Squashing Usability Challenges with FormAssembly

As the Product Insights Manager at FormAssembly, I analyzed the product’s free trial onboarding, then designed UX improvements that increased onboarding task completion by 47%.

Due to the strategic importance of this research, I am limited from sharing specific findings and recommendations. Instead, this overview will focus on the project's process.

The Challenge

Fixing The Funnel

For years, FormAssembly’s trial onboarding experience was left stagnant in favor of adding new features. With the assumption that negative trial experiences deter conversions from free trial to paid subscription, I led the effort to:

1. Identify pain points affecting trial onboarding
2. Target solutions to resolve pain points
3. Increase conversion of free trials to paid subscriptions

My Role

Wearing Many Hats

I was the principal UX Researcher for this project, and one of only two UX Designers. For the purpose of this piece, I will focus on my role as UX Researcher. I also collaborated heavily with a talented, interdisciplinary team of product managers, product owners, and engineers.

The Process

At a Glance

Planning With Purpose

First and foremost, I developed and socialized a comprehensive research plan, including:

• Goals & Value: Alignment of research to higher-level, company objectives
• Methods: Explanation research and analysis procedures
• Logistics: Overview of timeline, budget, scope, etc.
• Expected Output: List of project deliverables and their uses
• Appendix: Necessary materials to facilitate research (scripts, questionnaire, etc.)

Realistic Recruiting on A Deadline

I posted an incentivized opportunity on User Interviews that generated over 30 matching applicants in 48 hours. From there, I scheduled remote, moderated usability tests for the six applicants who best matched our ideal user characteristics (according to their background questionnaire). Specifically, I recruited applicants who:

• Regularly completed relevant work activities (data collection, processing, and/or reporting + software purchasing and evaluation)
• Demonstrated a use for our product (responsible for a data collection process they wanted to streamline)

Testing for Authentic Pain Points

In the first round of usability testing, I was the lead facilitator of all 60-minute, remote usability tests. All sessions were facilitated via a Google Hangout. In all instances, I acted as the moderator and I was joined by a rotating observer/scribe.

To limit bias from over-directing user actions, the test relied on open exploration. After brief introductions, the participant was given a general prompt:

Let’s imagine that you were talking to one of your colleagues and they recommended using FormAssembly to help with your [insert user's data collection need].

You looked at the website and it seemed promising, so you started a trial.

Now, you are logging into the trial for the first time. Show me how you would get started.

Addressing Root Causes

As trends emerged, I worked to establish the root cause of common pain points. Before proposing solutions, I translated the need into a high-level user story. The approach ensured that I did not jump too quickly to any particular solution and provided a familiar framework for collaborating with Product Managers, Engineers, and other UX Designers.

Building Shared Understanding

Before fully developing my initial solutions, I scheduled an hour-long session to review my process, findings, artifacts, and low-fidelity solutions (wireframes). By inviting a wide audience of executives, engineers, product managers, and designers, I was able to use these sessions to fulfill 2 key objectives:

1. Participants developed a shared understanding of what challenges our users faced and why it was important to make improvements to the trial onboarding process
2. Engineering leads were able to give early estimates on the effort required to implement various solutions

Bringing Insights to Life

With significant buy-in from executives, engineers, and the rest of the product team, I shifted my emphasis from UX Research to UX Design. Through heavy collaboration with the rest of the team, we were able to:

• Refine and prioritize user stories
• Prioritize solutions based on impact and effort
• Create mockups, prototypes, visual assets, etc. on an aggressive timeline
• Present regular updates to cross-functional team
• Develop, test, and launch individual features as part of two-week, agile sprints

Validating Solutions

Once my recommendations were implemented, I tested their effectiveness by facilitating a second round of usability testing. Using the same method for the Round 1, “before” and Round 2, “after” tests, I was confident any differences could be accurately ascribed to my recommendations.

The Results

Problematic to Proficient

After introducing the changes I recommended, the completion rate for key onboarding tasks rose 47%, from 14/24 to 22/24. Furthermore, the changes introduced as part of this project have been praised by new and veteran users alike.

Project Conclusion & Future Work

After the second round of testing, it was clear that I had already achieved two of the three project goals. Namely, I had:

1. Accurately identified multiple, significant pain points affecting trial onboarding
2. Designed targeted solutions that resolved those pain points

What remained to be seen was the cumulative effect these changes would have in the wild.

In the following months, I was encouraged by a mild upswing in conversion rates, but it ultimately fell short of my expectations. At the same time, another of my research initiatives cast doubt on one of the project’s cornerstone assumptions. Whereas we had assumed that usability challenges during the trial were the primary limit on conversion, new research suggested a bottleneck at an earlier stage.

It was frustrating to come to this conclusion after so much work had been invested in the product trial, but the data pointing to problems up-funnel had been derived from a concurrent project and simply was not available at any earlier point. However, as I continue to work as a UX researcher and designer, this experience will continue to illustrate the importance of validating project assumptions as early and often as possible.

Ultimately, I am confident my work on this project improved the trial experience for the hundreds of users who start FormAssembly trials each month. Over time, and as other limits are removed, I look forward to this number growing into the thousands and I know that each decision to convert will have been influenced by a positive, usable trial experience.