Anise Health is a startup that offers culturally responsive digital mental health. As a product designer, collaborating with the COO, UX designer, engineers, and the clinical team, I conducted user research and redesigned the client onboarding process on the patient portal to increase conversion.
When I joined Anise Health, the COO told me that the company's major challenge was enhancing conversion and customer retention. Upon analyzing the conversion data, I found that drop-off rates were fairly consistent across all onboarding phases, and the drop-off rate during the first 3 months was also significant. We initiated comprehensive user research on the entire onboarding process to identify and address gaps.
As an early-stage startup, we didn't have all the resources and capability to fulfill every customer request. So, we aimed to find solutions that achieve an optimal user experience within our constraints. The constraints include:
Tight deadline - launching by early Q4 2023
Limited engineers' capability
Clinical team's backstage logistics
Limitations with the services (limited therapist choices, only one free trial consultation, etc.)
Users lacked sufficient information about our care model and care plan structure, leading to confusion before subscribing. We redesigned the post-account-creation landing page to give users a clearer understanding of the following steps and our services and have their preliminary questions answered.
By removing irrelevant details, enhancing step-by-step clarity, and instilling a sense of progression, we mitigated information overload and avoided user decision paralysis.
People tend to drop off when they feel stuck and don't know what to do next. To address this, we ensured the onboarding process offered adequate information and assistance with an empathetic tone, anticipating common user issues.
Users can now book the first session for the next month 7 days before plan renewal. Clearly communicating the session's availability reduced users' stress drastically.
The new onboarding pages are currently under development and will be released in early November. We plan to monitor user engagement, collect more user feedback, and iterate the design in Q1 2024. Some improvements we're expecting include:
Increased user engagement on the landing page
Higher user satisfaction with their understanding of the service details upon completing the onboarding
Enhanced usability heuristics on the trial-to-subscription flow (visibility of system status, user control and freedom, etc.)
Increased conversion rate and quicker conversion time
From here, you can learn my research and design process
Since I was new to the platform, I first walked myself through the platform and conducted a quick UX audit from the client's perspective. This led me to form hypotheses, and I quickly identified that the causes of drop-offs could be related to both the services and the platform's usability. To collect feedback on both the services and usability, I proposed to the team that we should address this problem with 2 research methods - interview research with existing clients and usability testing with potential users.
N=5 (3 Male, 2 Female)
Age: 18-51
4 active users, 1 terminated user
Understand how current clients utilize the patient portal and identify areas for improvements
Understand what made them stay or stop their subscription.
N=5 (1 Male, 4 Female)
Age: 25-44
Self-identified Asian
High interest in mental healthcare
Never used our platform
Understand how easily new users can get started and navigate through the initial stages
Identify pain points with the current onboarding process
After completing both researches, I teamed up with another designer to map out and categorize the findings into several themes using 500+ sticky notes. We then invited the COO, engineers, and the clinical team to collaboratively prioritize the findings using the MoSCow method. This exercise helped us gain insights from engineers and the clinical team to make informed decisions on what required to be addressed first.
Categorizing research findings through affinity mapping
MoSCoW prioritization session with the cross-functional team
Drawing from the research findings and insights provided by the support team, two distinct archetypes emerged. Recognizing these diverse needs and behaviors was pivotal in shaping our decision-making throughout the design process.
Finding a therapist who matches preferred demographics and traits
Need concise information in one place and an optimized onboarding process
Prioritizes efficiency in the decision-making process
Not interested in reading chunks of text
Relies on intuition and initial impressions when evaluating options.
Quickly make decisions and evaluate the outcomes later on
Finding a therapist who shares the same values and understands them
Be well-informed before making decisions to mitigate potential risks
Transparency and in-depth information about service details
Takes the time to thoroughly research and gather as much information as possible
Uses multiple resources (website, social media, google, etc.)
Not rushing the decision-making process
Based on the findings, I created a client journey map to indicate the opportunity areas to improve customer experience. While some problems related to service design were out of our scope, I went ahead and provided the COO and the clinical team with recommendations, such as how we could improve the 15-minute trial call to meet clients' expectations. Below are three key problem areas specifically related to usability improvements on the client portal.
A client's onboarding journey
Original landing page
Next Steps: Users found the next steps clear, but they lacked sufficient details about the onboarding process.
