Overview
Our checkout flow had grown organically over three years and ended up as a 7-step process that confused users and hurt conversions. I led the end-to-end redesign, working closely with product, engineering, and data to understand where people were dropping off and why.
The existing flow asked users to create an account before they could check out, spread address and payment across separate pages, and had no clear progress indicator. Drop-off was highest at step 3 and step 6. Users in testing described it as 'exhausting.'
How it came together
Discovery and research
We ran moderated usability sessions with 12 participants and reviewed six months of session recordings. The data pointed clearly to two pain points: forced account creation and the lack of a guest checkout path.
Journey mapping
I mapped the full checkout journey across device types, identifying 14 distinct friction points. We prioritized by impact and effort, which helped us align quickly with engineering on what to tackle first.
Prototyping and testing
We tested three concepts in Figma before writing a line of code. The winning concept collapsed the flow to two steps: contact and payment on one screen, review and confirm on the next.
Delivery and iteration
We shipped in two phases. Phase one was the structural change. Phase two addressed edge cases surfaced in the first two weeks of live data. Conversion lifted 34% within 30 days of the full rollout.
Measured over 30 days post-launch against the same period the prior year. Mobile conversion improved even more, up 41%.