Redesigning Lingo Live on-boarding — UX case study

Lingo Live specializes in one-on-one online soft skills training. We strive to help employees express their authentic voice at work. However sometimes users are joining the service without proper understanding of the program. The objective of this project is to add guiding elements into registration; while simultaneously establishing a skills/knowledge baseline and reason for enrollment.

As Lingo Live’s user base grew, it became increasingly important to streamline registration flow to minimize any registration fatigue. We noticed that our users would drop-out during registration without scheduling their first lesson. There are a few hypothetical reasons for this. Examples include: non-essential fields, no incentive for users to complete the forms, lack of input label and placeholders for clear instructions, lack of accessibility & ease of use, and no way to track registration progress. It was clear that we needed to update to reduce friction and mitigate further dropout rate.

My Role

I led the research and design for this project. Collaborating with engineers, product managers, learning team and customer support. The new registration flow was launched globally on August 1, 2019.

The Goal

• The current registration has 7 pages consisting of 23 form fields. The research found that using fewer form fields resulted in 160% uplift in conversions. Users won’t feel fatigue at the idea of having to spill their life’s details with this form. Reducing form field from 23 to only essential information.

• First to implement the initial effectiveness survey. This survey identifies user’s perception of the importance of language skills in their workplace. Prior to this project, we collected this data through emails and the total response rate was 37%. Second, to set up a survey to understand willing and unwilling participants. The Research found that if a participant has a “will” to learn they will have a more successful outcome. We decided to put the baseline survey into the registration because emails have proven a low response rate.

• Implemented engaging illustration for visual interest and highlighted the benefits users will get by registering.

Challenges

Vetting through support messages we identified some high level pain points: 

• User fatigue (the flow felt too lengthy and arduous).

• Lack of clarity around certain questions.

• Unfamiliarity with the program.

• Poor form-field validations.

1. Getting everyone onboard

There could be multiple reasons why Lingo Live is facing user drop out. Every team seems to have different hypotheses on why the drop-out rate is so high. Through research and insight from the Head of Product Support there was a common reason. We realized that many of our users are taking a leap of faith when they sign up. Even with a lengthy registration process, our users still had no concrete idea of the benefits we offered them.

 2. Planning & Auditing

This legacy registration flow has been used for 5+ years. Data collected from these form fields are tied to different aspects of the products. Thus, it isn't an easy decision to delete any form field. I collaborated with our Head of Product Support and our Head of Coaching to determine questions we could eliminate to minimize registration steps.

The How

1. Registration Audit.

We needed to know where we were using the data collected through the registration. ex: phone number for Learners success to contact. This piece of data seemed unnecessary at first; since all our interactions were conducted through the Interactive Classroom. I later found that this data point is actually important in order to keep track of learner’s learning health.This was an effort between our Head of Product Support, our Head of Coaching, and the product and engineering team.

2. Creation of copy and initial assessment survey questions.

To help us understand our users better we asked them:
“Can you remember a time when?”. Originally we phrased the initial assessment question as “My language and communication skills make it challenging for me to...” but realized that it was biased, this assumes that our users know that communication skills are a problem. We are trying to understand how important is it for users career development to improve their language and communication skills. 

The second question, “Please indicate your reason for signing up for Lingo Live lessons” allows us to identify the users willingness to join a soft skills program. Asking this earlier in registration helps us associate the result of training outcomes, like learning progression and behavioral change.

So how do we turn those who were reluctant into using our program? We needed to engage our users and help them understand the value our program. Specifically, how it will benefit them as an individual, early in the registration steps.

3. Creating visual components to engage and delight our users.

• Each page of the registration contains tailored illustrations to convey messages. To attract the user’s attention and deliver the most critical information in an easy-to-understand visual format.

• Illustrations can add clarity to a complex idea. Our program can be confusing, but pictures says a thousand words. 

Conclusion

We were able to turn 37% response rate to the baseline survey to 95% response rate, meaning most users are completing the registration flow without dropping out.

We proved that both willing and unwilling students can be successful with the right guidance:, beginning with registration.  Meaning with the right understanding of the learner’s needs and the right guidance from the coach: both parties can be successful.

Simplicity is strength

As a designer, we are often lured by attractive, trendy and out of the box designs. But, we must always remember the ‘why’. The primary goal is to understand the user and their problems. Then come up with a unique design that solves them. Sometimes it is as easy as simplifying existing design.

Collaboration is key

This project wouldn’t have gone smoothly without the help of  The Support Team, The Learning Team and our learners. The more eyes on the project, the more it’s exposed to varying opinions, experience, and critique — and this can only ultimately improve the experience.