Problem

The founder wanted to introduce a video that would play after login to help push users to send their first invoice, an important action that would help cement users within the platform. I pushed back on the intro video proposal because it didn’t seem like the right solution for the problem. Instead of pushing I wanted to nudge users in moments that felt natural and with more familiar user experience patterns.

Context

A user sending their first invoice is a metric of commitment compared to simply connecting your bank account. Once a first invoice it becomes part of the records for that year, something that cannot be deleted. The more users who would send their first invoice the better.

Until this point we had focused on connecting the users bank account, an important user action to provide the user with the beginning of their financial overview. But it wasn’t the same level of commitment to using AirBill as sending a first invoice. This is because once you send in invoice in a accounting software, it’s a legal record that must be kept. If cannot be deleted. We wanted to nudge users to send their first invoice at times that made sense to increase the number of users that became AirBill users by sending their first invoice

Solution

Instead of trying to ‘nudge’ users to do something the might not be ready for, I reframed it as reminders. How can we offer reminders to the user timely ways throughout the flows so that it felt natural to send their first invoice. I created a four tiered trigger system for multiple ways of reminding users.

1. Empty graph button

When the user lands on the dashboard they will have an empty revenue graph state asking for them to add or create an invoice.

2. Account setup card

We will add 'Create your first invoice' to the account setup bottom sheet. If clicked it will navigate to the 'Invoices' section. They then decide whether to create a new one-time invoice or a recurring invoice.

3. Bottom sheet alert when opening app

When it's X amount of days to the end of the month, or X amount of days after they first logged in we have a bottom sheet pop-up asking to create an invoice. The user can easily drag it away but provides an in app feature highlight and reminder.

4. Notifications at certain times

X amount of days before the end of the month we send alerts via SMS, Email, or Bill AI as a reminder to send their first invoice.

Result

As a fast moving startup it was important to think of simple ways to achieve the outcome or goal. For the AirBill MVP this was an improvement that. As a product designer often working in small teams it’s important to interpret the goal of the stakeholders and help guide them to the best solution.