Our first major challenge came up immediately. In order for the app to deliver any benefit to users, they first had to enter in a very large amount of information. The app needed to know everything from every drug and supplement the user took to how many hours of sleep they were getting. Ultimately, it could begin to eliminate variables it considered irrelevant, but initially it would need a large dump of data. Getting a user to commit to this expenditure was a big ask, but drawing it out over time would increase the likelihood of abandonment. The above is an initial proposed onboarding experience which took 30 minutes to complete in full.
The client printed out each one of the screens and began experimenting with different combinations and orders to determine which information they found most important. Very old school.
Realized a long onboarding process would not work
By the end of this process, the onboarding process was highly refined with spatial relationships mapped out to keep users oriented. But the problem remained the same: it was too damn long.
Figured out how long we could keep the users' attention
We pressed forward with this very long process knowing that we had a limited number of test users who had unlimited access to company support staff, who would even help them fill the information out. We experiment with different levels of hands-on vs. hands-off. Ultimately, we identified the point at which users would lose interest in the program. We figured out that we had to deliver some sort of value immediately in order to keep the user's interest over the period of time required to deliver the first feedback on the effectiveness of their supplement.
Created a product plan focused on broad accessibility
After a months-long period of testing, we came to a number of conclusions. The first was that we would need a native app because the clunkiness of mobile web would impede usage of the program, and we could not afford any friction. The second conclusion was that users would always need some sort of hand-holding, and the initial gathering would have to take place over a protracted period of time. This meant meeting them on their home territory. We would need a chat-bot that could serve as a proxy for the company's human support staff, and it would have to offer access through SMS and perhaps other (secure) chat platforms. In other words, we would have to be available wherever they needed.