Raise User Research: Digital Transformation (Onboarding) Analysis

--- tag: Research --- # Raise User Research: Digital Transformation (Onboarding) Analysis Here is some analysis based on the Key Takeaways from the first few Raise user interviews... we ask ourselves, *"What have we learnt from these Key Takeaways and how will they be used to improve the Raise platform/develop new features?"* We will split this analysis into various parts of the User Success Journey during the onboarding or **"Digital Transformation"** process. **1. Sign Up** **2. Company Profile** **3. Building a Cap Table** --- ## Sign Up Most of our good feedback on this area was provided by Selman at Pariti. He is clearly more experienced with UX and so as a disclaimer I am choosing to give more weight towards his feedback over some others. This is clearly part of the application that needs a good deal of work. Onboarding (Sign Up) is important for the following reasons: - First impressions (you only get one) - Onboarding as many companies/founders as possible (by creating streamlined sign up flow) - Research shows onboarding is the most crucial stage in retaining long-term users > "User onboarding is the most important part of the customer journey because it sets the stage for everything to come." > > "Now you have your target: Improve that 4% number. Get it up just a smidge to 5%, and you’ll increase revenue by a whopping 25%. Push it even higher and your business will start to take off." > > "It may be surprising, but one of the biggest determinators of where your churn flattens out to in Week 10 of the retention rate chart is the first impression you make in Week 0, during user onboarding." > > "To put it simply, the length of your onboarding experience (especially for mobile) is as important as the content. You have a short window to make a good impression. So make sure you’re clear, concise, and don’t overlook the power of beautiful branding." > > [Jackson Noel - CEO of Appcues](https://https://www.appcues.com/blog/user-onboarding-customer-journey) ... So now we've understood why onboarding is so important, let's break down our current process: **Current Raise Sign-Up Flow** [Take a look at this prototype...](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=12763%3A49&viewport=1172%2C520%2C0.16118338704109192&scaling=min-zoom) #### Here are some thoughts from our users... #### 1. Repetition of Data during the Sign Up Flow This has been something I've noticed when signing up to Raise... Why am I repeating this information more than once? It's creating extra steps to a process that needs to be as concise and short as possible. Cutting down repetition also makes room for new parts of the user flow, some of which we will discuss later... #### 2. Verification Email needs a re-design The email verification part of the sign-up process is being found to be quite confusing... One thing that has been noted is that there are too many "links". Some users find this overwhelming and are not sure which links lead to an action, and which ones are educational resources... #### 3. Onboarding Questions Must Remain Relevant One part of the founder's onboarding experience is to answer a few onboarding questions. They are as follows: - When are you raising? - Now - Soon (2-6 Months) - Sometime This/Next Year (6-24 Months) - Not Sure - Do you have any of the following? - Co-Founders - Secretaries - CFOs etc What do these questions do? Do they tailor the customers experience at all? How do they make the customer feel? How long does it take to answer them? One thing that has been noted is the "When are You Raising?" timelines. If this is not easy to answer, the user will be frustrated and might quit. That goes for any onboarding question. So, we need to make sure that onboarding questions are **A). Relevant** (have some tangible effect on UX) > "Unless it’s going to prompt an action, I’d ditch the questions…" - Selman, Pariti **B). Easy to Answer** (Pain points are not worth it...) #### 4. Worry Over Data Protection Is this something we can inform the user about and make them feel more comfortable providing such data? ... ### Designer's Thoughts & Recommendations A lot of these points ring true to me and I've been chomping at the bit to redesign this sign up flow. I realise the importance of this stage of the process and think this is something which should receive prioritised attention from the product team. Another thing I've been thinking about is the importance of allowing for different user groups. We are currently so focused on just founders, but what about Investors, Non-Admin Team Members, Law Firms, etc? What will their UX feel like and how will it change? This is what I call a "branch point", a moment where users define their own journey and category of who they want to be on the platform... So far, we have defined three main user groups on the platform: 1. Founders 2. Team Members (invited Employee's) 3. Investors Soon to introduce ... 