Three clicks to user value
Redesigning onboarding to drive brand ownership and seller activation
10%
Increase in seller activation*
20%
Increase in product creation
90%
Increase in brand ownership
*Activation at Teachable is defined by a scoring model: a school is considered activated once it reaches a 60-point threshold across a defined sequence of early behaviors, including domain and branding customization.
CONTEXT
Teachable is a B2B SaaS platform where creators sell online courses and onboarding is the first real impression to increase seller activation.
DURATION
3 Months
MY ROLE
User Researcher
Data analyst
Product Designer
TEAM
2 x Product Designers
1 x Product Manager
4 x Engineers
PROBLEM AREAS
Whitelabeling moved activation, yet it lived in admin home, invisible during a lengthy onboarding process that gave users no real value.
I mapped the existing flow against user interaction data and support tickets, and found the gap:
What the flow showed
A long intake form followed by a five-step course creation sequence, separate screens for course details, thumbnail, pricing, purchase description, and outline, before a creator saw anything specific to their business.
What the research confirmed
Creators who customized their brand activated faster, but that setup was hidden in the dashboard, generating 85+ support tickets. Whereas, course creation forced users to take pricing decisions before they were ready.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Three of four competitors I looked at led with structured, personalized onboarding, showing product value early.
I audited four direct competitors to see how they handled the same trade-off I was navigating: how much to ask a new user upfront versus how much to defer until they'd already seen value.
DESIGN GOALS AND DECISIONS
Getting creators to their own brand faster, and protecting the fastest path to their first product.
Reorder, not just redesign
Move brand and domain setup to onboarding flow, so the first thing a creator does is specific to their business.
Make ownership visible
I wanted creators seeing their own brand, name, and colors as a preview in first three clicks
Get to a first product fast
Strip course creation down to what's required to focus on low effort product creation.
DESIGN DECISION PHASE 1 - completion
I replaced a single screen of ten stacked dropdowns with a guided, 4-step progressive flow, including brand and domain set-up.
Step progress indicator
Shows creators exactly how far they are and how much is left, replacing the overwhelm of ten fields with a visible, finite path.
Grouped, contextual questions
Fewer questions per screen, and grouped by theme, so each step feels like answering one thing at a time, not filling out a form.
Whitelableing step
Step 3 didn't exist in the old form at all, it's a moment added specifically to build ownership early.
Phase 2 - ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVATION
Turned Phase 1's branding step into a real whitelabel moment with a live preview
1. School name field
Ties the name a creator just chose directly to what renders in the preview a moment later.
2. Primary color picker
Lets creators see their brand's actual color, not a placeholder, live as they pick it.
3. Live preview panel
Updates in real time, school name, color, and subdomain all reflect instantly.
Phase 3 - ACTIVATION
Product creation collapsed from a five‑step modal into a single "Create your first product" screen inside the flow.
Steps to add thumbnail and pricing plans were removed from the initial flow rather than consolidated, deferring that setup to later.
1. Simplify product creation
A guided course setup flow during onboarding that asks only essential questions upfront with an optional AI-assisted course generator.
2. Skip to dashboard CTA
The old flow had no exit. The new one gives creators permission to go to their dashboard and explore the product.
3. Brand preview carried forward
Keeps the ownership feeling from the domain step alive, showing creators their course card in their own brand colors.
IMPACT
Creators who completed the flow activated faster
10%
Increase in seller activation*
20%
Increase in product creation
90%
Increase in Brand and domain set-up
*Activation at Teachable is defined by a scoring model: a school is considered activated once it reaches a 60-point threshold across a defined sequence of early behaviors, including domain and branding customization, product creation.
CHALLENGES & LEARNINGS
Product strategy, measurement, and the constraints that shaped my decision making
No controlled A/B test
The team didn't rule out A/B testing for lack of ability. A before/after comparison was judged to deliver a strong enough signal that investing the time to build a full controlled test wasn't worth it relative to the team's three-month learning window.
Defending metrics
Flow completion declined on the surface. The stronger case: users who completed the new flow were more prepared, having already set up their brand and domain, and that preparation showed up as a positive result in the business metrics that mattered, activation and retention.
