Onboarding for Merlyn - 2025
CLIENT
Merlyn Mind
RESPONSIBILITIES
UX, UI, UXR, Design System
RESULTS
73% increase in onboarding completion rate
41% reduction in user drop-off during onboarding
56% increase in feature adoption post-onboarding
28% reduction in onboarding support tickets
At launch, Merlyn prioritized speed over a fully optimized onboarding experience, leading to high support needs and uneven adoption. We quickly made redesigning onboarding a top priority.
Merlyn’s B2B2C model created unique challenges. Deployment varied: large districts used enterprise installs, mid-sized ones relied on IT admins, and small schools often had teachers installing it themselves.
Adding to the complexity, Merlyn’s hybrid hardware-software setup spanned Mac, Windows, ChromeOS, and interactive panels, with multiple components — a Chrome extension, proprietary remote, and USB receiver. This fragmented the journey, creating dozens of confusing entry points.
Simplifying onboarding was essential to reduce friction, drive adoption, and set users up for long-term succes
Key MetricsActivation Rate:
Are users completing setup and reaching value quickly?
Adoption Rate:
Are users discovering and using key features?
Support Load:
Are onboarding issues driving tickets and overhead?
Retention Signals:
Are early drop-offs eroding long-term engagement?
User Testing
We conducted usability tests and interviews with 50 users. Here’s what we learned from teachers and IT admins navigating onboarding for the first time:
Where the Experience Broke Down
To build a broader view, we mapped the full journey across different user types: Merlyn employees, channel partners, IT admins, and teachers.
Analyzing the Results
The journey map revealed most poor experiences were in the teacher journey. Teachers often set up the product without IT support, leading to confusion and frustration. This helped us prioritize improving teacher onboarding to remove friction and boost adoption.
Customer Roles + Entry Points
Research showed where users struggled, but onboarding was still too complex. Flow mapping helped us consolidate dozens of paths into six entry points. From there, users were guided to a unified start, allowing the experience to adapt to their role without adding complexity.
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Simplifying Onboarding with a Guided Landing Page
In early prototypes, we tested a centralized landing page to simplify setup. It guided users through system checks, prompting downloads only when needed. Completed steps were surfaced for visibility, helping users troubleshoot later if issues came up.
Measuring Improvements Through Comparative Testing
To validate the new onboarding flow, we set up the same user testing structure as before, but this time with the redesigned experience. We tested with another group of 50 users, using the same usability tasks and metrics to keep the comparison consistent.
From Wireframes to Final Design
With the flow validated, we shifted to refining visual design, tone, and interactions. We aligned the experience to Merlyn’s brand, introduced typography and color, and ensured accessibility. These studies show the evolution from wireframes to a polished, production-ready design.
The Final Experience
The final design delivered a streamlined, role-adaptive onboarding experience. It guides users step-by-step, offers contextual help, and provides clear progress feedback, all aligned with Merlyn’s brand. This prototype reflects everything learned through research, testing, and iteration to transform a fragmented journey into a clear, intuitive one.
Launch + Beyond
The redesigned onboarding experience launched successfully, delivering:
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35% higher user retention by reducing onboarding friction
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45% increase in engagement with key features post-onboarding
- Scalable, role-adaptive paths to meet diverse user needs
Next Steps
- Monitor user metrics to drive ongoing improvements
- A/B test onboarding flows to optimize effectiveness
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Expand role-based journeys for more personalized experiences
Redesigning Merlyn’s onboarding experience provided valuable insights into user behavior, engagement drivers, and UX best practices. This project reinforced the importance of:
- Balancing guidance with efficiency – Too much information overwhelms users; too little leaves them lost.
- Personalization – Users engage more when onboarding feels relevant to their needs.
- Data-driven iteration – Continuous testing and refinement lead to measurable improvements.
By applying these principles, we successfully transformed Merlyn’s onboarding into a seamless, engaging, and effective introduction to the platform.