Trial Activation & User Engagement
SaaS Application
The Challenge
A trial period lets users evaluate our software before subscribing.
Our complex user personas lead to a lengthy setup, delaying the 'AHA moment' - when they realise the product's value.
How can we enhance engagement and ensure users experience this value during the trial?
My Approach
My approach was data-driven. Rather than designing in a vacuum, I started by analysing the actual user behaviour:
Identified the problem - we analysed MixPanel funnels to identify exactly where trial users were dropping off and stopping their engagement with key features.
Created the user journey - Based on the data insights, I mapped out the trial user journey with different personas in mind to understand the critical moments where we could intervene.
Designed for Activation - I designed two key interventions:
Onboarding prompts in Intercom to ensure trial users understood core features and how to get value
In-app trial sign-up flow to remove friction and help users reach their "aha moment" faster
Aligned trial emails with in-app messaging to avoid user overload.
Measured impact - We then re-analysed MixPanel to see if the design changes improved user progression through the trial funnel.
This wasn't just about making things look good - it was about using data to identify problems, designing targeted solutions, and validating that the solutions worked.
Overall Impact
We designed a cohesive onboarding system informed by data, segmented by user type, and validated through analytics.
Workshop
Workshop
Data analysis
Data analysis
Persona 1
Persona 2
Persona 3
Persona 4
Trial user journey
Solution
Simplify the sign-up and setup process for administrators, making it intuitive and efficient to help new administrators experience 'AHA' moments.
Sign-up: condense the process from 3 steps into a single step to reduce drop-offs.
New user onboarding: create the role-based Intercom onboarding for all new users.
Email onboarding: support the new administrators during the first five days of their trial.
Data Validation: Set up new events tracking to validate the real-time change.
In-app Progress Visualization: provide visual progress indicators like completion percentages and achievement badges to show users their progress toward their goals
Results
Trial Dropout Rate ↘️: Successfully reduced trial dropout rate by 10%
Conversion Rate ↗️: leading to a significant 17% increase in trial conversion rate.
This improvement directly contributed to higher customer acquisition and revenue generation.