Previous Onboarding Flow
01/
The previous onboarding was a single, extremely long form that was difficult to complete. Data showed a ~65% drop-off rate, with average completion time around 46 minutes. Most advertisers abandoned the process at the critical “create offer” step, causing a significant loss of brand users.
65%
Drop-off rate
46 minutes
avg completion
02/
Advertiser offers included many conditions, and qualifications needed fast verification. Each field required careful input, but instructions and examples were missing, making many questions hard to understand. This led to frequent errors, frustration, and a heavier workload for customer support.
03/
After completing the form, advertisers had no way to see how their promotion would appear on the platform. There was no preview or editing opportunity, leaving users unsure about the final output. This uncertainty reduced confidence and slowed completion of critical tasks.
04/
The mobile experience forced users to scroll through endless long forms with no save & exit option. Interruptions meant starting over, which further increased drop-off. Combined with dense content, this made onboarding painful and discouraging for mobile users.
05/
The visual layout presented dense, unstructured data with no hierarchy or visual aids. Users struggled to quickly understand questions, which slowed completion and increased errors. The lack of supportive UI elements, examples, or inline help made the process overwhelming.
Where Confidence Started to Drop
That changed once users reached Business Info and Offer Details. These steps introduced heavier decisions, compliance-sensitive inputs, and terminology that wasn’t always intuitive. As effort increased, frustration grew — and this is where we saw the highest drop-off.
Hesitation Around Financial Commitment
Billing Contact sat somewhere in between. While fewer users dropped off, sentiment shifted to caution as advertisers slowed down to double-check financial details and implications before moving forward.
The Breaking Point
By the time users reached Create Offer, many had already invested significant time. Without a clear sense of how their offer would ultimately appear, confidence was at its lowest — making this the single highest drop-off point in the entire flow.
Across the journey, drop-off closely followed rising complexity and declining confidence. The more uncertain users felt about outcomes and correctness, the more likely they were to pause or leave.
💡 By skipping or auto-filling repetitive steps, Money users save ~10–15 minutes compared to new advertisers.
💡 This approach not only reduces cognitive load but also helps advertisers complete critical steps faster, lowers the chance of errors, and sets a smooth path toward creating their first offer.
✅ Our Solution
Added concise helper text to clearly differentiate Legal Business Name and Merchant Name.
Provided context on where and how each name would appear in the system.
Ensured users could complete this step confidently, reducing the need for clarification or back-and-forth discussion.
✅ Our Solution
Added a clear prompt: “Click 'continue' to proceed with the OFAC check on Sardine. Sardine is a platform that allows you to quickly connect and ensures compliance with regulations.”
Explained what would happen after the check and reassured users they would return to the platform.
Reduced uncertainty and hesitation, helping advertisers continue smoothly without interruption.
✅ Our Solution
Added explicit instructions for image format, recommended size, and usage context directly at the upload step.
Provided real image examples and showed how uploaded images would appear in the live site preview.
Reduced hesitation and trial-and-error, allowing advertisers to confidently upload images and see exactly how they would display.
✅ Our Solution
Displayed the previously entered offer title above the description input to provide context.
Added inline guidance: “Let's craft a detailed description of your offer, giving customers all the info they need to know…” to clarify expectations.
Introduced an AI-generated suggestion based on previously entered offer details. Initial engineering feedback highlighted integration complexity and potential latency issues, but after iteration, a lightweight AI integration was successfully implemented.
Helped advertisers write complete, clear descriptions without leaving the platform, reducing time and uncertainty.
Engineering Hurdle
During initial integration, AI suggestions relied on frequent API calls, which risked high latency and potential server load issues.
Collaborated closely with the engineering team to restructure the feature as a lightweight, on-demand module, enabling real-time AI suggestions without impacting onboarding performance.
✅ Our Solution
Added a clear, descriptive heading: “Knowing your target CPA helps us optimize advertising to fit your budget and acquisition objectives better. Increasing your CPA amount will enhance campaign performance and attract more publishers and customers.”
Renamed the input field to “My Cost Per Acquisition” for immediate clarity.
Prefilled a suggested CPA value to guide users and reduce hesitation.
Included an attention notice in orange: “Attention: The CPA you've entered is below our recommended minimum of 10%. Need help setting your CPA? Contact Support is here to help.”
Added a unit switcher allowing users to toggle between percentage and numeric input, giving flexibility and control.
Usability Testing & Validation
Usability Testing & Validation
We then conducted usability testing with:
first-time advertisers, and
existing Money users onboarding into Connect.
Instead of focusing solely on success rates, we closely observed:
where users slowed down
when they reread instructions
when they verbally expressed uncertainty or left the page to seek reassurance
The most consistent friction emerged during offer creation—the longest and most cognitively demanding step.
While users could technically complete the form, many hesitated due to uncertainty about how their inputs would appear on the live site.
Iterations driven by testing insights
Based on these findings, I introduced several targeted design improvements:
Real-time offer preview
Advertisers can now see how their offer will appear to customers while creating it.
This shifted confidence-building earlier in the flow and reduced the need for dense explanations on the final review page.
Progress indicator for long steps
In the longest section of onboarding, a progress indicator was added to clearly communicate effort and remaining steps—helping users stay oriented and motivated.
Reduced cognitive load at confirmation
By resolving most uncertainty earlier, the final confirmation step became lighter and more decisive, encouraging completion rather than second-guessing.
Advertiser Adoption
The redesigned onboarding significantly improved advertiser acquisition. Approximately 800 new advertisers joined in the first month, with hundreds more onboarding each subsequent month. Existing Finfare Money users converted smoothly, reducing friction and accelerating adoption.
User Engagement & Efficiency
Drop-off at critical steps dropped by 40%, keeping more advertisers engaged through the onboarding process.
Onboarding completion speed increased by 63%, helping advertisers reach their first promotion faster.
Advertisers reported feeling more confident and less frustrated, particularly when completing complex fields like Offer Details and Target CPA.
Business Growth Potential
By improving onboarding for both new and existing users, Finfare Connect strengthened its advertiser base and set the stage for scaling campaigns across 28 publisher partners and millions of customers. Streamlined onboarding ensures that brands can start promoting efficiently, helping Connect realize its growth potential in the rewards ecosystem.
faster completion time, letting advertisers reach their first promotion more quickly
reduction in drop-off at critical onboarding steps
+1k
new advertisers onboarded in the first month, with hundreds more joining every subsequent month
Design With Constraints Earlier
I focused heavily on clarity, guidance, and reducing friction, but budget sensitivity and real advertiser behavior were considered later in the process.
Next time, I would bring budget constraints and behavioral signals into the design phase earlier, so guidance, defaults, and recommendations feel intentional from the start—not corrective.
Align on Strategy Before Execution
While cross-functional collaboration happened throughout the project, earlier alignment with PM and business partners would have helped shape stronger design decisions upfront.
Starting with shared assumptions and success criteria would allow design to influence what we build, not just how it works.
