Transforming Guesty’s Mobile App Onboarding Experience
Guesty
Role
Senior Product Designer @ Social Shopping
Project Timeline
2024-2025
Industry
SaaS, Property Management
Team
PMs, Engineers, UX Researchers
Tools
Figma, Jira, Maze, A/B Testing Platforms
online
Guesty, a leading property management SaaS platform, aimed to enhance its mobile app experience by redefining the onboarding journey for both Guesty Lite & Pro users.
The existing onboarding process was complex and inconsistent, leading to user frustration and early drop-offs. The goal was to create a seamless, intuitive, and engaging onboarding flow that would guide users effortlessly from sign-up to activation. By implementing a structured approach with a focus on usability, clarity, and user trust, we transformed the onboarding experience into a smooth and engaging journey that set the foundation for long-term platform adoption.
The Problem: A High Drop-Off Rate in Onboarding
New users struggled to complete the onboarding process, often abandoning it midway due to unclear instructions and an overwhelming number of steps. This led to a lack of engagement and lower activation rates, directly impacting the business. The inconsistent onboarding experience across Guesty Lite and Pro also created confusion, making it difficult for users to navigate and adopt the platform efficiently.
Challenges Identified
Complex and lengthy onboarding flow leading to frustration.
Inconsistent experience between Guesty Lite & Pro, making navigation difficult.
Lack of guidance and visual progress indicators, leaving users unsure of the next steps.
Security concerns and drop-offs at authentication steps.
Limited user engagement after signing up, reducing activation rates.
Key Research Insight
User testing and analytics revealed that 70% of users abandoned onboarding due to unclear instructions and an excessive number of steps. This indicated a strong need for a structured, guided experience with a simplified approach to authentication, account setup, and feature discovery.
Old onboarding (past)
The Solution: A Guided, Frictionless Onboarding Experience
To solve these challenges, we reimagined onboarding as a step-by-step guided journey that prioritized clarity, ease of use, and security.
Research & Discovery
Conducted user interviews to understand onboarding pain points.
Analyzed 5,000+ onboarding sessions to pinpoint friction areas.
Benchmarked best practices from industry leaders like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Monday.com.
UX Strategy & Ideation
Introduced progress indicators, inline tooltips, and guided walkthroughs for a seamless experience.
Implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) & video engagement to enhance security and onboarding success.
Personalized onboarding based on user type (individual host vs. property management company).
Execution & Implementation
Created a scalable design system in Figma to ensure visual and functional consistency.
Conducted A/B testing on multiple onboarding versions, improving completion rates by 30%.
Collaborated with engineering teams in Agile sprints to refine interactions and streamline development.
To address these challenges, we redesigned the onboarding flow for Guesty Lite and Pro, introducing a step-by-step experience that focused on simplicity, clarity, and ease of use.
New onboarding experience
The Impact: A Better Onboarding Experience, Higher Conversions
The redesigned onboarding experience led to significant improvements in user engagement and business outcomes.
Onboarding Completion Rate
Before:
62%
After:
89%
Improvement:
+27%
Trial-to-Paid Conversion
Before:
23%
After:
38%
Improvement:
+65%
Time to Complete Setup
Before:
3m 45s
After:
2m 10s
Improvement:
40% faster
Support Tickets on Onboarding
Before:
~500/month
After:
~150/month
Improvement:
-70%
What made the difference?
The improved onboarding experience increased user activation rates, reduced the time it took for new users to engage with the platform, and minimized support requests related to onboarding issues. As a result, Guesty saw a higher conversion of trial users into paying customers and a significant boost in overall platform adoption.
Business Impact
The improved onboarding experience increased user activation rates, reduced the time it took for new users to engage with the platform, and minimized support requests related to onboarding issues. As a result, Guesty saw a higher conversion of trial users into paying customers and a significant boost in overall platform adoption.
Lessons Learned & Takeaways
What did I learn?
Personalized onboarding flows significantly improve completion rates. Users respond better to onboarding experiences tailored to their specific needs and roles.
Data-driven design decisions are crucial. A/B testing helped validate key UX improvements, leading to better retention.
Data-driven design decisions through A/B testing helped validate key UX improvements.
What would I do differently?
Introduce localization support earlier to improve accessibility for a global audience.
Conduct low-fidelity prototyping sooner to test and iterate faster.
Data-driven design decisions through A/B testing helped validate key UX improvements.
Key Takeaway for Future Projects
A well-designed onboarding experience is not just about getting users through sign-up—it’s about setting them up for long-term success. By making onboarding clear, engaging, and intuitive, we can significantly boost user retention and product adoption.
Summary
The transformation of Guesty’s mobile onboarding experience was a strategic shift toward a user-centric, frictionless journey that empowered users to quickly set up their accounts, explore platform features, and confidently engage with the product. Through thoughtful UX design, iterative improvements, and close collaboration with engineering teams, we successfully enhanced user activation and built a foundation for long-term retention and growth.
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