Problems
Profile data was skipped at sign-up and had no clear path to be completed later, leaving users blocked or poorly matched.
A rebuilt profile area that gave skipped data a second chance
Intro
VIDI needs to know a lot about its researchers. A verified photo to confirm who’s doing each survey. Age, marital status and other details to match people with the right surveys.
The old sign-up asked for all of it, but the extra details and the photo were skippable. Many people skipped them, and then had no clear place to finish later. The result was a base of users with incomplete profiles, unable to take surveys or poorly matched to them.
This project came before the onboarding redesign, and it gave that data a better home outside of sign-up.
Solution
Rebuilt the profile area around guided completion: visible progress, a reason for each item, and direct access to whatever was missing.
Results
Gave the business a place to collect data after sign-up, which made the onboarding redesign simpler.
fig 1. the profile area, from progress to complete
Profile data was optional, until it suddenly wasn’t.
Users could skip the photo and personal details at sign-up, and only found out they needed the photo when they tried to take a survey.
Moving data out of sign-up meant convincing the business it wouldn’t be lost.
Profile data matters directly to operations: it decides who gets which surveys. Taking it out of sign-up sounded, to leadership, like collecting less of it.
It took a long dialogue with C-level and the operations team.
The argument wasn’t to ask for less data, but to ask for it in a better place: a profile area designed to bring users back until it’s complete.
A reason for every field
Users didn’t know why any of this mattered.
So each item explains what it does for them:
- Profile photo: required to take surveys, because it confirms your identity at each visit (→ Liveness case).
- Personal details: help us match you with surveys that fit your profile. Different people tend to be a good fit for, and want, different kinds of surveys.
The profile stopped being a form and became a way to get more work.
Incomplete profiles needed to be impossible to miss, without being annoying.
We used three layers, each one more specific:
1A banner on the home screen, visible the moment users open the app.
2A red badge on the Profile tab in the navigation bar.
3A progress button inside the profile, showing how much is complete. It only disappears at 100%.
Knowing you’re incomplete isn’t enough. You need to know what’s missing.
Tapping the progress button takes users straight to the missing step, not to a generic profile page where they’d have to hunt for it.
Once everything is filled in, a success screen closes the loop.
- Tap the progress button
- Land on the missing field
- Pick an answer
- Save details
- Profile complete
Results
A lighter load for sign-up
With a reliable place to complete profiles, we could move optional data and the selfie out of sign-up. That made the onboarding redesign simpler, which took sign-up completion from 1% to 70% (→ Onboarding case).
A clear path to “ready to work”
Users always know what’s missing, why it matters and how to get there in one tap.
Better data for survey matching
Personal details now come with a reason to share them, instead of a skip button.
Sometimes the best way to simplify a flow is to give part of it a better home.
Sign-up got simpler because some of its requirements had somewhere else to go.
Next project
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