Mapping out the ideal user experience

User Flow

A map of the the best user experience to solve the problem statement

Wireframes

I started mobile first and explored what happy and sad paths could look like

Testing ideas and iterating

Usability Testing

Usability testing revealed a lot of gaps between the design and user needs

Solutions

Highlight a path to completion but keep the experience flexible

I used progressive disclosure throughout the process to reveal the next step. Users could still skip over steps and return to that section at any time.

Example of completing one card and having the next card appear

Use feedback to guide users

I made sure that validations and error meanings were obvious. I also used animation to communicate progress, to highlight errors, and to guide the user to the next task.

Example of validation used to confirm an incomplete input (doc uploader) and animation to highlight an incomplete card (Verify Accreditation card)

Use informative helper text to guide the user to success

Investors care about transparency but also care about time. I used tooltips, helper text, and kept the experience as forgivable as possible to keep the user feeling empowered throughout the flow.

Example of letting users explore various accreditation methods

Mockups and handoff

Final Design

Fill out a real-live here, or click around a prototype here!

Click image for the prototype

Results

• Over 30 new investors post launch (up from 4 the previous year)
• Roughly $500k of new investment in the marketplace
• 50% Reduction in Account Manager follow-up time

Kudos

"The application helped reduced the number of questions people had about if they qualified as an accredited investor and made for easier contestations on the phone, which again saved time as well as helped weed out non qualified investors earlier on in the application.

The overall style and look also helped to build reputation and brand!"
- Maya

Bigger is not always better

• Small team means less "cooks in the kitchen". We had a small team and were able to meet more often and make decisions more quickly. There were a few times when I was debating about what could be done with my PM and we'd literally just walk over the the engineers and loop them into the conversation.
• Still need to bring non-"tech" teammates along for the journey. I feel like I waited a little too long to show this to the Account Management team. I engaged with them really early on in the process but I should have done some white-boarding sessions with them early on as they had some really good ideas towards the end of the project.
• Get a plan for tracking (Google Tag Manager) in place early.  Because it was a smaller team, we didn't have a ton of resources. We really didn't plan just how we were going to track how users were engaging with the new flow well enough to my liking. Since this project, I always bring up tracking and metrics at the beginning of a project!