The Problem
Students were dropping off during onboarding, with only 35% completing their first course module. The existing interface was cluttered and failed to guide users through their learning journey.
Goals
Increase onboarding completion to 60%, reduce time-to-first-action by 40%, and establish a scalable design system for the product team.
Role & Responsibilities
Led end-to-end design from research through delivery. Conducted user interviews, created journey maps, designed the new UI, built a component library, and facilitated stakeholder reviews.
Process
Started with 12 user interviews and heuristic evaluation. Synthesized findings into journey maps and opportunity areas. Ran two rounds of concept testing before moving to high-fidelity design. Iterated based on usability testing with 8 participants.
Solution
A streamlined onboarding flow with progressive disclosure, contextual guidance, and a personalized dashboard. Built on a new design system with 40+ reusable components.
Outcomes
Onboarding completion increased to 68%. Time-to-first-action reduced by 45%. The design system cut design-to-dev handoff time by 30%.
Reflections & Learnings
Early user involvement was critical. The first design direction tested poorly because we assumed the problem without enough validation. The second direction, informed by real user struggles, performed significantly better.
