Transforming Activation
How improving product understanding became a bigger growth opportunity than optimizing a walkthrough.
Nearpod
Director of UX, Product Design
2020
The Question
Nearpod was attracting large numbers of new teachers, but too many were signing up without understanding the product, reaching value, or returning. How could we help new teachers become successful faster, and understand the products value proposition?
““I don’t know what to ask, because I don’t understand why I’m doing this””
“I thought is that all there is, but now that I’m past it I’m not 100% sure why that first step I just left had it’s own designated feature.”
Research Insights
My early research into the space showed that the problem was not simply usability. The existing onboarding experience exposed teachers to nearly twenty screens of prescribed tasks and introduced a narrow feature before they understood the larger product. Instead of building confidence, it created confusion about what Nearpod was for.
Prior Flow
Understanding Core Values & Motivations
Rather than reducing a few more clicks, we had an opportunity to rethink how teachers formed their first mental model of the product.
What are the key reasons teachers come to our software? What “Job” are the teachers hiring Nearpod to do?
“Turn existing powerpoint and pdf’s in to enriching multimedia presentations with interactive features”
A tool for efficient resources to aid in teaching that don’t require a lot of overhead (pre-made lessons)
A way quickly understand what students know in the moment.
A solution for hybrid learning that doesn’t sacrifice their ability to connect with students.
Key Decisions & Direction
Focus onboarding on product understanding instead of feature education.
Reduced friction while increasing opportunities for exploration.
Created a phased rollout rather than a single redesign.
Partnered with Growth and Engineering to validate each stage.
Results
2x increase in activation
10x increase in retention/engagement.
Across the resulting growth experiments, activation doubled and retention/engagement increased 10×. Because several experiments were delivered over time, I present those outcomes as the result of the broader strategy and cross-functional program rather than one isolated release.
Outcome
The new flow focused on simple signup investment, and autonomy in product exploration with the support of guided tours and simulations that helped users understand how the product would actually work with their students.
