Case Study

Untangling Chaos: Redesigning the Onboarding Across a Fragmented Platform

How we tackled user confusion in a multi-platform ecosystem by mapping complexity, reducing friction, and designing for the future.

Context

In-house design work at Strategy Tools

At Strategy Tools, we don’t just deliver tools—we offer learning journeys, digital simulations, and custom platforms. But as our offering expanded, so did our tech stack.

Users were struggling to access what they paid for—bouncing between our payment system, learning platform, and internal tool environment. It wasn’t just a login problem. It was a UX trust-breaker.

I led a multi-phase UX effort to:

• Map out the tangled backend

• Reduce friction with a temporary fix

• Design a scalable onboarding dashboard for future development

Result: 100% task success rate in usability tests, full team adoption

The product experience spanned six platforms and two broken Single Sign-On systems. Users were:

• Locked out after purchases

• Unsure where to go post-checkout

• Confused by disconnected tools, emails, and login points

This complexity resulted in:

• A 52% drop-off post-purchase

• Overwhelmed support teams

• Poor first impressions that undermined trust

“People were excited to join—then completely lost by step two.”

We mapped the full onboarding journey across our stack:

• E-learning platform
• Payment platform
• App environment
• Tool download environment
• Social platform
• SSO

 Key insights from:

• Support ticket reviews
• Journey mapping & flow breakdown
• User walkthroughs (15 live sessions)
• Surveys asking “What confused you most?”

Our backend looked like a flowchart of chaos. Too many entry points, inconsistent login logic, and no central source of truth for users.

Mapping the Problem

We began by auditing the entire onboarding ecosystem—purchase system, e-learning platform, tool delivery app, membership manager, and SSO solution. I mapped:

• Entry points across platforms

• Conflicting login logic

• Where users landed vs. where they expected to land

Tools used:

• Service blueprint (Figma)

• Backend flow diagram

• Support ticket tagging system

• User interviews (15 walkthroughs)

Key insight: The system was optimized for internal structure—not user flow.

Service Blueprint (workshopped with the team)
Together with product, ops, and support, we mapped the full onboarding experience to uncover system gaps, user pain points, and opportunities for clarity—laying the foundation for both our interim fix and future dashboard.

Designing within Constraints (Ad-Hoc Phase)

Because we couldn’t overhaul the platform immediately, we implemented an interim solution to:

• Unify access through simplified links and landing pages

• Create a linear, guided onboarding experience

• Deliver onboarding instructions via email

These fixes were intentionally lightweight, but allowed us to test UX hypotheses before committing to a full build.

Testing & Validation

We tested the interim flow with for one month:

• Observed onboarding via screen share

• Ran a short survey on clarity and confusion

• Measured support tickets, login rates, and tool usage

Impact:

• 75% tool access within 24h (up from 35%)

• Drop-off post-sign-up fell from 52% to under 20%

• Support emails dropped by 80%

Designing the Dashboard: Feasibility First

Once we validated the core user needs, we scoped a full onboarding dashboard with developers. Over a few months, we:

• Built a feasibility prototype with our dev team

• Designed a personalized, role-based onboarding UI

• Mapped platform logic, user states, and entry points

• Created a dev-ready spec and design system in Figma

Strategic Pause: When Scope Meets Strategy

During this time, the company made a strategic shift from B2C (individual users) to B2B (enterprise clients). With this new direction, the full onboarding dashboard—while valuable—no longer aligned with near-term priorities.

We made the decision to put the dashboard on hold, awaiting future funding or integration into enterprise-focused onboarding.

 Designed in Figma, tested with users, ready for devs — this dashboard is ready when strategy and funding align.

Ad-hoc fixes delivered fast impact

• Drop-off fell from 52% → <20%

• Day-one engagement rose to 75%

• Support tickets decreased by 80%

Dashboard is fully designed, scoped, and tested

• Ready for implementation when timing and funding align

• Acts as the foundation for internal onboarding strategy conversations

• Elements already influencing enterprise rollouts

This project reminded me that great UX isn’t always about launching polished features — it’s about reducing friction wherever and however you can.

Designing the onboarding journey across two phases — a quick, ad-hoc solution and a full future-state dashboard — taught me how to balance short-term impact with long-term vision.

We worked within technical limitations while still advocating for the user, and used real behavior, not assumptions, to guide every decision.

I grew as a product thinker, not just a designer. I learned to:

• Prototype with what I had
• Simplify complex user flows
• Rally teams around clarity and intent—even when development wasn’t guaranteed

Most importantly, I learned that confidence and clarity at first click sets the tone for everything that follows.

• Implement dashboard when funding aligns

• Continue monitoring onboarding behavior to feed future iterations

• Explore lightweight MVP deployment (e.g. via no-code/low-code tools) if funding remains limited