# Raise Usability Testing: Sign Up We will be conducting internal usability testing within the Raise team to review the redesigned Sign Up flow (onboarding). The goals of this research are: - Discover feedback with regards to UI/UX - Note any improvements or suggestions by members of the team - Note any technical worries with regards to implementation **We will be comparing these two prototypes:** - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) --- ## Questions to ask participants ### Old Flow - How did they find this flow? - Were there any points of confusion/frustration? - Where would they like to see this part of the product go? - Any ideas for improvements? ### Redesigned Flow - How do these two Sign Up flows compare? - Did the user get through the second flow seamlessly? Or was there room for confusion? - Are there any areas of UI/UX improvement? - Did they find the process logical? - Do they have any technical concerns? - Was there anything missing? - Was there anything non-essential that could be cut/saved for later? - How would they rate the process 1-10? - Did the sign up flow conjure any feelings of excitement towards using the platform? ### General - When signing up to a platform, what do you expect to see? - How long do you expect this process to take? - How long is "too long"? - What things frustrate you when signing up to a platform? (e.g having to pay upfront, KYC, etc) --- ## Interview 1: Philips Working as a business developer... ### Old Flow - Company name has already been collected, why am I doing this again? - Data that is collected in primary modal should not have to be collected again... - Even if you do have to show it, perhaps autofill it? - Do the questions being asked in the onboarding affect my user journey? - Why am I being asked these if it doesn't lead to a direct action? - It doesn't seem clear to select the boxes, these don't seem very intuitive... - Perhaps have one box already selected? I might then understand I need to tick multiple etc ### New Flow - This is much easier to wrap my head around, particularly the initial sign up page - Where is the Law Firm? - This is MUCH more CLEAR, VERY CLEAR!! (Company creation page) - Again for the onboarding q's, maybe have one pre-ticked? Otherwise it's not super clear (like on payment screen...) - Also, wasn't sure about the Radio buttons until after I clicked it.. so again maybe have one of them pre-opened? - I feel like at the point on payment, we should be using the whole page? The plans require a lot more detail and could be expanded across the entire page... - From a user perspective, there should be lots more options for payments, perhaps 2 months? What about trials? - In context of the product being delivered, I'm not sure people want to pay for a year? They might just want to fundraise and then cancel their subscription - Advantage of paying upfront: - They could always just pick the free plan... - A lot of users will just select the free plan - Investor flow - Again for onboarding Q's, maybe have one of the boxes pre-selected... - KYC & AML is expected, so not a bad thing personally - Team Member - Will I get a link from someone? - How will this work? I'm not sure if the link was super clear for me... ### Notes - The redesigned flow is a big improvement --- ## Interview 2: Ozi Ozi works as a business developer and leading the product marketing ### Old Flow - ### New Flow - I like the new Sign Up page... it looks great! I'm not sure the image relates to Raise but I feel the image works well in capturing the users attention - She didn't click any of the onboarding questions... - I feel like I know what is actually happening in the flow this time, all the steps seems really well broken down and separated, which makes it easier - She seemed to rush through all of the onboarding screens, didn't click much... - Overall I think this flow is a lot better... it caters for more user groups and is generally a lot easier to understand - I would wonder why you want the email addresses of my Co-Founders and Secretary, what are the details you need and why? - Maybe some disclaimer or information as to why we're asking for them... ### Notes - Ok so I think this is 100% an improvement on the first flow - I feel engaged - I feel more attentive - I feel like I know what is going on - Perhaps we can use an image that relates to Raise users! It's pretty but not really to do with business... - Perhaps some explanation or content for onboarding questions --- ## Interview 3: Sannie Sannie is senior in the Raise legal team, has contracting experience in debt contracts and letters of credit ### Old Flow - What are your initial thoughts of this email? - Quite a lot of links... but I found the right one... - Onboarding questions feel relevant, I know the information is going to be relevant at some point ### New Flow - Question: Why is the account type coming after the Sign Up? Surely I should be doing this first, no? - Answer, what happens if you're a founder of multiple companies? Do you want to use a different email + password - I was expecting more options for the Raise subscriptions - What does Team Member mean? - Who can select this? Advisors? - If I was confused, I'd probably click on company, fill in the details and try to access it in that way... ### Notes - Was this new design an improvement? - Yes I prefer the second flow - I think the layout and the way it's presented is just clearer for me.. the first one has too much in one go - The second one goes step by step, and breaks it down very clearly - It also caters for more