UX RESEARCH / UX DESIGN (10MIN READ)

Goodself

A research-led evaluation and redesign of the Goodself onboarding experience.

Role

Team Lead & UX Researcher / Writer. Led team meetings and project timelines; designed questionnaires, conducted studies, facilitated affinity diagramming, developed recommendations, edited the report, and shaped presentation content.

4 week project

Project Overview

Goodself is a health-based social media app for connecting with like-minded individuals, sharing health-related resources, and tracking wellness journeys. As a startup without a research team, Goodself sought an evaluation of its onboarding process.

Goodself Goal

Goodself wanted to attract more users aged 18–30 and refine its sign-up process into a seamless onboarding experience. The team evaluated two existing sign-up flows to understand which approach could better support engagement and retention.

Our Intervention

Two different sign-up processes needed evaluation for simplicity and enjoyment. The team identified an opportunity to combine the strongest elements of each into a clearer experience.

Research Methods (Heuristic Evaluation, User Studies, data analysis

The evaluation combined heuristic reviews using Nielsen Norman Group’s ten usability heuristics, user studies, questionnaires, conceptual model extraction, think-aloud sessions, interviews, and affinity diagramming. Across the heuristic evaluation, the five designers identified 20 issues and rated their severity.

Research findings

The research findings were organized around clarity, ease of use, and engagement. Findings from user studies were grouped with affinity diagramming, prioritized by severity, and cross-referenced with the heuristic evaluation to identify shared pain points and inform recommendations.

Design Explorations

The team developed proposals that simplified the form, recontextualized dense information into tooltips, and revised interest selection. Design decisions focused on reducing overload, making navigation clearer, and creating more flexible onboarding choices.

Final Solution

The final recommendations included a two-page form, clearer field labels and supporting text, a visible back action, fewer progress indicators, recontextualized information, and a more flexible interest-selection step. Figma prototypes and videos helped communicate the recommendations guide future onboarding systems built by Goodself.

Reflection

The project demonstrated how a combination of usability evaluation, user research, and synthesis can reveal practical opportunities to improve an onboarding experience.