Shipping in three phases
I knew from the outset I had roughly a three-month investment period and planned three phases to fit inside it. Each phase needed its own validation before the next began, a pace that only works when the timeline is set ahead of time, not retrofitted under pressure.
See other projects
See other projects
Driven by detail and clarity, I design websites, products, and meaningful experiences.
CONTEXT
Teachable is a SaaS platform where creators build and sell online courses, and onboarding is the first moment a new creator forms an impression of the product.
DURATION
3 Months
MY ROLE
User Researcher
Product Designer
TEAM
Bia Frenkel - Senior Product Designer
Matthew Malia - Product Manager
David De Los Santos - Engineering Manager
Sarah Driscoll- Director of Design
Matthew Malia - Product Manager
CHALLENGES & LEARNINGS
Product strategy, measurement, and the constraints that shaped my decision making
No controlled A/B test
The team didn't rule out A/B testing for lack of ability. A before/after comparison was judged to deliver a strong enough signal that investing the time to build a full controlled test wasn't worth it relative to the team's three-month learning window.
Defending metrics
Flow completion declined on the surface. The stronger case: users who completed the new flow were more prepared, having already set up their brand and domain, and that preparation showed up as a positive result in the business metrics that mattered, activation and retention.
Shipping in four phases
Flow completion declined on the surface. The stronger case: users who completed the new flow were more prepared, having already set up their brand and domain, and that preparation showed up as a positive result in the business metrics that mattered, activation and retention.
PROBLEM AREAS
Value came after the work, not before
I mapped the existing flow against user interaction data and support tickets, and found the gap:
What the flow showed.
A long intake form followed by a five-step course creation sequence, separate screens for course details, thumbnail, pricing, purchase description, and outline, before a creator saw anything specific to their business.
What the data confirmed
Creators who customized their brand activated faster, but that setup was hidden in the dashboard, generating 85+ support tickets. Whereas, course creation forced users to take pricing decisions before they were ready.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Three of four competitors I looked at led with structured, personalized onboarding, showing product value early.
I audited four direct competitors to see how they handled the same trade-off I was navigating: how much to ask a new user upfront versus how much to defer until they'd already seen value.
DESIGN GOALS
Getting creators to their own brand faster, and protecting the fastest path to their first product.
Reorder, not just redesign
Move brand and domain setup to onboarding flow, so the first thing a creator does is specific to their business.
Make ownership visible
I wanted creators seeing their own brand, name, and colors as a preview in first three clicks
Get to a first product fast
Strip course creation down to what's required to focus on low effort product creation.
HYPOTHESIS 1 - DOMAIN AND BRAND SETUP
If brand and domain setup moves earlier into onboarding, then activation and retention improve,
because seeing their own brand sooner helps creators recognize Teachable as a fit for their business.
DESIGN DECISION PHASE 1 - completion
I replaced a single screen of ten stacked dropdowns with a guided, 4-step progressive flow, including brand and domain set-up.
Step progress indicator
Shows creators exactly how far they are and how much is left, replacing the overwhelm of ten fields with a visible, finite path.
Grouped, contextual questions
Fewer questions per screen, and grouped by theme, so each step feels like answering one thing at a time, not filling out a form.
Brand & domain step
Step 3 didn't exist in the old form at all, it's a moment added specifically to build ownership early.
Phase 2 - ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVATION
Turned Phase 1's branding step into a real whitelabel moment with a live preview
1. School name field
Ties the name a creator just chose directly to what renders in the preview a moment later.
2. Primary color picker
Lets creators see their brand's actual color, not a placeholder, live as they pick it.
3. Live preview panel
Updates in real time, school name, color, and subdomain all reflect instantly.
HYPOTHESIS 2 - COURSE CREATION
If we simplify course creation during onboarding by breaking it into one clear, guided step with simple decision making, new users will get to a “first lesson published” moment faster and feel less overwhelmed, increasing activation and trial-to-paid conversion.
Phase 3 - ACTIVATION
Product creation collapsed from a five‑step modal into a single "Create your first product" screen inside the flow.