user groups - The info seems the same, but the presentation seems better - Is paying a good idea? - I don't mind having a payment option from the outset, as long as I have multiple options and one of them is free - Hopefully I don't run into any payment issues - I'm actually quite surprised there is a free option - I would definitely like some sort of month free trial.. - If I like it then I start paying - Have you ever signed up to a platform and not wanted to give payment details? - Sometimes just because I don't want to give my bank details I won't go for it... - It really depends on how I'm feeling that day... - Would it be possible to give a free trial without taking payment details? --- ## Interview 4: Joseph Joseph works in startup relations at Raise, helping build investible startups and contracts ### Old Flow - Pretty straightforward, no questions asked... ### New Flow - Company flow - It's good, felt pretty easy - Only place I was wondering about was which user I should have signed up as - KYC for Raise members - You might want to KYC companies (or founders at least...) - AML is based on entities investing from outside of the country ### Notes - Which flow did you prefer? - I like the second one more... - Simply because everything is on the one page, it feels centralised and well organised - It also feels cleaner - No extra feedback --- ## Interview 5: Nia Nia works in compliance and corporate structuring at Raise. Her strongest interest is in intelectual property work ### Old Flow - When I was first on Raise's website I wanted to know what "Request Access" meant...? Am I Booking a call? - I really like the image, very diverse and good to have black people... relates to the clients - It's good the email isn't super long and concise - I think the onboarding questions is really informative because it gets to the heart of what companies need to provide info wise - Do companies have boards of directors? Should that be added in terms of required documentation - What about the location? - ### New Flow - No when I click request access I'm being asked to sign Up... so this clarifies that process for me now - Clicked "Team Member First" - Disclaimer is good and informative - Would you pay for an application like this upfront? - I guess it depends on if I know about Raise... if it's new and nothing seen on it before I'd be quite hesitant to pay for something - But there is a free option, so I'd still be inclined to check that out first and then maybe pay later... - If I'm familiar with Raise (referals, reviews, etc) then I might pay for it but more than likely I'll go for the Free plan - Depends on how familiar I am with the brand! - KYC - You will need to put which country for these documents.. - Compliance can be an issue.. Specifically for proof of address, perhaps clarify that it should be from the past 6 months... - What about people with dual citizenship? Do these people have to upload two different documents? ### Notes - Honestly to me the differences seem very small... I think I do prefer the second one though - There seemed to be more information... - But not a significant difference... --- ## Interview 6: Tim Tim works in startup relations and compliance at Raise. I work in innovation and tech, and my background is in corporate law. I also have done quite a bit of compliance work... ### Old Flow - The "Request Access" button... this was maybe a bit of a confusing call to action... - What are your impressions of the verification email? - Is there a way of getting some kind of process marked? - Is there a way of visualising the information in a way other than text? - It's seems like good content though, I'd want to see it but maybe theres a more digestible way of showing it? E.g diagrams - How do you feel about the onboarding questions? - I think they are really relevant, they point founders into the right directions and show them what they need to be doing - On the back end too it helps us distinguish different clients - Perhaps it would be good to add in some sort of privacy notice? - Is there any more information we can take from the company that helps with their later processes? - Pitch Deck? - Website? - Location? ### New Flow - Is the picture relevant? Looks like a suicide... - Company Flow chosen first... - Onboarding Q's seem a little bit more detailed - Trying to weigh up the benefit of asking for specific team rolls... or asking for emails... - I like the company flow, it feels good! - What about KYC documents for Founders & Co-Founders of a company? - How do you feel about payment details questions upfront? - I'd like to see the value of the product I've signed up for first... - Maybe you can do some sort of free trial? - Alarm bells around sensitive information (e.g payment details)... do I trust this company? - Investor Flow - Onboarding Q's - Maybe you can add in some extra sector questions... - KYC/AML - It is what you'd expect to see, especially for heavily regulated markets - It might be hard to get people to get the Proof of Address... - Team Member flow - I like the way that link works... - It might also make KYC fairly easy for different team members ### Notes - I definitely prefer the second flow... - It feels much more bespoke... - It's nice to be able to choose your user profile type (founder,investor, etc) - It feels really inclusive - KYC details seem really useful - KYC Across the whole platform? - Something I'd expect across the whole platform - Taking KYC documents for all users would also make the legal team's job so much easier - We're going to have to do it at