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SaaS / Life Sciences/2024/Case study

Clora — Onboarding Upgrade

A 3-week sprint to redesign onboarding for Clora — the marketplace matching life-science companies with the experts they need — lifting profile completion from 36% to 83% (94% with resume parsing).

Clora onboarding upgrade hero
Project details

A better onboarding experience for life-science experts.

Client
Clora — a platform that efficiently matches life science companies with the experts they need.
Role
Design Lead, User Interface Designer
Duration
3 week sprint
Tools
Figma · Photoshop · Miro · Smartlook · Notion
My role
  • Directed design strategy and managed the design team — coordinating objectives and leading design meetings.
  • Modified an existing design strategy and led the process of converting low fidelity wireframes into a high fidelity prototype.
  • Conducted a page-by-page audit of the current process, heuristic analysis and incorporation of UX best practices.
  • Took the lead on usability testing and documentation of recommended adjustments — interfacing directly with the client through hand-off.
The problem
67%Low profile completion

Profiles stalled below 36%.

Profile page completion for most users sat below 36% after onboarding, with a potential of only 67% (the remaining 33% can only be added after onboarding to keep it short). Some users were not finishing the flow at all.

Our goal was to optimize onboarding for consultants and find opportunities to simplify the data needed to build an effective Clora profile — targeting at least 75% completion both with and without resume parsing, and increasing the number of users who finish.

What we achieved
83%High profile completion

Up to 94% with resume parsing.

We lifted profile completion to 83% without resume parsing and up to 94% with parsing — both well above the requested values.

All while shortening the number of screens consultants click through and creating a straightforward process that eliminated multiple consultant pain points.

Scroll for a detailed look at the project and design process — or jump to a section.

01 — Research

Why are completions so low?

With the problem clear — raise profile completion rates to facilitate better matches between consultants and jobs — it was time to dig into the why and the what behind the drop-off.

  • SmartLook session observation
  • User interviews with 4 consultants
  • Comparative & competitive analysis

User interviews & observations

How I tackled it:
  • Watched current consultants move through onboarding via SmartLook — average completion time was about 7 minutes.
  • Interviewed 4 Clora consultants about their onboarding experience and current use of the site.
  • Had each interviewee run through the live process while talking through their interaction with every screen.
Key takeaways:
  • A portion of users are computer-avoidant. Design for the minority for the benefit of the majority.
  • Users want a profile that asks for just enough information to get a foot in the door and open communication.
  • They want to be specific enough to only see jobs that match their qualifications.
Affinity map
Personas

Looking at the competition

A competitive and comparative analysis surfaced features we could borrow to upgrade the Clora experience and meet user expectations set by the sites consultants already use every day.

  • Wellfound
  • LinkedIn
  • Upwork
  • Workrise

"Users spend most of their time on other sites. They prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know."

— Jakob's Law

Key features identified

  • Navigation — helpful when moving back within the process if a consultant forgot something or needs to make a clarification.
  • Site footer — research shows users may question a site's legitimacy and professionalism without one.
  • Progress indicator — knowing where the process is going and where they are in it puts users at ease and increases completion.
02 — Evaluate

Auditing the existing flow.

Alongside user research, I led a thorough heuristic analysis of the existing site and ran a Service Blueprint workshop with Clora personnel — including developers — to investigate what really makes the platform tick.

Heuristic analysis

A page-by-page audit of the existing onboarding process, noting deviations from UX best practices and how they could be fixed. Findings were presented to the client.

Principles not being adhered to:
  • Selective Attention
  • Proximity-Compatibility Principle
  • Fitts's Law
  • Cognitive Load — overwhelming scroll options
  • Serial Positioning Effect
Existing site audit
Service blueprint

Service blueprint

The blueprint workshop gave a clear view of what mattered most to Clora and what to focus on. Although Clora was working to implement resume parsing, the workshop clarified that focusing on onboarding without resume parsing was the higher priority — improving the basic flow first would let Clora better dictate what information to pull from a resume later.

03 — Synthesize

A reorganized onboarding flow.

Synthesizing data from research and evaluation, the team adjusted the user flow and reorganized individual pages. The most important and accessible information was moved to the beginning of the process, screens were combined to shorten the overall sequence, and additional information was captured along the way.

Adaptable paths

Branching for future-proofing.

The new flow contains multiple paths depending on user inputs, allowing for the future implementation of resume parsing and a more adaptable design.

  • Resume upload
  • LinkedIn added
  • Manual entry fallback
Design studio

Rapid screen ideation.

To facilitate rapid brainstorming of individual screen organization, I ran a Design Studio. Screens were rearranged per the collected data and heuristic evaluation — and in some cases combined to shorten the sequence while opening up new opportunities for input.

Onboarding flow
Design studio sketches
04 — Design

Sketches to high-fidelity prototype.

Ideating on sketches from the Design Studio, more refined drawings were produced, converted to wireframes, and then built as a prototype for users to click through and comment on during another round of usability testing before delivery. We worked within Clora's existing design strategy — adding to and improving upon established components and branding.

Sketches
Sketches
Sketches
Clickable Prototype
05 — Test

Usability testing the new flow.

Our 4 consultants ran through the new prototype. Distinct themes started to emerge — most encouraging, a few worth digging into further.

Users moved through the flow much faster — and were complimentary of the design changes.
Some hesitancy remained around content: how to define certain sections and options. Worth a deeper dive on its own.
Users completed the process with greater speed and less hesitancy than before.
Concerns surfaced about age discrimination when adding total years of experience — consider converting to a range vs. an exact number.

"Overall users moved through the flow much faster and were complimentary of the design changes."

— Usability testing summary
06 — Deliver

Hand-off & next steps.

For the final phase, our team delivered a fully functional prototype and provided annotated files for use by the Clora developers. I personally interfaced with the client contact to answer prototyping questions and finalize next steps post hand-off.

  • Fully functional prototype.
  • Annotated Figma file.
  • Presentation to stakeholders with Q&A session.
  • Recommendations for further research and development.
Final prototype

Next steps

  • Audit content wording with Clora and consultants to ensure both groups are speaking the same language — reducing hesitation and lifting completion further.
  • Offer to re-enter the onboarding process after initial exit.
  • Introduce resume parsing.
  • Adapt the design to be responsive across desktop, tablet and mobile.

Reflecting on the process

Combining extensive user research with a deep knowledge of the client's needs — developed through questioning and our Service Blueprint exercise — we landed on a solution that pleased all parties.

The project reinforced the importance of fundamentally understanding the problem and stakeholders before designing. Any design is made stronger when it's steeped in research and backed up by data.

It also highlighted what an asset great teamwork is — between our team and with the client. One area to enhance next time: setting up a clearer system for post hand-off communication and expectations.

Icons originally created by Freepik — Flaticon.

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