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.
Why was this a problem?
Users failed to complete onboarding, leading to lower activation and conversion rates.
Users failed to complete onboarding, leading to lower activation and conversion rates.
Users failed to complete onboarding, leading to lower activation and conversion rates.
Key Research Insight
User testing and funnel analysis revealed that many users abandoned onboarding due to unclear steps and a lack of guided assistance. This indicated a strong need for a more structured and user-friendly onboarding flow.
The Solution: A Seamless and Guided Onboarding Experience
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.
Research & Discovery
Conducted user interviews to identify pain points and understand behavioral patterns.
Analyzed drop-off rates and friction points in the existing onboarding process.
Studied best practices from leading SaaS and marketplace apps, such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
UX Strategy & Ideation
Designed a modular onboarding system that adapts dynamically to different user needs.
Introduced progress indicators, inline tooltips, and guided walkthroughs for better clarity.
Implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and video engagement for added security and user trust.
Execution & Implementation
Developed a consistent design system in Figma for both Lite and Pro versions.
Conducted A/B testing to refine the experience and optimize engagement.
Worked closely with engineering teams to ensure a smooth and scalable implementation.
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.
The Impact: A Better Onboarding Experience, Higher Conversions
The redesigned onboarding process delivered significant improvements:
Application Completion Rate
Before:
40€
After:
78%
Improvement:
+95%
Time to Apply
Before:
23%
After:
38%
Improvement:
+65%
User Satisfaction Score
Before:
62
After:
85
Improvement:
+37%
Business Impact
The new onboarding experience streamlined user activation, reduced friction, and helped Guesty convert more trial users into paying customers. It also decreased support requests related to onboarding issues, freeing up internal resources.
Lessons Learned & Takeaways
What did I learn?
A personalized onboarding experience tailored to different user needs significantly improves retention.
Data-driven design decisions through A/B testing helped validate key UX improvements.
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
Onboarding is more than just a first-time experience—it’s a critical moment to build trust, engagement, and long-term user success. A well-structured onboarding journey can significantly impact user retention and product adoption.
Summary
By redesigning Guesty’s mobile onboarding experience, we eliminated friction, improved user activation rates, and created a more engaging and intuitive way for new users to get started. The success of this project was driven by user-centered research, iterative design, and close collaboration with cross-functional teams. The result? A seamless onboarding experience that helps users unlock the full value of Guesty from day one.
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