some point... - But I guess the goal is not to make it too tedious or hectic for the end user! --- ## Interview 7: Lipa Later Lipa Later offer hassle free shopping, providing point of sale credit options for retailers to sell good, and monthly installment payments for shoppers. On our last call with them they had a bunch of different requests on the Cap Table feature... - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - The email seems pretty good and straightforward ### New Flow - The onboarding questions might be a lot for some investors... - They might want to skip these questions - If they only get invited to Deal Rooms, why are you asking questions that assume some sort of match making? ### Notes --- ## Interview 8: Mata ** Mata works as a product developer and engineer in the Raise team. He is also instrumental in organising the storybook feature and implementation of Raise UI components. - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - What do you think of the initial modal? - They aren't really sure what they're adding, will they have to do this again? - Are they required fields? - This info gets sent to the Growth team as a Typeform, and that then generates an email - This info is NOT stored in the backend... - Do we need placeholders for all the type forms? - email@address.com, First/Last Name, etc - We are planning on adding another dropdown select menu to choose what type of company you're signing up: - PLC - LTD - etc - Should we have a checkbox for the terms and conditions? - It seems like we are giving people terms and conditions, but are they agreeing to them? - Onboarding Q's are stored in the backend - We just don't really use it very much... - But it's useful for finding companies with X,Y, and Z... ### New Flow - Currently we don't verify emails, so this is something I'll have to look into functionality wise... - For the "Refresh this Page", maybe add some text to tell them..."Once verified, click Refresh and you will be redirected to the next page" - Users who are apart of multiple companies don't have to sign up with different emails... - They just create their account once and then that's all they have to do - The edge case we haven't catered for is, "I'm a founder already on Raise, but I want to create another company..." - **Team Member** - "What is your role at the company?" vs "What is your admin level?" - I think this should be autofilled... - The admin/editor usually choose what role someone plays at a company - **Company** - "What is your role at the company?" ... aren't they all Founders creating the company? - Is "Relationship" a better use of language? Maybe both "Relationship" and "Role"? - If I create an account as a Corporate Secretary, the next page asks for Co-Founders, this implies I am a founder... - We need to get founders onto the platform as quickly as possible - We will need more than just the email + address, we will also need their full name etc - Maybe change "Co-Founders" to just "Founders" - Plans - Perhaps we should put Build (Free) as the recommended plan? Otherwise users might get a little annoyed they are being asked to pay straight away! - They have the option of exploring + opting in to a premium plan, but this is a choice, not something pushed or forced - **Investor** - Why are they being asked about a company? - Should this be clearer? - KYC - Expiry Date for National ID? Is there such a thing? - I think in some ways everyone is an investor... what is this profile type giving me? - Maybe scrap this profile creation type? - Add/Join a company? - Let's get users into the platform ASAP as "Investors" and then push actions to them, e.g "Create your First Company", "Find Deal Rooms", or "Accept Invite to Company X" ### Notes --- ## Interview 9: Joan Joan works in M&A, turning design and user flows into products - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - "We're skipping you to the front of the queue"... its a bit seethrough... - Verification Email - There's quite a lot of content and hyperlinks (a few of which lead to the same Sign Up page!) - Maybe remove some of these redundant hyperlinks? Just leave "clicking here" and "consultation"... - People in Kenya aren't very tech savvy so it's important to make sure this email is super clear! - They don't really read, they just want to click! ### New Flow - **Investor Flow** - KYC Documentation - Document Types: Drivers License doesn't seem so relevant for Kenyans... - For Passport: Upload the bio-data page for your passport (not Front and Back) - What about companies adding information for investors? - Do they consent to this information? - **Company Flow** - Payment - Can someone use Mpesa to pay? Not many Kenyans like using their credit/debit cards ### Notes --- ## Interview 10: Rushabh ** Joan works in M&A, turning design and user flows into products - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - Request Access seems like a strange button title - Can we provide a better idea of the product beforehand? "Request Access" feels like a commitment... - Email Verification - It seems like too much for an email... it doesn't feel like an introduction to a new user! - You've got steps guide, perhaps instead show a flow chart instead? - Maybe build something a bit prettier, interactive and intuitive (linking hyperlinks > videos) - Which step do I need to take? ### New Flow - I already prefer the Sign Up as you're not asking for all company details straight away - Language could be a bit clearer on the profile types (Founders, Lawyers, investors, etc) - **Company Flow** - Onboarding