HotSchedules Case Study
Turning a 30 day setup process into a 2 minute experience
Project Brief
HotSchedules has been an industry leader in scheduling software for the past 18 years, built and developed for expert users in large restaurant groups to manage and forecast their labor costs.
Normally a set-up for a single restaurant would take between a week to a month depending on the size and complexity of the client.
HotSchedules realized an opportunity to target smaller to mid-sized restaurants with their scheduler and in 2017 the company took a bold step towards a proof of concept that would welcome a new market to their current product straight from sign-up with a free trial and smaller price-point. The first version led to some improvements...
Problem Statements
1
The first free trial experience created too much friction for users, narrowing the conversion funnel; a series of 24 required fields prevented a lot of trials.
2
A lot of newer scheduling apps focused on great user experience however lacked the history of key features HotSchedules already had.
Process
We re-evaluated our first attempt of the signup flow in order to reduce the barrier of entry for the user; 24 required fields was way too many. We also realized we needed to improve the usability of the scheduler product for a common user.
We started by charting an ideal user journey and aligned all touchpoints for a consistent experience. Iterating on a full user flow which accounted for multiple stages (signup, onboarding, application experience) gave us a holistic sense of what the user would experience.
Some interesting parts of the process
1
It became clear our product needed to be refreshed for a new generation of different users.
We released an evolution of the scheduler in phases throughout the year.
2
Gathering feedback from multiple departments was essential to getting the experience right.
Seeing the full flow in a static sense was also helpful to explain ideas.
3
The barriers to entry really determined the conversion rate. 24 required fields were boiled down to 7.
4
We realized we needed to give the user moments of success and reinforcement while dynamically building their site.
5
Once the user landed in the app, education and setup were key to retaining them through the trial.
An onboarding guide was created.
Solution
Reduced the barrier of entry for the user
Improved the usability of the core product
Created an opportunity for smaller restaurants to quickly organize their teams
My Role on the Team
Design Lead
Contributions:
- Led the visual direction and user experience of the Scheduler evolution
- Managed 2 product designers on the free trial experience and product updates
- Led and encouraged the visual direction and creation of the UI and Illustration libraries
The Core Team
This project involved:
Product: Damon, Jonathan, Chris
Research: Arlin, Anya
Design: Arlin, Anya
Engineering: Nathan, Alan, Volodymyr, Eugene
Contact Me.
Please feel free to reach out.
- Dribbble
