Fishbowl Onboarding

Introduction

Fishbowl Drive's current onboarding process, reliant on implementation calls, faced scalability issues and preference for self-service options. Our team aimed to reimagine this experience, and empower users to onboard themselves efficiently. This case study details our iterative journey, from ideation to refinement, resulting in a user-friendly onboarding interface for Fishbowl Drive. 

Research

With a membership to the Interaction Design Foundation, I attended a master class titled “How To Attract Users Through Great Onboarding Experiences” by Wes Bush. He stressed the importance of grabbing users' attention fast to keep them hooked, suggesting we hold off on asking for payment until after they've had a chance to try things out for free. Additionally, Bush shared a case where revenue increased by 20% following the removal of email confirmation during account creation, emphasizing the value of getting a user into your product quickly before losing their attention. He also explained how a 14-day trial period is the optimal balance.

Understand Current Implementation

Collaborating closely with Fishbowl's Implementation team offered invaluable insights into the challenges they faced with the setup process, which often proved time-consuming and labor-intensive. The effort required to assist customers in uploading their data and going live was substantial. Watching recorded sales and demo calls further confirmed users' ability and preference for self-learning, signaling a clear need for a more autonomous, hands-off approach to onboarding.

UX Inspiration

Drawing inspiration from 20+ different onboarding experiences in other software, such as Deel, June, Folk, and Equals, we identified standout features like persistent popup checklists, comprehensive getting started pages, and the option to utilize sample data (sandbox). While we aimed to encourage users to integrate their data, offering sample data aligned with their industry selection provided a supportive option for exploration.

Rapid Prototyping and User Testing

Through Figma wireframes and prototypes, we facilitated user testing with colleagues at Fishbowl. While the overall reaction was positive, identified areas for improvement included enhancing the visibility of the popup checklist and providing CSV templates to decrease errors during data imports. Although testing with real or prospect customers remains an aspiration,  the insights from internal testing were helpful in refining the onboarding experience.

Iteration

There was a lot of iteration and pivoting throughout this project. Continuous refinement guided our process, evolving the onboarding steps and import processes toward a clearer understanding of going live. Iteration is essential to the design process. It's about staying flexible and striving to improve until we create the best possible experience.

Demo Time!

Conclusion

I've learned a lot about the importance of smooth onboarding experiences. While priorities at the Fishbowl shifted, delaying the immediate rollout of our redesign, I still believe in its potential. Despite the detour, this journey taught me a lot. I'm taking away valuable lessons in iterative design and the constant quest for better user experiences. Moving forward, I'm excited to apply these insights to future projects, always striving to create more intuitive digital experiences.