— PROJECT TYPE
Feature Enhancement
— ROLE
UX Researcher
UX Designer
As part of the Acquisition team, my goal was to improve the onboarding journey and increase the number of users who successfully completed their first paid interaction on the platform.
OVERVIEW
Optimized the payment flow for Keen, a wellness platform that connects users with psychics and spiritual advisors for live consultations such as tarot readings, astrology sessions, and mediumship.
The platform operates on a pay-per-minute model, where new users are offered promotional minutes to encourage their first interaction with a psychic.
PROBLEM IDENTIFIACION
Using Mixpanel analytics, we analyzed the onboarding funnel to understand where new users were abandoning the process.
The data revealed a clear drop-off point:
The payment flow.
A large percentage of users reached the moment of adding payment information but did not complete the transaction.
This indicated a friction point that was preventing users from reaching the moment where the product delivers its core value — connecting with a psychic.
2.1
Research
To understand the reasons behind the drop-off, I conducted a focused research initiative combining analytics insights with qualitative user research.
I recruited two groups of participants:
• Recent platform users (within their first month of joining)
• External participants unfamiliar with Keen
This allowed us to compare:
The interviews focused on:
2.2
Key Findings
Three main friction points emerged:
1 — Payment flow complexity
The checkout process contained multiple steps that felt excessive for users eager to begin a live session.
2 — Lack of transparency in payment mechanics
Users were uncertain about:
3 — Conversation disruption anxiety
Because sessions are charged per minute, users expressed concern about their conversation being abruptly interrupted once prepaid minutes ran out.
This created hesitation at the moment of committing to the first payment.
2.3
Design Strategy
Based on these findings, the goal became clear: Reduce friction while increasing transparency and user confidence.
The design strategy focused on three principles.
Reduce the number of steps required to add payment information and begin a session.
Provide clearer explanations regarding:
Ensure that users understood how sessions would continue once initial minutes were used.
This reduced anxiety around losing connection mid-conversation.
2.4
Design Execution
This redesign focused primarily on the mobile experience, since most Keen users access the platform through mobile browsers or the mobile app.
Key improvements included:
- streamlined payment steps
- clearer visual hierarchy for payment information
- simplified form structure
- clearer messaging explaining billing behavior.
Collaborations
Marketing team
To ensure copy and micro-copy aligned with brand voice and maintained emotional clarity.
Legal and compliance requirements
Since payment flows must maintain precise language regarding billing and financial processing.
The goal was to balance:
3.1
Outcome & Impact
After implementing the redesigned payment flow:
- User retention during the payment stage increased by ~15%
- More users successfully completed their first paid interaction
- The improvement contributed directly to revenue growth within the acquisition funnel.
Even modest improvements in this stage had a meaningful business impact because it sits at the critical moment where users transition from exploration to paid engagement.
3.2
What This Project Reinforced
This project reinforced a key product design principle:
Small friction points in critical flows can have a disproportionate impact on user conversion and business outcomes.
By combining analytics insights with targeted user research, we were able to identify and address the exact moment where users lost confidence in the experience.
The result was a simpler, clearer, and more trustworthy onboarding flow.