Improving Signup and Onboarding Flow for Health Benefits Platform

The onboarding flow was the first impression for new users but created friction instead of confidence.

• Issues observed:
  • Users abandoned due to unclear progress indicators.
  • Input fields were unintuitive and inconsistent.
  • No “back” option → users restarted from scratch.
  • Multiple contracts created unnecessary complexity.
• Hotjar & usability findings:
  • Users tried interacting with a non-functional slider.
  • Many attempted to minimize or opt out of “family scaling” contributions.
  • Contracts were perceived as clickable only through small arrows.
  • Some left to FAQs to understand terms like “ICHRA.”
• Heuristic violations:
  • Visibility of system status → users didn’t know how long signup would take.
  • Consistency & standards → unfamiliar input designs caused errors.
  • User control & freedom → no undo or skip created frustration.
  • Clarity & affordance → vague CTAs risked being seen as “dark patterns.”
• Competitor gap: Competitors offered clearer progress indicators and quick entry forms; StretchDollar lagged in efficiency and trust-building.

We followed a Design Thinking approach across discovery, define, and ideation phases.

• Discovery
  • Hotjar recordings, heatmaps, user feedback.
  • Heuristic evaluation flagged major usability gaps.
  • Competitor analysis benchmarked best practices.
• Define
  • Problem statement: Signup was too lengthy and confusing.
  • Primary goal: Faster, intuitive experience that builds trust.
  • KPIs:
    • Increase signup completion rate.
    • Reduce time-to-completion.
    • Minimize drop-off points.
  • Pain points mapped to heuristic violations.
  • Scope & constraints: simplify UX without overhauling backend.
• Ideation
  • Generated “How Might We” questions:
    • Reduce time (e.g., presets, automation).
    • Provide better feedback (progress, reviews).
    • Improve clarity (clear CTAs, standard inputs).
    • Reduce drop-off (exit intent, trust signals).
  • Prioritized ideas that balanced user benefit with feasibility.

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The redesign applied the ideation outcomes into tangible product changes.

• Clear progress & transparency
  • Step overview added at the very beginning.
  • Contextual guidance explains each step’s purpose.
  • Final review screen combines policy details + agreement.
• Automation to reduce manual effort
  • Finch integration auto-imports business and employee data.
  • Reduces repeated manual inputs, speeds up completion.
• Redesigned policy builder
  • Contributions, family scaling, and waiting periods consolidated in one structured view.
  • Standardized input fields for clarity and consistency.
• Simplified agreements
  • Five separate contracts merged into one expandable file.
  • Transparent, less intimidating, easier to review.
• Trust-building UX improvements
  • CTAs rewritten to clearly reflect user choices.
  • Hover states and back/edit options added.
  • Cancellation messaging (“cancel anytime”) reassures users.

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The outcome was a faster, clearer, and more trustworthy signup flow that aligned with user expectations and business goals.

• User benefits:
  • Faster signup with less manual work (average completion time cut from 11 minutes to 5 minutes, a 55% improvement).
  • Confidence through clear step-by-step guidance and a final review screen.
  • Freedom to edit, skip, and review before finalizing, preventing restarts.
• Business benefits:
  • Signup completion rate rose from 52% to 71%, adding significantly more users into the platform ecosystem.
  • Drop-offs at critical steps were drastically reduced.
  • Monthly support tickets related to signup dropped.
• Trust & perception:
  • User satisfaction (CSAT for onboarding) improved from 3.2 → 4.6 out of 5, showing that contextual guidance and simplified agreements built credibility.

Overall, the redesign delivered measurable gains: higher conversions, faster onboarding, and fewer user frustrations, while also easing operational support demands.

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