Sierra Biddulph

Redesigned IBM Onboarding, Increasing
Retention by 50%

Project Overview

I led the design of a new onboarding system, leveraging IBM's design system to create an intuitive lesson structure to reduce the abandonment rate and foster user engagement. The redesign led to a 200% increase in user retention and has since been adopted across other IBM products.

Impact

• 200% increase in user completion of onboarding.

• Developed an onboarding design library to be used across IBM product teams.

• Secured product strategy buy-in from design department.

My Role

UX Designer, Content Designer

Strategies

Design Systems
Product Strategy

My Team

UX Designer

Sr. UX Designer

Visual Designer

Content Designer

Timeline

May - Aug 2024
3 months

Problem

The existing IBM walkthrough was intrusive and technically complex, resulting in an abandonment rate of 92%.

Previously, a full-screen popup appeared at the start of each flow. We discovered that users often dismissed it immediately, abandoning the walkthrough before engaging with any instructions.

Onboarding start, pre-redesign

Product Stategy

We optimized onboarding for scalable adoption by supporting comprehension and recall.

The pre-redesign onboarding for IBM Hybrid Cloud Mesh (the first product to adopt this new onboarding process) revealed users had difficulty remembering processes after completing the onboarding. I worked with my team to uncovering three key insights that informed a solution tailored to this product—but scalable across others.

Reinforce key actions

This helps support comprehension and recall

Define complex terminology

Users need an accessible way to understand complex terms

Re-access onboarding at any time

A tooltip icon explaining a technical term

Solution

I owned the redesign of an onboarding structure to create an intuitive lesson flow and scalable adoption across IBM products.

I designed a three-part onboarding pattern that cues in next steps and prioritizes user opt-in, helping both user groups quickly get familiar with cloud setup.

Highlight Next Steps

As users complete each step, they receive subtle prompts guiding them to their next action on the interface.

User-Centric Assistance

Onboarding begins when a user explicitly requests assistance, allowing users to explore the software independently if they prefer.

Task Progression

The onboarding focuses on teaching users to establish a cloud connection. After creating their cloud, they are directed to the cloud details page with a clear list of remaining steps, allowing them to track progress efficiently.

Content Design

I led content design to transform technical jargon into clear, actionable user guides.

I rewrote dense developer-written definitions into accessible language and added explanations for technical terms directly within the interface, giving the user the opportunity to revisit complex terms.

During Walkthrough

An onboarding bubble explaining a technical term

Embedded into the interface

A tooltip icon explaining a technical term

Handoff

We optimized onboarding for scalable adoption by supporting comprehension and recall.

I created documentation for pattern adoption across IBM products.

Product teams used inconsistent visual design and their own design systems to make walkthroughs. I led the initiative to build a shared design library, establish a communication channel, and create best practices documentation to standardize the process across teams.

Impact

The redesigned onboarding experience resulted in a 50% increase in user retention.

The project concluded successfully with a presentation of the final deliverables to senior design management, where the work received enthusiastic approval.