Oply Account Creation
Redesigning a sign up experience for Oply's service pros
Role:
Industry:
Tools:
Sole UX/UI designer
Home services/improvement technology (proptech)
Figma, FigJam
TLDR;
The Product
Oply is a platform that connects homeowners with local pros for home improvement and maintenance jobs. This case study focuses on designing the onboarding and sign-up flow for pros.
Users
Mike — a seasoned tradesman (plumber) with 25+ years of experience, 5 employees, and lower tech comfort.
Jordan — a younger pro (pressure washing business owner), tech-savvy and focused on growing his online presence and personal brand.
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The Problem
Oply needed an onboarding flow that works for both tech-savvy and less tech-savvy pros, ensuring it collects all necessary business information without overwhelming users — all while showcasing the platform's value upfront.
Goal
Create a flexible onboarding experience that feels fast and clear for older tradesmen, while allowing younger, brand-conscious pros to customize their profiles and show off their work.
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Research
Reviewed competitor platforms (Thumbtack) and best-in-class onboarding flows (Airbnb, Duolingo).
Identified two key design challenges: balancing simplicity and flexibility, and grouping information in a way that feels intuitive.
Worked with stakeholders to outline and group all required business information.
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Proposed Solutions
Explored three onboarding flows, ultimately narrowing to two for testing — one continuous flow and one split into personal vs business setup.
Quickly sketched and prototyped low-fidelity versions to test with 2 users (one older, one younger).
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Usability Tests
Both users preferred the continuous flow (Flow A), finding it more natural.
Separating personal and business setup (Flow B) added unnecessary confusion.
Both users requested a clear overview upfront, which led to a key revision: after collecting email, password, and phone number, the flow now previews what's coming next.
Both users felt the overall length of the process was reasonable.
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Final Design
The final flow combines personal and business setup into a single, logically grouped process, with a clear overview upfront, ensuring users know what to expect. The design supports both quick setup for older pros and flexibility for younger pros to personalize their profile.
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Introduction;
The Product
This project focuses on the Pro app and their sign up/onboarding experience.
Oply is a mobile app utilizing AI to give homeowners upkeep recommendations and connecting them to vetted service pros to help them complete house projects.
The Users
Oply Pro focuses on the vendors/pros on the platform. This was incredibly important to keep in mind when thinking about how we take these users through the sign up flow.
Persona 1, Veteran Tradesman: Mike the Plumber
Age: 55
Trade: Plumbing (25+ years)
Tech Comfort: Low - relies on phone calls, basic invoicing software, and word of mouth for jobs
Small business owner with 5 employees
Mike wants to quickly sign up without confusion and understand what Oply does for him. Once he's signed up, he wants to be able to easily see jobs that match his skills and service area and be able to respond to those jobs easily (ideally from his phone without complex steps).
Frustrations:
Too many options
Long forms
Tools assuming he already knows tech jargon
Unclear benefits
Persona 2, Young Hustler: Jordan the Pressure Washer
Age: 28
Trade: Pressure Washing (4 years)
Tech Comfort: High - runs his business from his phone, active on TikTok/Instagram, loves experimenting with new tools
Solo business owner with 1-2 helpers
Jordan wants to build a strong profile to stand out by highlighting customer reviews, before/after photos, and social links. He wants to get jobs quickly to show off his work and generate more business.
Frustrations:
Boring, generic profile setup
Platforms that don't let him show off his personality or content
Outdated systems
The Problem
Oply's current onboarding flow may create friction for both veteran tradesmen who need simplicity and younger, tech-savvy pros who want to personalize their profiles — potentially leading to lower sign-up completion and weaker engagement after joining.
Hypothesis
By streamlining the onboarding flow for clarity and simplicity while also adding optional customization and social integration features, we can increase sign-up completion rates and create a stronger sense of ownership in their profiles — driving more engagement post-signup.
I conducted competitive analysis of platforms like Thumbtack, focusing on how they onboard service providers. I also reviewed highly-rated onboarding experiences from apps like Airbnb and Duolingo, paying special attention to how Airbnb balances a longer, multi-step flow when listing a property with clear guidance and reassurance.
This helped me identify two core design challenges:
1 - Ensuring the flow feels effortless for less tech-savvy pros, while still offering customization for more tech-savvy, brand-conscious users.
2 - Collecting all necessary business information without overwhelming users, especially early in the process.
To address these challenges, I also worked with stakeholders to outline all data points Oply needed from pros during onboarding, grouping related information to create a more logical, streamlined flow.
Proposed Solutions;
I created an initial flowchart to map out all necessary steps and touchpoints. From there, I sketched early wireframes for key screens, focusing on how to group related information to make the flow feel logical and easy to follow.
After some reflection, I explored three possible flows:
Flow A: information grouped into clear sections, with personal details and business information combined into a single continuous flow.
Flow B: personal account setup was separated from business setup, with a distinct "Profile Setup" step after account creation.
Flow C: front-loaded all required business information early, aiming to collect everything upfront.
After self-review and reflection, Flow C was eliminated. It asked for too much information too soon creating unnecessary friction. This left Flow A and Flow B as the focus for some scrappy usability testing.
Usability Testing Overview;
To evaluate Flow A and Flow B, I conducted quick usability tests with two participants — one in their early 60s and one in their late 20s — both completely new to Oply. Before testing, each user was given a brief introduction to Oply and its purpose. They then clicked through low-fidelity prototypes representing each flow.
Primary Testing Goals
1 - Determine if the sequence of information collection impacts clarity and ease of use.
2 - Evaluate whether separating personal and business profile setup feels clearer or unnecessarily fragmented.
3 - Identify moments where users feel stuck, confused, or unsure about next steps.
4 - Check if both tech-savvy and less tech-savvy users could complete onboarding without assistance.
5 - Gauge initial impressions of the length of the process.
Key Results
Flow A felt more natural and concise to both users, with a smoother grouping of information.
Flow B's separation of personal and business setup created confusion, especially for the older user, who expected to set everything up in one go.
Both users felt the overall length of the process was reasonable.
Both users were able to successfully complete the onboarding without assistance.
Both users expressed that it would be helpful to know upfront what information they would need to provide — leading to a key revision: adding a step after collecting email, password, and phone number that gives users a clear overview of the process ahead.
Final Design;
A key revision made after testing was the introduction of a brief overview step immediately after collecting the user's email, password, and phone number. This was made to set clear expectations for what's coming next — addressing feedback from both users. The small adjustment helped make the process feel more transparent and less intimidating, especially for users who are less tech-savvy.
The final flow also prioritized:
Logical grouping of information, reducing cognitive load
Minimizing unnecessary steps, while still collecting all essential business information
Keeping language clear and approachable, avoiding technical jargon to support users of all levels
By balancing clarity, simplicity, and flexibility, the revised onboarding flow is designed to accommodate both seasoned pros who just want to get started quickly and younger, more tech-savvy users who value personalization and control — all without compromising the business need to collect critical information upfront.
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