Q's seem to make sense - The pricing is great actually, I feel like I've been through enough to have put the effort in and I'm ready to invest (haha) - It makes sense to ask the users to take this action now... - Interestingly enough, because there are less ticks (features) on the Grow plan, I automatically assume that I'm getting less value... (obviously if I read more then I might understand what's going on) - A lot of the paid features seem like good one-offs, not something I want to continue paying for - Try and involve reoccuring value, not one-offs. Otherwise I'm just going to pay for one month and then switch back to Free! - Review the VALUE PROPOSITION and make it clearer to users! - **Investor Flow** - Angel Investors vs VC Firms - If you're an angel investor its just your name + country - But if you're an institutional investor, this process is going to be completed by an analyst or secretary - Perhaps add an extra field so you can link your superior/boss - Onboarding Q's - Perhaps a field for "Other" for interested industries - Typical Investment amounts need to be increased (for institutional investors) - KYC - Allow for this step to be skipped ("You can fill this in later and will be required for an transactions within the platform") - Perhaps a dropdown to help analysts link managers to KYC information - Perhaps a "tick the box" exclaimer to say you're filling info out on behalf of a manager etc... - Can users save information during flows? - What if I don't have KYC information to hand? - Do I lose the information I've filled out already - **Team Member** - Language could be clearer... - If I'm a legal secretary, what do I click? - Am I doing this for them or am I joining something already created? - Role seems different to "Title" - Role = Founder, Investor, Secretary, Admin, etc - Title = CEO, Product Designer, Engineer, etc - Seems like something the founders should be controlling ### Notes - NDAs - People don't like NDAs - If investors are asked to sign early on they sometimes assume the barrier of entry is very low and the idea is very replicable - There is some private and public information, and perhaps some could be free to see (without signing) and some is private (sign to see) --- ## Interview 11: Duncan Duncan works in the engineering team at Raise - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - Seems to have slowed down once reaching the email and is exploring the different links - It feels quite hidden where to click - It made me read the whole thing, which is good, but I think a button would be a lot clearer - It would capture my attention a lot quicker - The onboarding questions are not super relevant since they don't lead to action items - The only info we really store is "When are you raising?" ### New Flow - Company Flow - I much prefer the onboarding questions of the second flow - Seems much easier for the user to take an action (i.e invite their co-founders) - It now makes sense to be asking them this... - Payments - Given that there is a free plan, its better to show the user that there is some sort of payment - They can still choose the free plan, so personally I think its better that users are in the light and not feeling snaked when we ask for them to pay for their deal room - Investor Flow - Seemed a little bit confused about the Company Name aspect - Am I creating a company here? Or is it just extra info - Need to think about Institutional Investors vs Angel - Onboarding Q's - I think this info is going to be super interesting for investors at a later stage - Particularly for matching up Deal Rooms etc - KYC - The most common forms of KYC in Kenya are probably National ID, but it might be worth leaving the others just incase - It also makes it more accessible to others outside of Kenya - Also, Proof of Address is going to be very tricky... How can I do that if I don't have a bill to show? - A lot of Kenyans will struggle with this - Team Member - We should probably ask company admins to verify the identity of Team Members who join - Otherwise anyone could accidentally join a company and data could be leaked ### Notes - I think it's very smooth and not confusing, especially for founders and investors - But for team members its a little bit confusing I think - How would law firms work? - Would they come in as team members? - They just want to sign up and start adding companies. We want to make it super easy for them --- ## Interview 12: Shee Project manager at Raise - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - Personally I feel like the landing page needs to have more information - What exactly do you mean by fundraising? (often asked) - What is a Deal Room? (some people need extra education on these details) - Where do they go when they click "Request Access"? - Verification Email - What's the "top of the list?" - It implies I still have to do a bit of waiting.. but actually it's immediate? - Also, it's a bit like, "really?" - It's too much information for one email... which link should I be clicking? There seem to be about 5 actions I could take here... - Sign Up page - Should your details automatically be autopopulated? Otherwise we seem to be repeating a lot of the same details from the initial modal - Onboarding Q's - These feel more like a survey - It's not asking to take an action, so I'd probably end up skipping this step ### New Flow - Company Flow - The onboarding questions are much more productive... I feel like I'd be saving myself time later on so I'd definitely do it! - Payment Options - Doesn't seem to have an issue being