Improving the ChartTreker onboarding experience
Details
Overview
ChartTreker is an iOS trading and investing app that helps users track stocks, analyze market trends, and customize charts. Despite its useful tools and loyal user base, the app struggles to retain new users. I was brought on for a one-month contract to evaluate the onboarding experience and identify opportunities to improve user retention.
How might we help new users understand ChartTreker's value and feel confident exploring the app?
Discovery
I analyzed existing user retention data and walked through the onboarding experience as a first-time user. I identified two major friction points:
An overwhelming introduction
A four-page welcome sequence presented wordy information, premature feedback requests, and repetitive calls to action before users experienced the app's value.
A passive, feature-heavy video tour
The 3.5-minute tutorial introduced numerous features at once without giving users an opportunity to interact or learn by doing.
Validation
To validate my findings, I conducted a moderated usability test through UserTesting with a participant matching ChartTreker's advanced trader audience.
This helped distinguish first-time-user assumptions from the actual needs and expectations of the app's target audience.
- Users need to understand the app's value before being asked to commit.
- Users need to learn by doing, not just watching.
- Users need a clear, confident path forward.
Outcome
Identified key onboarding friction points and established a research-backed design direction to make the first-time experience more engaging and approachable.
Final Onboarding Design
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of balancing an advanced product's capabilities with the needs of first-time users. Even when a product offers powerful tools, users need a clear path to understanding its value before they're willing to invest their time.