Streamlining the onboarding experience for new freelancers
Folio — Summer 2022
ROLE
Product Design Intern
DURATION
8 weeks
TOOLS
Figma
TEAM
Folio Founders
What is Folio?
Folio is a freelance marketplace that connects college students with paid flexible freelance opportunities from startups - think LinkedIn but for student freelance work.
As a product design intern, I led the user research, problem analysis, and design initiatives while working with the cofounder, lead designer, and engineering.
Outcome
The release of the new flow in Q1 of 2023 resulted in a 48% increase in the freelancer community and a 35% increase in onboarding completion. While Folio's business model since pivoted, these improvements laid the foundation for future success.
Context
Folio had high drop-off rates during sign-up and inactive new freelancers
The current 20-step onboarding flow resulted in a 65% drop-off rate, leaving only 14% of users completing the process. Even after completing onboarding engagement remained low, with freelancers submitting an average of just 1.3 applications per week.
Project goal
I had a goal to improve onboarding conversion and increase project applications
When I joined Folio, there was a discrepancy in the volume of freelancers and the volume of positions due to the founder’s close proximity to VC communities. My team was tasked with analyzing why this was the case and why the majority of first-time freelancers would create accounts but not apply for projects.
Problem
The onboarding quiz was way too long. It took me over 8 minutes to fill it out.
Beginner freelancers were unconfident about the services they wanted to provide...
A highly skilled novice freelancer possessed the technical knowledge to start a project but lacked the freelancer-specific know-how, like client communication. This uncertainty caused drop-offs during questions about the services they could offer.
... and extra effort broke users' momentum and reduced motivation to complete the quiz.
Requiring resumes and payment methods upfront disrupted quiz flow, forcing users to pause and locate files. This discouraged engagement and exploration, as these steps felt more relevant after finding jobs.
Goal
I had to find the balance between asking for just enough information to pre-fill a profile and not so much that users would abandon the signup process.
User research
From our research, three themes emerged for why students hesitated to apply for projects after creating an account.
How could we redesign the dashboard to target these issues?
We identified that first-time freelancers often feel isolated and lack the external reinforcement needed to confidently apply for jobs. To address this, we reorganized the project dashboard to integrate personalized learning modules, curated toolkits, and community-driven features.
Most importantly, what could we remove from the current onboarding flow to improve conversion while still retaining enough data to pre-fill the user’s profile?
Steps are categorized by urgency and company value. High urgency, high-value steps like Profile stay in the flow, while low urgency steps like Industries are deferred to after onboarding or removed altogether.
Before: Lengthy directionless onboarding
Previously, the onboarding flow was over 20 steps long and provided no actual direction for freelancers once it was completed. I decided to integrate more guidance into the user journey while streamlining the flow to support new freelancers.
After: Introducing a personalized experience for new freelancers
A streamlined onboarding quiz and responsive dashboard that enables freelancers to find delight and value within the first 30 seconds, no matter their experience level.
Twenty to four steps long
I needed to find a way to make onboarding short and simple while also generating necessary data to personalize a user’s feed and pre-fill their profile. I narrowed it down to four steps that capture necessary information without exiting the flow.
The support of the community
The community feed allows freelancers to share projects, explore others' work, and find inspiration. Celebrating small wins fosters motivation and helps reduce imposter syndrome.
Filter through your expertise
Instead of manually adding services during the onboarding quiz, users can filter their feed for relevant project postings and view the requirements in seconds. Selecting 'Not Interested' will adapt the algorithm to show fewer similar opportunities.
Level up with experience-based learning pathways
Once users have completed the quiz, they’re given relevant learning pathways depending on their experience level. With this, the user can trust that the information they consume is accurate and relevant to the platform they work through.