Merchant Onboarding

Project Overview

The objective of this project was to redesign the merchant onboarding flow, with a focus on improving user experience (UX) and reducing the dependency on customer support.

The new onboarding flow incorporates dynamic factors based on the merchant's country and preferred eCommerce platform.

Additionally, a new UI framework was researched and designed as part of this project. Longterm this framework will be the foundation for a new UI framework to be rolled out across the entire admin portal.

Problems

The existing onboarding flow suffered from various issues, including complexity and bloating caused by the addition of more input fields and messaging over time. Moreover, it lacked dynamic capabilities based on the merchant's profile and previously provided information. These shortcomings resulted in a cumbersome and inefficient onboarding experience.

Business Goals

Reduce dependency on customer support by developing a self-guided and intuitive onboarding flow.

Design a new UI framework that ensures consistency and scalability across the admin portal.

User Needs

A clear and straightforward method to provide the required information that enables Global-e to complete their account setup.

Constraints

The redesign project faced challenges due to competing priorities. All team members worked on it alongside other projects, which often resulted in resources being reassigned to meet the demands of competing initiatives within the business.

Design Process

The redesign process included the following key steps:

Reviewing the current onboarding flow:

• The existing onboarding flow was thoroughly examined to identify its flaws and understand the resulting UX issues.

Requirement analysis and field evaluation:

• The requirements for the onboarding process were reviewed, and the necessity of certain fields was challenged to simplify and streamline the flow.

Wireframing:

• Wireframes were created to outline the structure and layout of the redesigned onboarding flow, providing a visual representation of the user journey.

Evaluation and selection of design system: ‍

• Different design systems were evaluated to determine the most suitable choice for the onboarding flow redesign. After careful consideration, Material Design (MUI) was chosen due to its alignment with Google's high-quality UX standards, its simplicity in implementation, and its scalability for future enhancements and expansions.

Styling tests and surveys:

• Style elements, such as colour schemes, typography, and visual elements, were tested and evaluated through surveys to ensure optimal aesthetics and user preferences.

Prototyping and user testing:

• Interactive prototypes of the onboarding flow were developed to simulate the user experience. These prototypes were tested with users to gather feedback, identify pain points, and make necessary adjustments.

Design system modification and accessibility guidelines

• Design System Modification: Modified the MUI (Material-UI) design system to align it with Global-e's brand. This is a crucial step for maintaining a consistent and recognisable visual identity across Global-e's digital products.
• Accessibility Compliance: The modification process also involved ensuring that the design components met the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) accessibility standards.

High-fidelity designs:

• Based on the feedback and insights gathered, high-fidelity designs were created, incorporating refined visuals, interactions, and user interface elements.

Handover of designs:

• The finalised high-fidelity designs were delivered, ready for implementation by developers and subsequent stages of the onboarding flow redesign.  

Rollout and Iteration

Currently, the new onboarding flow is in the development phase, where the redesigned flow is being implemented and refined.  

Simultaneously, the assessment of the work required to roll out the new UI framework is underway. This involves evaluating the existing admin portal to determine the best approach for implementing the new UI framework.

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