4. Law Firms & Corp. Secretaries #### 1. One Email, Multiple Entities At the moment one email address can create/be linked to multiple entities within the Raise platform. This might be a founder who is also a shareholder in other companies, or perhaps a founder who has multiple companies etc... #### 2. Multiple User Types, Multiple Flows The UX of different user groups should provide an entirely different user experience when it comes to onboarding and account creation. #### 3. Stop Repeating Information Scrap the initial modal with address etc and create a normal Sign Up page! Secondly, remove the email from the Company Profile creation page. #### 4. Rethinking the Onboarding Q's We need to evaluate if this line of questions is both relevant and useful to Raise and the user, or is it just another page that could do with cutting. If it is relevant, making sure they lead to actions that make sense to the user and don't leave them wondering, "When is this going to end" #### 5. Integrated Billing Getting users to become premium users during onboarding is a huge task, and we need to ask ourselves if this is something we want to do now or later? A lot of users don't like giving payment details until they see value. Something worth thinking about. However, this leads me to the next point... #### 6. Building a Premium Concierge Onboarding UX Many users have struggled to achieve verification by themselves... This is because cap tables and documents are hard to get to grips with, and more often than not the user has to have some back and forth conversation with the Onboarding team at Raise to get things set up. Could this be a premium feature whereby users provide minimal info for maximum output? I.e they give the bare necessities and the onboarding team do the rest for them. Is this something that needs introducing so early on? My guess is no, but could be found within the Task List/Dashboard, and then something which prompts billing once they are inside the app and settled. There is obviously always the ability for them to do it themselves. This could also be something prompted through a Chatbot/Intercom feature... ... ### Next Steps Redesign this user Sign-Up flow and get feedback with Usability Testing! [We will be using this prototype](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13190%3A4212&viewport=1275%2C561%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) --- ## Company Profile This part of the onboarding journey is post Sign Up, and requires founders of companies to achieve company verification by inputting various due diligence documents and data for Raise to check. A few companies have struggled through this process, however those we have spoken to seem to have achieved verification success with the added help of the onboarding team at Raise. #### Here are some thoughts from our users... #### 1. Task List Gave Great Direction to Founders Successful at directing founders to find and upload the correct documents, as well as various company incorporation info. #### 2. Permissions of Members Seemed Unclear One founder was unsure who to add and what permissions to give them. He wasn't clear on who to give admin access to and who not to. Perhaps this issue could be solved using something like a Tooltip, or a message to indicate which permissions give what powers etc. #### 3. Could Task List Provide Links to Actions One founder noted that the Task List within the dashboard could have been made more intuitive by providing links to the action itself when clicking them. For example, "You haven't uploaded Company HQ Address" could be clicked and take you to the section of the company profile that allows you to add it. #### 4. Subsidiaries Tab Importance One founder noted that the Subsidiaries tab felt quite empty, and was wondering how many companies had subsidiaries and whether or not it was a section that could fit within another tab, like "Profile". Does it warrant its own tab? ... ### Designer's Thoughts & Recommendations This part of the onboarding process is also extremely important in getting companies verified, as well as maintaining interest on the platform. One feature I think should be focussed on would be the premium concierge onboarding process, whereby the Raise team helps fill out a companies profile on their behalf. #### 1. Premium Onboarding Features - What are the minimum required documents that will get a company verified? - What are the documents required? Cap Table, CAC/CR-12, Incorporation Certificate? How would we integrate this feature as something which can be payed for? My guess is that companies would opt for this easier onboarding process, but then turn around and try to do it for themselves when they see the price of it. They might then go back and pay once they realise it includes building out their Cap Table... #### 2. Account and Billing With the introduction of in-app payments, we may need to think about the process of companies managing their Raise plans and how to upgrade/cancel their accounts and manage their payments. - This feature would allow - Manage Raise Plan (Upgrade/Downgrade) - Input Payment Details (would these be hidden from everyone other than admins?) Is storing this data dangerous? #### 3. Redesign of Documents Component At the moment the process of uploading a document is lengthy, confusing, and different in other parts of the application. This process needs to be rethought in order to achieve: - Consistency in Design - Fluidity of UX (reducing noise) - Synchronicity (Avoiding repetition of uploads) ... ### Next Steps - We should review the information within the Company part of the profile and see if any tabs could be merged (e.g Subsidiaries). - There should also be a preliminary brainstorming session for a premium onboarding experience, and where this would fit in and how it would work. - Where would this be found? - How would it work? - What information does it require? - Are there any improvements that could be made to the Dashboard component/task list? - E.g Action links - FAQs - Update the documents component to be synced throughout the platform. Any incorporation documents (e.g CAC/CR-12) only have to be uploaded once, and then sync to other areas of the platform (e.g Documents in Deal Room etc) - The entire process of uploading a document also needs a rethink. Currently the UX is CRAP! --- ## Building a Cap Table This feature is arguably one of the most challenging parts of the Raise onboarding experience. This