets based on user needs.
This user flow reflects the current onboarding process with a small addition: users now have the option to proceed without selecting a CRM. This choice will be selected by default, and the UI will prompt and encourage users to follow this path.
This is a comprehensive setup of the entire tool, designed to ensure it operates at its full potential.
Minimum change required to implement
This user flow still remains long and complex and does not effectively encourage self-onboarding. It requires time to be given by the account executive in a demo even before the user has had a chance to explore the tool independently.
The organization set-up can be kept separate from the onboarding as it limits different users in the client company to explore the tool. It can instead be completed during the final license purchase stage.
Missing product tours
This restructured user flow starts behind the scenes with a discovery call where a sales agent redirects a new or existing Ringover client to Cadence as an upsell opportunity. The onboarding begins as users login their Ringover account and are prompted to select between a guided and a self-onboarding process.
Users are encouraged to select the self-onboarding as it offers a faster, simpler setup. Users can skip the steps and enter Cadence. Entering the tool triggers a product tour that walks the user through a pre-made cadence with dummy leads and completing sample auto-generated tasks.
Later, if they attempt CRM import, they’re guided through CRM connection and field mapping. After the one-week free trial, users receive a checklist to customize features, a quote, demo booking option, and a feedback form.
If users select the guided onboarding, they pick their choice of integrations and schedule a demo with an account executive. During the demo, user will be guided through all the steps before finally entering the tool where they will be greeted with the same product tours.
The organization setup has been excluded from the onboarding process.
Allowing users to skip steps enables them to dive into the tool immediately.
Providing an option at the beginning of the onboarding process caters to users from both previously identified groups.
Product tours save time for account executives during demo meetings.
While users can skip steps in the onboarding, being new to the tool, they may not understand what’s essential for using it. Specifically, with integrations, they might feel it’s crucial to set them up, even if the skip option is available, which could lead them to complete steps they initially intended to skip.
If users opt for the guided onboarding account executives would still need to invest time in setting up and explaining the product which can be handled by the product tour or streamlined by skipping the steps that don’t impact the user’s understanding of how the tool can benefit them.
The lst proposed user flow simplifies the process even more. When users face too many options at various stages, it can result in confusion, delays, or frustration over which choice to make. This streamlined flow offers a clear path with fewer options, allowing users to concentrate on accessing the tool and experiencing its functionality.
Incorporates most of thepositive aspects of the previously proposed user flows.
Maintains simplicity and clarity for the user.
Enables the account executive to concentrate solely on the demo and the actual benefits of the product.
Offers the necessary options for additional integrations once users are a little familiar with the tool's functionality.
It can be frustrating for the specific user group that knows exactly what type of solution they need.
We have developed a new onboarding experience based on the final proposed user flow. This is more than just an onboarding process; it encompasses a complete user experience that begins with a discovery call with a sales agent and ideally concludes with a new deal successfully closed by the account executive.
Significantly enhancing user experience. This simplification has led to a more efficient entry point for new users.
By implementing a shorter, more intuitive onboarding process. This lowered the entry barriers and provided engaging product tours that captivate users right from the start.
The fast entry and product tour help our account executives focus on closing deals
There was a small rise of 1 or 2 bookings in some cases. This shows that the new process doesn't hurt the number of leads, but it's also a downside because we couldn't figure out why the numbers didn't go up.
- I explored the various challenges users encounter during onboarding and identified common patterns in many onboarding processes.
- I also learned to use a new Ui/UX pattern called Hotspots in the product tour.
- Additionally, I gained a deeper understanding of the workflows used by sales and customer success management teams, as well as how the different stages of a sales funnel interact with one another.
- I took part in meetings with various teams and stakeholders, learning how to align their goals effectively.