Steps to add thumbnail and pricing plans were removed from the initial flow rather than consolidated, deferring that setup to later.
1. Simplify product creation
A guided course setup flow during onboarding that asks only essential questions upfront with an optional AI-assisted course generator.
2. Skip to dashboard CTA
The old flow had no exit. The new one gives creators permission to go to their dashboard and explore the product.
3. Brand preview carried forward
Keeps the ownership feeling from the domain step alive, showing creators their course card in their own brand colors.
IMPACT
Creators who completed the flow activated faster
10%
Increase in seller activation*
20%
Increase in product creation
90%
Increase in Brand and domain set-up
*Activation at Teachable is defined by a scoring model: a school is considered activated once it reaches a 60-point threshold across a defined sequence of early behaviors, including domain and branding customization, product creation.
PROBLEM AREAS
Value came after the work, not before
I mapped the existing flow against user interaction data and support tickets, and found the gap:
What the flow showed.
A long intake form followed by a five-step course creation sequence, separate screens for course details, thumbnail, pricing, purchase description, and outline, before a creator saw anything specific to their business.
What the data confirmed
Creators who customized their brand activated faster, but that setup was hidden in the dashboard, generating 85+ support tickets. Whereas, course creation forced users to take pricing decisions before they were ready.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Three of four competitors I looked at led with structured, personalized onboarding, showing product value early.
I audited four direct competitors to see how they handled the same trade-off I was navigating: how much to ask a new user upfront versus how much to defer until they'd already seen value.
DESIGN GOALS
Getting creators to their own brand faster, and protecting the fastest path to their first product.
Reorder, not just redesign
Move brand and domain setup to onboarding flow, so the first thing a creator does is specific to their business.
Make ownership visible
I wanted creators seeing their own brand, name, and colors as a preview in first three clicks
Get to a first product fast
Strip course creation down to what's required to focus on low effort product creation.
HYPOTHESIS 1 - DOMAIN AND BRAND SETUP
If brand and domain setup moves earlier into onboarding, then activation and retention improve,
because seeing their own brand sooner helps creators recognize Teachable as a fit for their business.
DESIGN DECISION PHASE 1 - completion
I replaced a single screen of ten stacked dropdowns with a guided, 4-step progressive flow, including brand and domain set-up.
Step progress indicator
Shows creators exactly how far they are and how much is left, replacing the overwhelm of ten fields with a visible, finite path.
Grouped, contextual questions
Fewer questions per screen, and grouped by theme, so each step feels like answering one thing at a time, not filling out a form.
Brand & domain step
Step 3 didn't exist in the old form at all, it's a moment added specifically to build ownership early.
Phase 2 - ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVATION
Turned Phase 1's branding step into a real whitelabel moment with a live preview
1. School name field
Ties the name a creator just chose directly to what renders in the preview a moment later.
2. Primary color picker
Lets creators see their brand's actual color, not a placeholder, live as they pick it.
3. Live preview panel
Updates in real time, school name, color, and subdomain all reflect instantly.
HYPOTHESIS 2 - COURSE CREATION
If we simplify course creation during onboarding by breaking it into one clear, guided step with simple decision making, new users will get to a “first lesson published” moment faster and feel less overwhelmed, increasing activation and trial-to-paid conversion.
Phase 3 - ACTIVATION
Product creation collapsed from a five‑step modal into a single "Create your first product" screen inside the flow.
Steps to add thumbnail and pricing plans were removed from the initial flow rather than consolidated, deferring that setup to later.
1. Simplify product creation
A guided course setup flow during onboarding that asks only essential questions upfront with an optional AI-assisted course generator.
2. Skip to dashboard CTA
The old flow had no exit. The new one gives creators permission to go to their dashboard and explore the product.
3. Brand preview carried forward
Keeps the ownership feeling from the domain step alive, showing creators their course card in their own brand colors.
IMPACT
Creators who completed the flow activated faster
10%
Increase in seller activation*
20%
Increase in product creation
90%
Increase in Brand and domain set-up
*Activation at Teachable is defined by a scoring model: a school is considered activated once it reaches a 60-point threshold across a defined sequence of early behaviors, including domain and branding customization, product creation.