Helpful Resources (Videos): Users showed low interest, mentioning that the information was irrelevant and it might not be the right time to watch videos.that
People expressed confusion regarding the therapy + coaching care model and monthly subscription care plan, emphasizing the importance of being well-informed early in onboarding. We've recognized the need to ensure users have easy and flexible access to essential information and a more organized, clear, and effective delivery method.
Problems with the original user flow for subscription
I began by redesigning the onboarding flow. Since the problems were related to both user flow and the content structure of each page, I chose wire-flow as the best-suited tool to visualize the ideas. I ensured users could access essential information about our services throughout the process while allowing them to focus on their primary tasks with minimal distractions. This wire flow also helped me visualize and effectively communicate the concept with the team.
Wire Flow(PDF)We collectively decided to use the post-account-creating landing page to share essential information, such as our values and service details, early in the onboarding process. I collaborated with another designer to brainstorm layout ideas and iterated until we found the right balance between delivering information and avoiding user overwhelm.
Iterating wireframing through internal critique sessions
With new designs, we were successful in
Enhancing the 'next step' section by displaying two additional steps, maintaining a user-friendly text load
Sharing our values and increasing transparency regarding our services
Having users' preliminary questions answered
Making the page skimmable with clear visual communication such as visual hierarchy, consistency, and images/graphics.
Improving accessibility by increasing color contrast, font size, and white space
Based on our user research, we identified two distinct user types: those who prefer to be well-informed about service details before making decisions, and others who favor a quick transition to trial and subscription without engaging with lengthy paragraphs. To address these diverse needs, I focused on making the Care Model and Care Plans page both information-rich and skimmable.
What I implemented:
Clear and descriptive headings that convey key points
Labels & bullet points for easy and quick comparison
Clear visual hierarchy & consistent design to enhance readability and scannability
This design ensures that users who prefer not to read paragraphs can still establish a basic understanding of our services, minimizing the likelihood of unexpected negative surprises later on.
The platform showed minimal changes in its interface and failed to effectively communicate the next steps as users progressed during onboarding. We found the need to emphasize the most crucial steps and enhance user guidance on the page.
The screen shows minimal changes on each step
On the other hand, participants who were more concerned about the initial therapist not being a good match were upset to find that the 'book a trial' buttons were no longer available for the other two therapists, leaving them unsure about what to do next.
The 'Book a Trial' buttons disappear from other therapists
Since we were currently unable to allow users to book more than one free trial consultation, we decided to prioritize simplifying the user path by removing other providers when a trial was booked. This made it clearer for users to select their preferred provider.
We also included instructions for requesting additional trial consultations with other providers to accommodate users who might not find their initial provider suitable. We are mindful that restricting users from booking multiple free trial sessions through the portal could create significant friction and hinder their engagement. We believe this approach represents the best balance within our current budget, providing customers with clarity and reducing confusion. We will continue to assess the timing and feasibility of offering more free trial options in the future.
During our user interviews, many participants expressed frustration over the inability to schedule sessions for the upcoming month until the next month's cycle begins. They highlighted how this limitation impacted their ability to plan and coordinate appointments, emphasizing the need for a more flexible scheduling system. The restriction was tied to our billing process, as we couldn't allow users to book sessions before payment.
The original scheduling page
As users suggested, we recognized that enabling advanced scheduling could significantly enhance their overall experience with the platform. In response to this feedback, we thoroughly explored various approaches to allow users to book appointments for the upcoming month earlier, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each idea. Seeking technical insights, we invited a developer and the clinical to the conversation and gained their insights on how potential changes could impact the billing cycle and how cancelation would affect clinicians' schedules and patient care. This collaborative effort has allowed us to determine the best solution to improve scheduling flexibility while considering the implications for our billing processes.
High desirability
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Could cause many cancelations due to non-payment
No need to change the billing cycle
Mid desirability
Could cause only 1 cancelation due to non-payment
No need to change the billing cycle
Mid desirability
No cancelations due to non-payment
Need to follow the Stripe’s payment mechanism
It could disrupt the billing cycle every time users pay in advance
We opted for this mechanism due to its low risk of affecting the clinicians' schedules and the billing cycle. We met with engineers again to explore potential edge cases. For example, we examined situations where users needed to extend the current month's cycle and how it might impact the scheduling of sessions for the following month.
This feature allows users to preview when the next month's booking will be available, providing them with advanced visibility into the scheduling timeline. With the 'Next Month' tab, users can proactively plan and manage their appointments, offering a solution to the previous limitation and enhancing the overall flexibility and user experience on our platform.
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