Surfacing value earlier in the onboarding journey

Fintech · Financial planning · B2B SaaS · Research-led design

Redesigning the onboarding experience to deliver a personalised financial snapshot at the end of the flow, closing the gap between user effort and meaningful reward. The feature launched successfully and is rolling out across the platform.

My role
Leading Product Designer

Results
Early results were strong: completion rates were high from launch, engagement was immediate, and time to first value fell from weeks to the moment users finished the flow.

Estimated financial snapshot section of the onboarding results page.

The problem
Onboarding collected detailed financial information through a long, in-depth question flow. The payoff was invisible until much later, often after a follow-up conversation with a coach or adviser. Users invested significant effort without seeing anything in return.

For B2B SaaS tenants accessing the experience through the platform's white-label offering, this compounded the issue. They needed customers to feel excited early.

The brief had two layers: embed a compelling snapshot in onboarding to demonstrate value upfront and make it configurable across multiple brand surfaces without compromising the coaching experience that followed.

My approach
I started with medium-fidelity prototyping to pressure-test whether we were framing the product correctly. Working with a freelance user researcher, we ran moderated sessions with non-customers to explore expectations of coaching, reactions to financial data in isolation, and the importance of the human element.

The research showed that data visualisation created powerful moments of recognition, but only when users had provided enough input for the output to feel credible.

The medium-fidelity prototype was built to drive user interviews. It enabled us to uncover unexpected users needs that shaped the direction of the solution. I organised the findings into two user mindsets. One group needed reassurance and a clear path forward, so I streamlined the questionnaire and framed the outputs encouragingly. The other needed transparency and context, so I invested in detailed data visualisation and supporting copy that explained what the numbers meant in practical terms.

We tested a prototype with three distinct entry points to learn whether the flow could flex across user types without fracturing the experience:
• A customer entering through their employer.
• A prospect arriving via a partner referral channel.
• A white-label customer entering through a SaaS partner's website.

Early testing helped us validate the flow across different entry-points and conclusions. I then ran a stakeholder workshop in which each participant designed their own version of the output page, presented their reasoning, and we synthesised a final structure. This surfaced competing priorities early and created conditions for informed decision-making.

One of the work areas used for stakeholders to build their ideal results page.
The solution
The redesigned flow asked significantly fewer questions and delivered a clear financial snapshot immediately upon completion. The retirement forecast contextualised figures against real living standards, showing users how many holidays they might take per year or how often they could afford to eat out.

The landing page primed users by framing the experience as personalised and previewing the visual style. Question pages were optimised for mobile, using emojis to inject warmth into a minimal aesthetic, making them generic enough for white-label use. The output used inclusive copy throughout, framing less positive results as opportunities rather than failings. Calls to action were fully configurable, adapting to whether the journey led to coaching or another outcome entirely.


My reflection
This project sharpened my thinking about designing for two distinct audiences simultaneously. Working as an equal partner with a researcher, rather than treating research as a hand-off, meant findings were more actionable and design decisions easier to defend.

Concerns raised by other parts of the business also proved to be a useful creative constraint. Sometimes the most valuable input comes from those most worried about what you're building.