REN

Improving Onboarding for a Saas Platform

Project Highlights

- 35% increase in user engagement and a 20% improvement in average session duration

My Team

I was one of three lead designers, overseeing concept development, design sprints, and final asset delivery. I collaborated with a product manager and four engineers.

My Role

User Experience Design, Qualitative Research, Focus Groups, Surveys, User Personas, Task Flows

Tools

Figma, Sketch, Powerpoint

Duration

4 months

About Ren

Ren is a software platform for big retail companies. It helps them lower their environmental impact using data. Ren's tools group together stores and warehouses to make it easier to manage risks, credit, and feasibility. Ren wants to:

  1. make it easier for new retailers to join the platform, so their engineers can spend less time in the onboarding process and more time searching for clean energy sources.

  2. Making the process clearer for users, to reduce the need for back-and-forth communication.

PROCESS 1: The Users

Discovering Time and Knowledge Constraints

While my teammates focused on interviewing client relations, I spearheaded discussions with 5 clients and the engineering team. Based on the insights from these interviews, I developed user personas highlighting their primary concerns.

The Clients

Eric is a 43 he wants to understand the software sufficiently to make his own independent decisions that lead to Renewable Energy solutions. He doesn’t understand much of the terms of creating contracts in the software or how to manage missing data that would be necessary.

The Engineers

Connor, 32, heads software development at Ren and leads the onboarding process for new platform users. He spends a lot of time meeting with clients, helping them input and upload data, and creating solutions. He aims to make data uploading easier and more secure for clients so he can focus on other important tasks.

PROCESS 2: Ideate

Features and Functionalities

Verification of Data

A way for users to double-check if their documents are in the correct place(warning/success notification)

Column-Mapping Data

A way to make sure data is mapping correctly so that engineers don’t worry if the columns are correctly placed.

Understanding of Processes

Clear information to help clients understand Renewable Energy jargon.

Differentiation of Files

Program to calculate quotas for clients. Program to help users define themselves and their type of project

PLANNING AND COMMUNICATION

Prioritizing with a Task Flow Game Plan

Needing a game plan to organize and plan effectively, I created a complete onboarding task flow for new users. After presenting to engineers, I identified what should be the most important task and we unanimously decided to hone in on a specific section—the data uploading process.

Focusing on:

  1. Designing a hand-holding solution for the clients.

  2. Functionality features such as instructional and information resources.

  3. Self-validation of the data for users to further understand the data upload process.

LOW-FIDELITY WIREFRAMING

Seeking Feedback on My Understanding

Following several meetings and extensive research, I was still unsure about the intricacies of the Higg file-uploading process. I made sure to meet with the engineers and ask for help understanding the data-uploading process.

  • 1. Uploading the File

    Included differentiation of files because users were confused in what they needed to do depending on file type.

  • 2. Loading the File

  • 3. User data verification process

    A form of direction toward what columns need to be mapped manually

  • 4. Data upload with column mapping verification

Insights

After speaking with the engineers, I realized we needed:

  • A more prominent distinction between CSV and Higg files and how that affects the column mapping (it's different for each data type)

  • Error messages that display possible duplicates, missing data, and wrong data.

Yet, something else was missing…

MID-FIDELITY WIREFRAMING (SOLO PROJECT)

Returning to Insights from the User Personas

Even though my team had settled on a straightforward uploading process, it dawned on me that we had overlooked a crucial insight from the user personas. Recognizing this, I believed we needed to modify the design to cater to users' hectic routines, emphasizing a dashboard that prioritized organization and adaptability.

Insights

Utilizing a user-focused strategy, I ensured that the process of uploading data incorporates a dashboard that offers clients versatility. This enables them to store their files or track their progress, giving them intervals to sort or delegate them to another individual.

HIGH-FIDELITY WIREFRAMING

Accommodating to Necessities

Having finalized the dashboard and gathered feedback on my low-fidelity column mapping wireframe, I was prepared to design a final wireframe that could accommodate both Higg and CSV files, enabling users to validate and arrange their data.

  • 1A. Upload File

    The user selects the “Upload” button on the nav bar and the 3-part uploading process module is displayed. This allows user to drag a CSV file to the upload box in the module or select “choose file.”

    Once the file is successfully uploaded, the user may proceed by selecting “Next.”

  • 1B. Upload File

    The user must now select whether the file is a Higg file or not. The user may need a reminder of what a Higg File is. If the user hovers over the information icon a small reminder appears.

  • 2. Mapping

    The user is now tasked with mapping the file’s columns to required or optional fields.

  • 3. Submit

    The user’s file is now ready to submit.

    If there is an issue detected in the file, a notification will appear at the end. The user is notified that they may edit the file later, under the “History” page.

Outcome

After conducting final user interviews and surveys with five stakeholders, the dashboard and the data-uploading service led to a measured 35% increase in user engagement and a 20% improvement in average session duration

REFLECTIONS: CHALLENGES AND LEARNING LESSONS

CHALLENGES

Working on the onboarding process for the Ren Energy Team came with its own set of challenges:

  • The initial hurdle was my lack of knowledge about Renewable Energy and the file types we were tasked to create a solution for.

  • By being open and honest with each other, we were able to ask the right questions in our meetings with engineers or clients, which translated into being able to develop effective task flows, user personas, and wireframes.

My teammates and I regularly shared notes, and scheduled meetings with each other to maintain communication through the Notion app.

“Asking the right questions is as important as answering them.”

-Benoit Mandelbrot

Reach Out!

Feel free to contact me through the form, message me on LinkedIn, or shoot me an email at naoboru@sas.upenn.edu

If you have any feedback for me, I would love to hear it!