Flex UX Research Internship | Nov - Dec 2022
Flex is a monthly subscription service that allows its users to split rent into two payments each month. On the day that rent is due, you pay half of your total rent to Flex, and finance the other half with a line of credit. Flex offers renters a flexible, cost-effective experience that helps users avoid late fees, free up cash at the beginning of the month, and build credit history.
I joined Flex as a UX Research Intern, focusing on recent data analysis that uncovered tremendous opportunity to improve new users’ onboarding journeys. With conversion rates dropping precipitously at each stage of the sign-up process, I conducted research to understand what was contributing to drop off at each step and how we might optimize the flow to increase retention.
After conducting user interviews, our team uncovered that a lack of information during the onboarding journey was a major pain point. We were able to solve this in two different ways—a low-lift solution that could be easily implemented and tested, and a more laborious solution that involved a complete restructuring of the flow.
The first solution adds additional copy and visual cues to the screens that involve sensitive information (rent portal connection, payment method, soft credit check). More work needs to be done to reassure users that Flex will keep their data secure and maintain privacy.
The second solution creates a cost breakdown calculator at the beginning of the onboarding journey to provide users with a summary of their payment plan before signing up for Flex. An upfront visualization of what Flex can do for its subscribers will address the confusion many users experienced during the sign-up process.
The complete high-fidelity prototype that brings together these two solutions is displayed below.
Try it out for yourself.
To kick off the project, I met with the research team (a fellow intern, Paige, and the lead researcher, Jen) to define our key research objective—understand why users are dropping off during each step of Flex’s sign-up process to prioritize onboarding improvements for 2023. We developed our research plan to address these key research questions:
After defining a research methodology, which consisted of qualitative interviews with prospective Flex users, Paige and I wrote an interview guide that would serve as the basis for our research. We broke up the 60-minute timeframe into 5 sections, focusing primarily on watching the user go through the onboarding process screen by screen.
We recruited participants on User Interviews. Our ideal candidate was a realistic prospective Flex user, so we set our criteria to align with that persona. They had to pay rent online and self-identify as living in a building managed by a company. Additionally, we screened for participants who found paying rent stressful and who had an income of less than $75,000.
Over the course of a week, we conducted Zoom interviews with 4 women and 3 men, ranging in age from 22-47. This is what they said:
After analyzing the feedback from 7 user interviews, we were able to identify three key findings. Ultimately, users need more information both before and during the onboarding journey to feel ready to sign up for Flex.
To accompany our initial findings, Paige, Jen and I compiled a screen-by-screen analysis of the onboarding process, noting issues encountered and design recommendations. We also delivered a full list of testing ideas to the marketing team, highlighting what we believed to be the three most impactful tests.
After charting out a road map for the next team to begin experimenting, Paige and I jumped ahead to start visualizing potential solutions to the pain points we identified through our research. We kicked off brainstorming by generating some How Might We questions:
incorporate more information into our onboarding journey?
make users feel more comfortable sharing their information?
help users more quickly and easily understand Flex’s service?
convince users to trust Flex from the start?
personalize the onboarding experience?
prepare users for the onboarding journey?
While sketching out possible solutions, we also had to consider Flex’s business goals. We had been responsible for determining the priority of each design change, thinking about each solution in the context of its level of difficulty and the likely impact it would have on retention rates.
We started to think about our designs in two different silos. The first silo represents low-lift changes that are top priority. We designed three examples of pages where we were able to include more information that would reassure users about Flex’s intention. These were shown during our presentation to stakeholders to bolster the effectiveness of improved copy.
The next solution starts to think about how we can reorganize the onboarding flow in a way that is more intuitive and easy to use, reflective of the feedback we heard during the user interviews. Many of these people wanted to see their exact cost breakdown before signing up for anything. By providing this at the onset of onboarding, users are able to understand what they’re agreeing to.
This first page gives a quick overview of what Flex does as a reminder, and allows users to verify property eligibility and see their payment plan. After entering your address and monthly rent, you are brought to a pop-up screen that lets you know your building is Flex eligible. Next, the exact amount you would be paying month to month is clearly displayed.
Additionally, we give users a heads up of what they need to have prepared in order to complete the sign-up process. We also designed a page for the case where a user’s building is not supported by Flex. We give them an option to fill out a request instead of encountering a dead end. This dedicated screen will hopefully garner more data for Flex in choosing new properties to partner with.
On the technical side, I was able to practice interview research skills and work with teammates beyond the core of UX researchers.
Holistically, I learned the importance of prioritization and feasibility. Spending time to figure out the right problems to solve is far more important and realistic than undertaking a grand redesign.