Evaluating barriers to effective setup
2024
CONTEXT:
Despite various onboarding frameworks, this research investigates the persistent challenge of stagnation in onboarding activation metrics. The study identifies a disconnect between user expectations for ease of use and the actual platform experience, leading to questions about what is preventing new users from setting up more effectively.
A comprehensive evaluation of current onboarding strategies was undertaken across Free, Starter, and Professional tiers to address this.
Employing a mixed-methods approach encompassing competitor and customer surveys and interviews, Customer Operations interviews, secondary analysis, and quantitative analysis of Time to Value (TTV), the research aimed to understand the drivers of quicker TTV and develop an effective onboarding framework.
Key findings highlight the critical impact of prior CRM setup experience on onboarding success, the need for contextual and just-in-time guidance, and the importance of aligning onboarding with users' process maturity.
The research culminates in design implications centred on enabling in-app process creation, personalising guidance based on experience, and implementing a phased onboarding framework focused on understanding, guiding, and optimising user journeys to accelerate setup and improve key activation and retention metrics.
RESEARCH APPROACH + IMPACT
-
The overarching research objective was to identify the key factors enabling quicker setup during the onboarding process for users across Free, Starter, and Professional tiers, ultimately aiming to develop an effective onboarding framework to improve activation and retention. Specific research objectives included:
Understanding Customer Expectations: To determine customer expectations regarding ease of use and speed of setup during onboarding.
Evaluating Current Onboarding Strategies: To assess the effectiveness of existing onboarding frameworks and identify what works and what is missing in achieving quicker setup.
Identifying Tier-Specific Needs: To understand the differences and similarities in onboarding needs across Free, Starter, and Professional customer segments.
Determining Drivers of effective setup: To pinpoint the factors that contribute to faster time to achieving primary use cases within the platform.
Optimizing Guidance: To understand when and how users need guidance during onboarding and identify the most effective formats and delivery methods.
Developing an Onboarding Framework: To create a comprehensive onboarding framework that addresses the identified needs and accelerates setup.
Improving Key Metrics: To identify opportunities within the onboarding experience to increase activation rates and encourage long-term retention.
-
This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding of the onboarding challenge. The specific methodologies included:
Competitor Analysis: Surveys (n=140) and interviews (n=6) were conducted with competitor customers to understand successful onboarding strategies employed by other platforms.
Customer Research: Surveys (n=187) and interviews (n=14) were conducted with existing HubSpot users (both those who achieved quick setup and those who did not) to gather insights into their onboarding experiences, challenges, and needs.
Internal Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews were conducted with Customer Operations (COS) team members (n=5) to gather internal perspectives on onboarding challenges and successful strategies.
Secondary Analysis: 15 existing research studies were analyzed to leverage prior knowledge and insights related to onboarding.
Quantitative Analysis: A Pro Ops-led analysis of setup was conducted to identify patterns and correlations related to onboarding effectiveness.
Data Analysis: A range of resources were utilized for analysis, including write-ups and raw data from secondary analysis, competitor interview transcripts, competitor survey results, and quantitative analysis outputs.
-
This research isolated many different insights however, the primary was that of a need for a more Strategic Phased Onboarding Framework. The research proposes a three-phase onboarding framework (Understand & Orient, Guide, Opinionated Optimization) to address varying user needs and maturity levels, aiming to simplify the process and focus on use case enablement.
E2E Redesign:
2024
Redesiging how we onboard our Free & Starter customer base
CONTEXT:
The overarching aim is to "Make every new B2B business a success story". This research supports the relaunch of the HubSpot low-end experience, which aligns with a new mission and vision for the new ‘low-end‘ persona. The vision is for the HubSpot low-end experience to be the place business builders come to start and scale their business, empowering them to do more with less in less time, and building a thriving content and community ecosystem to help them grow their careers.
RESEARCH APPROACH + IMPACT
-
The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the comprehension and usability of the newly redesigned sign-up and initial onboarding experience for both Free and Starter HubSpot users. Specifically, the study aimed to identify potential friction points and areas of confusion within the new flow, focusing on whether users:
Perceived the sign-up process as easy and quick.
Found the presented use cases relevant to their needs and understood their purpose within the onboarding process.
Comprehended the value and implications of CRM configuration templates and data synchronization requests.
Felt motivated to complete essential setup actions and engage with the onboarding tasks.
Understood how the initial experience connected to the in-app environment and addressed their selected use case.
Could navigate the setup process intuitively and understand the purpose and content of new interface elements.
Generally understood the product's purpose and functionality based solely on the redesigned experience, without explicit explanation.
Ultimately, the research sought to understand if the redesigned flow effectively demonstrated HubSpot's value upfront and provided the necessary reassurance and proactive support for our target segment
-
This research employed a qualitative approach utilizing moderated usability testing sessions. The study was conducted in two phases:
Moderated Prototype Testing: This initial phase involved testing a prototype of the redesigned sign-up and onboarding flow. The goal was to gather early feedback on user interaction, identify significant design or content issues, and inform necessary iterations before potential live deployment.
Moderated Live Software Testing: This subsequent phase involved testing specific elements of the live, redesigned software. This allowed for a deeper understanding of user intent, their willingness to proceed with tasks (e.g., data import), and their overall readiness within the sign-up and setup process in a more realistic environment.
The rationale for using moderated sessions was to directly observe user behavior, understand their thought processes through verbalizations, and employ probing questions to uncover comprehension difficulties and points of confusion that might not be evident through unmoderated testing.
Participants: The target audience comprised small businesses (1-25 employees) actively using or considering using a CRM. Participants were recruited through a respondent panel and shared key characteristics of the target market persona, including an understanding of technology's value for growth and an intention to scale their business. A total of 15 completed sessions (across both prototype and live testing) were conducted with individuals in roles such as Director, Co-founder, Owner, Operations Manager, and Marketing Director.
Procedure: The usability testing was conducted over several weeks, encompassing research plan finalization, prototype testing, live software recruitment and testing, and subsequent analysis of the collected data.
-
The key findings from this research highlighted significant issues across three critical dimensions of the user experience:
Audience (WHO): The study revealed a lack of effective audience segmentation within the onboarding flow. The appropriateness of opinionated recommendations varied significantly based on the user's stage of digitization.
Content (WHAT): The research underscored the critical need for contextual information throughout the experience. The absence of sufficient context in areas such as the implications of use case selection, the reasoning behind recommendations.
Timing/Placement (WHEN): Participants reported feeling overwhelmed and confused by the timing and placement of certain requests and guidance. While users acknowledged the potential value of opinionated paths and data import options, introducing these elements early in the sign-up and unboxing flow was perceived as "too much too soon." Specifically, users expressed discomfort with being asked to import data during the initial sign-up process.
The impact of these results combined with experiment quantitative data, ultimately pushed the team to not productise the initial design and instead focus on more personlised, segmented approach to the design.