introduced to a paid plan from the beginning as I can always just click the free one - I don't really know how we could make features more clear using design, perhaps language? - Investor Flow - Company + Role = Confusing! - The Onboarding Q's seem to be very useful information - Are you Angel vs Institution? - KYC - How many investors are going to give us this information? - We don't have proof of Address in Naorobi - Numbers seem to work well (Kenya Revenue Authority PIN for tax) - Team Member - Who is this meant to be for? - I find it a little bit confusing I think ### Notes - As much as there is a little bit of confusion (which can be easily ironed out), it felt so much better - It was easier, clearer, and quicker! --- ## Interview 13: Marvin CEO at Raise, focusing on Growth and Product - [**Current Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13295%3A24&viewport=562%2C555%2C0.125&scaling=min-zoom) - [**Redesigned Sign Up Flow**](https://www.figma.com/proto/a9FkhiYKeR5MUvlVSx7x4x/User-Onboarding?node-id=13186%3A136&viewport=1881%2C755%2C0.25&scaling=min-zoom) ### Old Flow - Landing Page - Seems like a clear call to action for companies looking to plan their next funding round - If I'm an investor/law firm the call to action is gonna be different for me - "Request Access" seems like a private - Email - Feels like I've been selected for something, which feels nice - But overwhelming amount of information in here... - Which action item do I take? - Sign Up - Seems like a relatively straight forward Sign Up proces - Onboarding Q's - Technically speaking everybody is gonna have those things (e.g Investors) - I will land on my company page, but every other time I log in I'm gonna be somewhere else, which is gonna confuse the hell out of me... - Seems like a different type of verification process, more like a KYC or "digitisation" of my company - I don't really understand the purpose of this verification process... it is secure too? - Maybe make it seem like there's a goal to strive for post verification - Can we make this slightly less prevalent in terms of its perceived importance? - How is this different from other platforms? - Atm seems like the USP is to get verified... ### New Flow - The Sign Up feels a lot more intuitive - This feels a lot more like every other platform I use - Can I ue KeyChain to create a password? - It would be nice to see a loading screen that refreshes - This feels like my mind has to fill in the gaps here... - As someone who likes to sign up to multiple platforms, I prefer to use Google, Slack, Microsoft + password manager will make this whole Sign Up flow a lot easier - **Company Flow** - Am I a founder? Secretary? - Country of Incorporation should be typed with a suggested dropdown... otherwise it go to a super long list scrolling... - Does the notice need to be this long? This seems like a bunch of legal jargon that doesn't seem entirely necessary - Perhaps "We take privacy seriously. Click here to learn more" with a security emoji... - Need to think about the language here because I'm not sure about the difference between Account and Profile...? - Would Co-Founders/Corp. Sec get an email inviting them into the company? Seems like it would be an appropriate action to take if so - Payments - I'm now on step 4 and feeling quite tired, now I'm being asked to pay - I feel like I need to be convinced about this part before I start paying - Personally as a founder I want to keep my SaaS platform fees as low as possible... before I start paying I want to know why I can't live without it - **Investor Flow** - Am I investing as an angel, syndicate, or corporate firm? - If they are a VC firm, 9/10 it will be an associate or analyst - I don't really want to give you my KYC yet, I have no clue of the value you're going to be adding just yet - **Team Member Flow** - Still a bit confused as to what this is... - What happens if I don't have the link? Is there another way of being able to find a company? Can I be invited by email/hyperlink? - I personally get quite confused by Slack's team member onboarding process - When it's executed well, it makes it amazing, but when it's off it's detrimental - Again the security message doesn't need to be that long - Why am I being called an employee? What if I'm a consultant, or an IC? - What type of Team am I actually accessing? - Is it a company? Law Firm? Investment syndicate? Some info on this might be very useful - Might be useful to show me my next steps in the dashboard, otherwise I might be wondering what am I doing there... ### Notes - The thing that makes this flow more confusing for me is that we are lacking user personas and so we are getting muddled between our edge cases - The more personas we have, the more coherent we can make this application - KYC - Is KYC a legal progress or an oboarding process of getting to know the users? - E.g what sort of investments do you usually make vs What's your address... - Hard KYC vs Soft KYC - For founders, if the company has been verified then we can assume the founders are also legit - For investors, we should probably ask for some KYC when they start wanting to invest in Deal Rooms - KYC your personal information and profile - If someone is involved in 100 different companies, they should only be doing KYC once - ***Using SaaS services like Mono to help connect banking information and KYC process*** - Payments - Let's never ask users to do this during the sign up! - Show them in the platform they are on a 14 day free trial with access to all features ## To Do - Personas - Edge Cases