ATOM - Free Trial Signup Flow 2022 - Present
Project Overview
This project aims to expand Atom's reach by offering a free trial plan to small and mid-size market prospects. Atom is a real-time inventory and work management tool that streamlines complex processes and tracks assets and workers. The company is planning to enter the commercial market in 2023 by implementing a user-friendly free trial plan that allows potential customers to try the product quickly and easily.
Business Background
Atom has had great success in the large DOT market for CMMS, but has reached saturation in that market. Additionally, sales cycles in the DOT space are long and DOT customers have very specific and tailored requirements that can prolong implementation. To increase revenue and invest in product development, Atom is planning to expand into commercial markets, starting with a free trial plan for prospects. Over time, there will be sales-specific segments such as Gov, Utilities, Rail, and more to reach the target market.
Goal
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Expand our customer base beyond government clients and into the commercial sector.
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Enable commercial prospects to try out the product as quickly and easily as possible without speaking to them
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Convert more users from free trial users to paying customers.
Delivery
Challenge
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While the existing B2B sign-up flow may have many steps and an unfriendly interface, it is acceptable because users are required to complete the registration process. However, we cannot apply this same flow to the Free Trial sign-up process as an unstreamlined flow will decrease the completion rate of the Free Trial sign-up process.
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How to make it easier for current users to share the product with more potential users.
Solution
Solution
Reduce Steps for easy signup
We simplified the sign-up process by streamlining the registration flow to boost the conversion rate of free trial users. This made it easier and more intuitive for users to start their free trial, reducing friction and encouraging more users to try our product
Easily Share and Invite More Users with Quick Sign-Up
We introduced a referral system to boost adoption and onboarding by enabling existing users to easily invite colleagues to join their workspace and try the product, leading to increased user trials and conversions.
Market Research
I conducted market research on how SaaS products currently handle their free trial plans and analyzed their sign-up flows to gain insights and identify best practices.
Salesforce's free trial sign-up flow is quick, easy, and requires minimal information from the user. They offer a 14-day free trial and provide clear value proposition and benefits of using their product.
Monday offers a 14-day free trial and it's easy to get started and test the features of the platform such as creating boards, tasks, and timelines. The sign-up flow is simple and straightforward, requiring only an email address and a password.
Dropbox's free trial sign-up flow is well-designed and easy to navigate. They offer a clear value proposition and a series of video tutorials that walk users through the basics of the platform.
Asana's free trial sign-up flow is simple and straightforward, requiring only a name and email address to start. They also provide a clear value proposition and a series of video tutorials that walk users through the basics of the platform.
There is a lot of research on the topic of free trial sign-up flows and how to optimize them to increase conversions. Here are a few key takeaways from the research:
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Well-designed and user-friendly free trial sign-up flow that makes it easy for users to start using their product and test its features.
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Provide clear value proposition and benefits of using their product, which helps to increase the conversion rate of free trial users.
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Keep the sign-up process short and simple.: A study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that users are more likely to complete a registration process if it is short and simple.
Design
We want to optimize the current sign-up flow into a Free Trial Sign-up flow, so my first step is to analyze how the current Sign-up flow achieves the takeaways from previous research:
1. making it easy for users to start using the product and test its features.
2. Keeping the sign-up process short and simple.
Current Sign Up Work Flow
Analyze Current Issues
1. Pending Approval for Joining Workspace
The current process requires approval to join a workspace, but there is no clear indication of when or who will approve the request, causing delays in accessing the product.
2. Manual Company Name Input as Workspace URL
The user needs to manually enter their company name to create a workspace, adding an unnecessary step to the process.
3. Inefficient Email Verification
This is where the user signs up via username/password or via google. Ideally, we validate email addresses by a business address for username/password. While social login options are available, the requirement for a business email address creates an obstacle as we can't verify the email address, and after registration, the user will encounter an error message and be asked to re-enter the business email address manually. It would be more efficient to have the user manually enter the business email address from the start.
4. Inconvenient Flow Continuation
After confirming the email address, there is no option to continue the flow within the same window, and the user is directed to go back to the previous page and log in again, causing confusion and adding to the complexity of the process.
After Redesign the flow
Reduced the number of interactions required, by 50%.
The current sign-up process required users to spend more than five minutes and complete over 20 interactions, such as clicking buttons, navigating pages, and filling out form fields. Through optimization and iteration, the free trial sign-up flow has been streamlined to take less than two minutes to complete and has significantly reduced the number of interactions required, by almost 50%.
Task 1: Start from landing page
Task 2: Start from Invite Link
Key Features
1. Eliminating SSO Sign-up
Removing the option for SSO sign-up and clearly communicating the requirement for a business email address and providing error messaging for personal email address or invalid email.
2. Streamlined Email Verification
Allowing users to continue the flow within the same window after email verification, and automatically creating the workspace without requiring manual input of the workspace name.
3. Highlighting Product Value
Enhancing the messaging and placement of information about the product's value on the landing page or in marketing campaigns.
4. Streamlined Email Verification
Allowing users to continue the flow within the same window after email verification, and automatically creating the workspace without requiring manual input of the workspace name.
Final Designs
Desktop Web
Mobile APP
NEXT STEP
After releasing this feature to the market, there are a few things that we will consider doing to ensure its success:
Enhancing Onboarding Experience
Implementing an onboarding flow to introduce users to the features and capabilities of the product after they sign up for the free trial.
Creating Video Tutorials
Developing a series of video tutorials that guide users through the basics of using the platform.
A/B Testing
Regularly conducting A/B testing to improve the free trial sign up flow and increase conversions by up to 90% as suggested by the Nielsen Norman Group study.
Keep an eye on the analytics
Monitor the analytics data like, how many people are signing up, how many are converting to paying customers, etc. to understand the success of the free trial sign up flow.
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