is due to a few reasons: - Cap Tables are complex financial models that require high levels of detail and attention - Most founders don't know what a Cap table is, let alone how to build one This feature will most likely go through a redesign, however, before that process begins we want to soak in some of the feedback provided to us so far in order to make sure we are designing better, smarter platform features. Not to mention, if this feature acts as a fly trap to users being onboarded, it begins to degrade our platform and LOSE value as opposed to gaining it. #### Here are some thoughts from our users... #### 1. Cap Tables are Confusing, Complex Beasts A lot of the founders that we spoke to in interviews hesitantly admitted that they didn't know much about Cap tables prior to signing up to Raise. So, when they were faced with building one, a lot of them had to Google certain terms and features. > Initially I didn’t know what a Cap Table was, but once I figured it out it was pretty straightforward... - **Brian, Kotani Pay** > The one thing I needed to do some research on was probably the Cap Table… what does it look like, what does it need? I remember we had discussions with the Raise team who refered me to artciles on the website which was really helpful! - **Kiiru, Fingo** > For someone whos not clued up on Cap Tables and finance, the platform could involve a lot of new learning points... > > I realised a lot of this requires specialised knowledge… and I tried to build my own financial model but got to a point where I just wanted to pay someone to do it. This would definitely be a valuable added feature… > >I had no idea about the calculations and maths behind it all - it’s hard and I was super glad to have that information available and someone could also do it for me ... - **Ropha, Kweza** Cap Tables are clearly very complex, and require a decent understanding on multiple financial terms and components. ... ### Designer's Thoughts & Recommendations As seen from some of our interviewee quotes above, Cap Tables can be complex and hard to get to grips with. Once you know what a cap table is, it seems quite simple, however, you are then tasked with figuring out exactly how to build it, and what to use and why. For example, one common thing which seems to come up is the use of different Share Classes. Why should a founder use one share class over another, and how are they different? The problem is that these definitions and features go beyond the Raise platform, and so we cannot simply just reimagine what a cap table is and how to build one. They are vehemently tied into a complex legal and financial system. They can be simplified, or refaced, however they cannot be changed in their nature. So, what choices are we left with? - How do we present Cap Tables/their building blocks? - Are we simplifying the process enough so that once a founder understands the different components, its straightforward to build one. Evidence suggests this is the case, however we most likely need more data. - Are we doing a good enough job at educating founders on Cap table terms and features? - Share Classes - Shareholders - Shares vs Convertibles - Vesting Schedules - Employee Stock Options - Signiatories - Simulations of ownership and changes over time - Are we doing a good enough job at explaining the USP of Raise's cap table feature? Why is it better than using a popular xcel template? - Simulations + Ownership Maths - Keeping up to date with shareholders - Converting DEBT + SAFEs into equity #### 1. Creating a Product Tour/Onboarding for the Cap Table One way of being able to present the information required, as well as our own USP + founder motivations is by introducing the Cap Table feature to the founder using a product walkthrough/announcement. This would be a modal that presents a walkthrough of what certain terms are and why they are different, why these are important to understand, as well as Raise's USP + why founders should want to build a cap table via our platform (automatic updates linked to Fundraising etc). What should this walkthrough entail? - Defining Terms + Features - What are Cap Tables? (Don't assume the founder knows) - Shareclasses (Convertibles vs Equity) - Vesting Options - Signiatories - Leaving the user excited - A glimpse into the future (seamless updates) - An all in one Cap Table investment (build one and forget about countless xcel spreadsheets) - We're here to help! (making users feel supported in their journey) #### 2. Redesigning the Ownership feature At the moment, as new founders being onboarded will only see "Build a Cap Table", however if we look at the Raise account (a company further in their journey), we see: **Ownership, Rights & Preferences, Vesting, Certificates, and Signatories** This might be an information overload and so I think it's worth looking at this feature in its entireity to see if tabs can be merged and managed coherently. For example, Vesting might be better off as a feature built into "Add a Shareholder". ... ### Next Steps #### 1. Meeting with Jeff re Using Intercom to Create Product Walkthrough Jeff is apparently up to date with certain intercom features and Marvin believes he might be able to help us achieve a solid product tour/walkthrough experience. I don't think this should be limited to a small chatbot in the corner, a modal seems more appropriate, but worth a discussion. #### 2. Meeting with Legal + Growth Team to Brainstorm Cap Table Redesign The legal and growth teams will be needed to figure out which features are necessities and which are nice to haves. The product team will then use this information to work out how the feature works and how information is presented within Ownership.