Fintech
UX Research
UI Design
Mobile App
Changing the way users onboard to improve card adoption rate for QV
How a closer look at onboarding drop-off revealed a trust problem and how fixing the right thing moved the needle on card activation.
QV Wallet
Virtual Card
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DESH R.
06/27
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Project Details
My Role
Product Designer
Duration
4 Months
Team
1 Designer · 3 Engineers · 1 PM · 1 Analyst
Tools
Figma · Maze · Mixpanel
01
Background and the problem
QV is a digital wallet and prepaid card product aimed at young professionals and first-time card holders. Despite healthy app installs, the team noticed a significant gap: only 31% of users who completed sign-up ever activated their physical card.
The existing onboarding had been built quickly at launch and never revisited. It asked users for KYC documents upfront — before they had experienced any value — creating friction at the most critical moment.
My brief was to redesign the onboarding and card activation experience to increase the card adoption rate from 31% to 50%+ within one quarter of launch.
31%
Card activation rate at baseline
68%
Drop-off at KYC document upload step
4.2s
Avg. time to first card action
2.1★
App store rating citing confusing setup
Project Timeline
01
Audit & Data
Week 1–2
Pulled Mixpanel funnel data, mapped every step of the existing onboarding flow, and identified exact drop-off points.
02
User Research
Week 3–5
Ran 10 moderated usability sessions and 3 diary studies to understand emotional blockers, not just usability issues.
03
Synthesis
Week 6
Clustered insights into four themes, mapped them to specific onboarding steps, and aligned stakeholders on root cause.
04
Design & Test
Week 7–12
Designed three concept directions, ran unmoderated Maze tests with 40 participants, iterated to a final prototype.
05
Ship & Measure
Week 13–16
Shipped in two phases with a feature flag. Monitored activation rate, KYC completion, and time-to-first-spend daily.
02
User Research
We needed to understand why users were abandoning the KYC step — was it effort, distrust, or simply bad timing? The answer was all three, but not in equal measure.
🎙️
Moderated Sessions
10 participants
Screen-shared usability tests with first-time users walking through the live onboarding, thinking aloud throughout.
📓
Diary Studies
3 participants
New users logged daily notes for their first week, capturing moments of confusion and delight in their own words.
📈
Funnel Analysis
6 weeks of data
Mixpanel data showing drop-off at each step, segmented by device, time-of-day, and acquisition channel.
What we discovered
Users weren't dropping off because the form was hard — they were dropping off because they didn't trust the product yet.
"Why do they need my passport before I've even used the wallet? It feels like I'm applying for a loan, not downloading an app."
Premature trust demand
KYC was gating the entire experience before users had seen any value. Users felt asked to commit before the app had earned their trust.
"I stopped because I didn't know what would happen to my documents. Is this a scam? Who even is QV?"
Brand credibility gap
First-time users had no context for who QV was. The onboarding never established credibility before asking for sensitive data.
"I came back three days later and had to start again from the beginning. I'd already uploaded my ID once."
No resumable flow
The onboarding had no save state. Users who abandoned mid-flow lost all progress, compounding frustration on re-entry.
"There were seven steps and I could only see step two of seven. I had no idea how much was left."
No sense of progress
The flow had no progress indicator. Users couldn't gauge effort, making each step feel potentially endless.
03
Design Approach
We reframed onboarding as a value-first journey — show the card, let users explore, then ask for commitment.
Value before verification
Let users explore the wallet and virtual card before triggering KYC — delay the ask until users are invested.
Transparent progress
A persistent step indicator shows exactly where users are and how many steps remain, removing uncertainty.
Resumable at any point
Onboarding state is saved automatically. Users can exit and return days later without losing progress.
Trust signals at the gate
Partner logos, user count, and security badges at the KYC step establish credibility before asking for documents.
Onboarding — Wireframe v2
Explore first, verify later
04
Final Designs
The redesigned flow reduced onboarding from 7 sequential steps to a 3-step value-first funnel, with KYC deferred to the moment of first card use.
Welcome & Value Prop
Splash screens showcasing card perks and partner offers before any form fields appear
Instant Virtual Card
Users get a usable virtual card immediately after email verification — no documents required
Contextual KYC Trigger
KYC is prompted only when the user initiates their first real transaction, with full context on why
05
The Outcome
Results tracked over 30 and 90 days post-launch. The redesign exceeded its primary target within the first two weeks.
62%
Card activation rate
Up from 31% — exceeded the 50% target
41%
Drop in KYC abandonment
Contextual trigger vs. upfront gate
2.3×
Increase in time-in-app
First 7 days post sign-up
4.6★
App store rating
Up from 2.1 — citing easier setup
“The new onboarding feels like the app actually wants me to succeed. I understood what I was getting before I had to give anything.”
— User interview participant, 30-day follow-up
Key Takeaways
01
Drop-off is rarely about effort
Users were willing to complete a long form — they just needed to trust the product first. Fixing UX without fixing trust would have moved the needle very little.
02
Defer friction, don't remove it
KYC couldn't be eliminated — it's regulatory. The win was in timing: asking at the moment of intent rather than the moment of discovery.
03
Data finds symptoms, research finds causes
Mixpanel told us where users dropped off. Talking to users told us why. Both were essential — one without the other would have led to the wrong fix.
04
Save state is a trust feature
Letting users resume without losing progress wasn't just convenient — it signalled that QV respected their time, compounding with other trust signals.
Thank you
Questions about the process, the decisions, or just want to talk design? I’d love to hear from you.
Email me
✦
rath.desh@gmail.com
9040144121
✦
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