Twoplugs

an app that allows people to buy, sell and trade services using an internal currency system.  

Role: Product Designer

Challenge: Redesigning a positive and educational early user experience

When I started at Twoplugs, the first iteration of the mobile app was almost done. The first version was created by the product owner and had little to no user research done before the development of the app started. The problem statement was vague and the target user was not clear.

  • After the app was launched on Ios platform, the download rate was low and almost unknown to the market. We got feedback from users that the initial onboarding and sign up process was confusing and long and the visual design was okay but at times distracting.

  • First impressions are important, if users are frustrated the first time they open an app and try to login, it's more than likely that they wont be back.

    In these early stages, the best kind of marketing is word of mouth. If users don't find the app useful for themselves, they wont recommend it to their friends.

    According to growth guru Andrew Chen, about 77% of users abandon an app within the first three to seven days of downloading it. This means there is a very small window to impress first time users, and this starts the second their inital session begins.


  • During some user testing, I identified a few pain points that users had within the onboarding process.

    1. Users were highly frustrated with the sign up process

    2. Users wanted to get an idea of what kind of services they can get from the app, before committing to signing up

    3. Users did not fully understand the value that the app could bring

    4. During the sign up, most users would enter the minimal amount of details

    5. After successfully signing up users did not feel compelled to continue

    (from observations as well as quotes)

Password strength meters would be more helpful for users to create a stronger password (Error prevention)

Non Aesthetic and Minimalist Design. Design does not meet Accessibility standards. Yellow light background with white text 🚫

A lack of match between system and real world. Username is not typically asked first, after selecting "create account". Usually email/ password comes first

No in app education for new users.

A lack of User control and freedom. No option to clear (x) after entering an incorrect username and password, user must manually backspace on both field's each time

Audit Findings

  1. We use screens for information that is not necessary 

  2. Certain screens can be grouped and do not need to be on their own

  3. Create Account screens were not in "familiar order" 

  4. Not everyone has facebook, or still remembers their facebook passwords

New Goals

  1. To ensure users can successfully sign up with no hiccups.

  2. Users get educated on how twoPLUGS works before completing onboarding.

  3. Aesthetic and minimal design that meets accessibility standards.

But First, Userflows

I created a high level user flow to illustrate the key actions the user must achieve. I rearranged screens so that users will complete specific tasks and the sign up process will not seem too long and drawn out.

Changes that were made were: 

  • Allowing users to sign up not only from facebook, but google and apple. 

  • Adding education elements to the onboarding (4 screens)

  • Allowing users to 'skip for now' on all screens and go back

Questions that were asked

If the sign up process was easier, will users not want to "skip for now"? *to test

New sign up screens

Communicating how to use Twoplugs

This is a key area because many users complained that they did not understand how to properly use the app. In the first iteration, we use a few screens in the sign up process to ask users what they are interested in, so that we can narrow down the categories to show them on their home feed.

The issue with this is that in the beginning phase, there wont be much services to offer because most people aren't completing the signup and therefore not moving on to post a service, or a need. 

Therefore users aren't seeing the benefits of selecting the categories that they are interested in once they successfully sign up, and would be left disappointed.

Education Content

To determine the content of the educational screens. We asked 22 people to use the existing app, we observed their movements and asked them to tell us what aspects of twoPLUGS they still did not understand/ pain points they had while using the app. 

​A lot of these questions were asked multiple times, i grouped them into sections organized by colour depending on the theme of the question, then i listed them by most asked to least asked. Most asked being on the top.

If not all, which of these questions we would answer in the ​education screens during the onboarding process? The goal was to answer as many questions as possible without overwhelming the user. I knew that a lot of these questions could be answered on the same screens.

The education screens had to tell users what they want to know as well as urge them to use the platform how we need them to use it in order for them to be visible

Final education screens