Pay Flow Redesign
High cart abandonment rates. Tumbling conversions. Some problems make you dig for answers, others are spelled out. This was a little bit of both.
More conversions
More progressions, step 1-2
More conversions
More progressions, step 1-2
Project goals
To improve conversion at the moment of purchase, we focused on four key goals:
1
Streamline the purchase process to reduce drop-off and improve conversion speed.
2
Clarify plan tiers, pricing, and contact limits to help users make confident choices.
3
Tailor the flow based on entry point (prospect vs. trialer) for a more relevant experience.
4
Increase transparency with persistent order summaries and localized pricing.
Finding the Winning Moves
Rather than guessing blindly, we grounded our redesign in a series of well-defined hypotheses. We identified the steps where customers hesitated or dropped off, then predicted which design, copy, and structural changes would keep momentum high. These weren’t abstract ideas — they were targeted, testable moves that shaped the entire checkout experience and set us up to measure the impact of every decision.
Turning Ideas into Impact
Armed with a clear understanding of where customers got stuck, we transformed our predictions into tangible design solutions. This meant rethinking page layouts, refining copy, and implementing smart defaults that worked in the background to remove friction. Each decision was deliberate — from the placement of calls-to-action to the way pricing information unfolded — ensuring the final flow felt intuitive, efficient, and built to convert.
Step 1: Account creation
We redesigned the account creation flow to reduce friction, improve mobile usability, and make the path forward unmistakable. Cleaner layouts, clearer copy, and accessible input fields cut down on user hesitation right from the start.
- Single Column Design: Employed a single-column layout to minimize errors and improve completion rates.
- Early Email Capture: Collected email addresses early to enhance completion rates and ensure continued engagement.
- Social Sign-On: Designed with OAuth under the hood, which is the protocol that powers most social login integrations, allowing users to sign in with Google, Instagram, etc.
- Show/Hide Passwords: Used “show/hide” toggles within password fields to boost accuracy and speed.
Step 2: Package selection
The plan selection screen was simplified to focus attention on the key differences between tiers. Pricing clarity, savings callouts, and removal of unnecessary upsell clutter helped users commit faster without feeling pressured.
- Clarity and Simplicity: Demystified pricing tiers and highlighted discounts and savings, enhancing cost transparency.
- Direct User Focus: Highlighted benefits like prepay and nonprofit discounts to guide effective decision-making.
- Minimal Form Fields: Limited form fields to the essentials to avoid overwhelming users.
- Smart Defaults: Streamlined selection with autofocus and smart default fields, reducing user effort.
Step 3: Billing and checkout
We reduced fields, added smart defaults, and implemented real-time validation to prevent form errors. Persistent order summaries and localized pricing reinforced trust at the point of payment.
- Efficiency Enhancements: Streamlined checkout by minimizing required fields, eliminating dropdown menus for improved accessibility, and strategically placing fields.
- Autocomplete Fields: Implemented autocomplete fields to speed up form completion.
- Input Field Masking: Guided user behavior with input field masking, especially helpful for mobile users.
- Luhn validation: Employed Luhn validation algorithm to automatically verify credit card numbers, reducing the risk of processing errors and enhancing data integrity..
Impact
More conversions
More progressions, step 1-2
The redesign delivered a 9% lift in payment flow completions and a 40% jump in prospects advancing beyond step one. These gains marked a meaningful shift in a historically underperforming funnel and built on momentum from previous optimization efforts.
The results confirmed that removing cognitive friction and clarifying pricing not only improved conversions in the short term, but also set the stage for future enhancements, like integrated promotions and faster checkout for returning customers.