User research drove a 600% increase in onboarding completion rates for Modumate, transforming signups from a bottleneck into a growth engine.
Modumate
Go-to-Market Journey and Onboarding
Product Design • GTM Strategy • UX Research
Turning First Impressions into Lasting Engagement
Modumate is a collaborative design platform for architects and builders. As we shifted our focus to a new customer segment, we realized our onboarding flow wasn’t supporting growth—it was actually slowing us down. My challenge was to reimagine onboarding so new users could see real value fast, without getting bogged down in unnecessary steps or training.
Role
We were expanding quickly, and our audience was changing. The original onboarding process worked for early adopters but left our new ICP confused and disengaged.
As Lead Product Designer, I owned the end-to-end redesign: conducting user research, mapping journeys, building prototypes, and collaborating with product and engineering to launch and iterate. By focusing on user research, rapid iteration, and data-driven design, we set out to create an onboarding flow that would not only convert but also retain and empower users—fueling our go-to-market ambitions.
Goals
Process & Approach
Our first challenge was a big one: pivoting from architects to small builders as our core users. The product’s powerful 3D and CAD tools were overkill for architects but a game-changer for builders with no CAD or rendering experience. To understand this new audience, we kicked off with persona development—mapping out needs, pain points, and workflows.
Crafting a User Journey
Next, we analyzed user journeys, focusing on the roughest patches: the mobile-to-desktop handoff and the web-to-app transition. Since Modumate runs on Unreal and requires a desktop PC, but 70% of our ad traffic was mobile, our onboarding had to bridge that gap seamlessly.
Test, Iterate, Deprecate
We ran interviews, user tests, and A/B experiments to figure out what actually got people building. The big insight? Speed matters. Getting users into a project—no installs, no friction—was the unlock. That led us to pixel streaming: users could try Modumate in their browser instantly, no downloads required.
Solution
The shift from mobile to desktop was mainly through email, using A/B testing to confirm its effectiveness over QR codes and magic links. Email was crucial for encouraging software adoption in the self-serve funnel, eliminating the need for demos by personalizing notifications.
Email designs were aligned with the app's aesthetic, serving as user-specific guides. These dynamically generated emails, informed by user data and journey stage, included direct links to projects, fostering user engagement and progress towards completing their first 3D project and exporting renderings. Not only did the emails lead to sales but they reduced the burden on demo and training calls.
Impact
Modumate’s sales-first go-to-market strategy delivered a 600% increase in sales within the first six months. Building on this momentum, we developed a self-serve sales model supported by a new marketing website, a streamlined onboarding journey, and robust telemetry. This led to onboarding over 6,000 customers in just six months—turning seamless onboarding from a roadmap item into a real growth driver. Automated A/B testing has ensured improvement as well.
Learnings & Takeaways
- Switching ICPs is never just a marketing problem—it’s a product and UX challenge, too.
- Bridging the mobile-desktop gap required both technical and creative solutions (pixel streaming was a game changer).
- A/B testing and user feedback should drive every iteration—our best ideas came straight from user pain points.
- The right onboarding flow isn’t just about getting users in the door—it’s about making them feel like they belong there.