Case Summary

Overview

Twelve million American businesses are solopreneurs whose success depends upon an intimate knowledge of clients and prospects. Soulbii is a contacts relationship management app created to assist this niche market. But its onboarding flow was confusing its new users, and that caused them to abandon the app.

Soulbii's three dynamic elements:

1. Connections. Users add connections (Soulbii-speak for contacts).
2. Lists. Users create lists specific to classes of connections. (Ex: friends and family list, clients list, peers list.)
3. Templates. Users create templates with data fields specific to connections. (Ex: a "clients" template might contain fields different from a "friends and family" template.)

Problem Statement

Soulbii users could not complete its onboarding flow because its path was poorly defined, it lacked error prevention, and it failed to provide necessary documentation. How might we create an easy-to-understand onboarding flow that would retain new users?

Outcome

I utilized user surveys, interviews, and three rounds of usability tests to create a learnable onboarding flow that was quickly understood by users and that set Soulbii up to enter the marketplace.

Project Details

Team

Project Manager
Researcher
Designer

My Role(s)

Design
Writing

Timeframe

Three weeks

Tools

Figma

Heuristic Analysis

User Survey

We surveyed thirteen solopreneurs from our immediate networks. These included real estate agents, personal chefs, personal trainers, among others. They told us that maintaining in-depth contact information is critical to their success.

User Interviews

We interviewed nine of our survey respondents.

User Comments:

"I make notes in my contact tab that's on my phone."

"I know I'm not going to remember the stuff I put in Square. I have to remind myself to click on that information to see it. It's not something that just automatically comes up."

"Everyone I meet is a business lead in some way."

Each solopreneur had a "system" for keeping business data. Some maintained data across multiple apps and some re-purposed a single app, like their contacts app or payment system.

Persona

Usability Testing: Original Website

We asked five users to complete four tasks:

• Create a list.
• Add a connection.
• Add a field to a template.
• Add a connection to a list.

Task: Create a List

All users created a list. But the majority were unsure they completed this task because Soulbii did not provide them with a confirmation.

Task: Add a Connection

Most users clicked on the large, non-functional icon at the center of the home screen (see above) to add a connection. This was the first in a long series of miscues.

Users eventually found the correct path, but were confused when phone and email fields weren't under the "Basic" tab. (They were under "Contact.") Users were again confused when social media links weren't under "Contact" but instead "Social."

Task: Add a Field

User Comment:

"Why is this so hard?"

Users felt lost.

Users searched for fields to add. But because all possible search results were already visible on the screen, users assumed the search function was broken. That led to them bouncing around looking for other options (such as "Add New Template," where they again searched, and again encountered the same search issue).

Task: Add a Connection to a List

"60% Success" masks the confusion half of users experienced as they sought the correct path by clicking on another non-functioning icon (screen center), among the "List" tabs (left), and on the plus sign (center right -- that linked to the "Add Connection" screen).

The correct link (right top) launched a slideout that contained a search field. But because the large screen lacked a list of current connections, users thought they came to the wrong place.

User Flow

Goal:

Create methodical series of steps that, often as possible, limit users to binary choices.

Usability Testing : Mid-Fidelity Prototype

I focused on designing learnability into the flow. My result improved two aspects of the flow.

Task: Add a List & Add a Connection to it

The original flow required users to add a "connection" in one section of the flow before going to a different section with a dramatically different interface to add their connection to a list.

Our mid-fidelity flow allowed users to add a connection and immediately add that connection to a list.

Task: Create a Template & Add a Field to it

Soulbii's original flow encouraged users to customize each of three templates (Basic, Social, Contact). But users proved this flow lacked learnability.

I compressing the three templates into one with three "Categories" and added instructions. But I packed too many steps into one screen.

User Comment:

"Oh, God, there's a lot on here!"

Still, I achieved dramatic improvement.

Usability Testing : High-Fidelity Prototype

My focus: Simplify the flow, reduce verbiage, rely more heavily on graphical cues.

Task: Create a Template & Add a Field

Users select between adding their new connection to an existing template or creating a new template.
They choose which fields to include in a custom template.

Task: Add a Connection

Self-explanatory.

Task: Add a List & Add a Connection to a List

Users can add their connection to an existing list or create a new list.

This step completes the flow.

Learnings

Our team conducted four extensive client meetings over three weeks during which we covered the full scope of the project. But as we approached our delivery date we learned the client no longer wanted users adding connections to lists and no longer prioritized customizable templates.

Data had changed the client's priorities as much as it changed our flow. Yet we missed this because we failed to ask the right questions at the right time and so assumed his needs were static.

A few weeks after our final meeting, the client and I went for coffee. He told me that he had, indeed, incorporated the list and template features. But this felt more like luck than success. (Success would have predicted this result, not been surprised by it.)

The client is part of the data. They, as much as users, must be monitored and questioned, and design changes made accordingly.

With the exception of the 33% of users who failed to add a field, 100% of final prototype users completed all tasks assigned. Still, there were missteps.

• Users found themselves hesitant when making choices. (Ex: When they were faced with selecting a default template or list versus creating new ones, or when grappling with selecting a custom field type.)
• There were UI issues. One user found the text too small; two found visual elements too big and CTA buttons too small.
• A few users remained confused about the relationship between templates and lists.

Next Steps

• Gather more data on user priorities.
• Perform further usability testing to remove remaining friction.