Redesigning onboarding for the Notarize native app
The Problem
Notarize is typically a one-and-done app for signers. It’s not too often that you need to get a document notarized, but if you download our app it’s likely that you have a need. My PM and I recognized that their was a significant drop-off between users downloading the app and adding a document.
This shows that only 22% of users upload a document on iOS after downloading the app; Android was even less at 14%
Discovery
I approached this problem by defining a “new user” persona, brainstorming user scenarios, and examining the current onboarding experience to uncover problem areas.
After leading a discovery session with engineering and product, we came away with two clear project goals as well as several ideas for how we could achieve these goals.
Project Goals:
Determine the best onboarding method for the app that would decrease user dropoff while also answering how it works and making the process approachable to new users
Increase the number of users uploading a document by reducing friction as much as possible
Hypothesis
The current experience dropped signers on a dashboard with a small “+” to add their document. I felt this was unclear to users and created unnecessary friction. My hypothesis was that bringing the user directly into the flow to upload their document would be the best way to reduce friction and guide new users directly into the notarization flow.
The Solution
A document-first onboarding flow— This new flow decreased friction in a few different ways. First, it allowed users to simply enter their email with no password required. Second, after they entered their email, we immediately prompt them to upload or scan their document. This new upload prompt also takes on a more conversational tone by asking if they need to add a digital document (upload) or a paper document (scan). Asking users to add their document immediately eliminates an extra step in the process whereas before we dropped them on an empty dashboard with no clear call to action.
