OHHLOOK: Sign Up Redesign
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SWITCHING TO UX DESIGN: De-cluttering a Confusing Onboarding Flow
PROJECT OVERVIEW
OhhLook is a Southern California-based service directory that helps users discover and connect with local providers — from electricians to estheticians. The platform aims to make it easy for small business owners to create a provider profile, get discovered, and grow their presence in the local market. While the site was getting a visual design refresh by yours truly (see here), a larger issue surfaced in conversation with the CEO and web developer: users weren’t signing up — or worse, they started and then dropped off completely.
We decided to hit pause on polishing the UI and dig into the real problem: the provider sign-up flow was overwhelming, confusing, and ultimately, unusable.
OHHLOOK'S TWO MAIN PATHWAYS
OhhLook serves two users: customers who browse and book services, and providers who create paid profiles. While customer sign-up was simple, provider sign-up — the platform’s revenue driver — was confusing and difficult to complete.
CUSTOMER
PROVIDER
THE PROBLEM
The original provider sign-up flow was not designed with user experience in mind. Built primarily by the developer without dedicated UX input, the process was long, unclear, and full of unnecessary friction. Key issues included:
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Lack of clarity: It wasn’t obvious how or where to sign up as a provider. Users were routed through a “customer” flow and only later given access to a provider account.
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Too many steps: It took seven disjointed steps to become a provider — including logging in twice and choosing a membership before even getting to the provider profile.
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Confusing interface: The sign-up CTA lived inside a second box halfway down the provider page — easily missed and inconsistent with best practices.
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Poor visibility of key actions: Critical buttons like “Go Live” were hard to find or lacked clear hierarchy.
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Users were overwhelmed: There was too much information upfront, with no prioritization or progressive disclosure.
This overwhelming and unclear experience led to significant drop-off during onboarding — a critical moment in the user journey.
DIGGING DEEPER: Research and Analysis
HOW DO COMPETITORS OFFER AN EASY SIGN UP?
These platforms don’t just ask for info — they show users why it matters. I wanted to bring that sense of ease, clarity, and motivation to Ohhlook’s provider flow.
WHAT ARE OHHLOOK'S MAJOR USABILITY PROBLEMS?
I ran a full heuristic sweep of the original provider flow and identified consistent violations in the following areas:
VISIBILITY OF SYSTEM STATUS
Users weren't told what step they were on, what came next, and how much more to expect.
AESTHETIC AND MINIMALIST DESIGN
Too many fields, no visual hierarchy, making it overwhelming for users.
RECOGNITION OVER RECALL
Language and labelling weren't intuitive--for example "Go Live" wasn't visible.
HELP AND DOCUMENTATION
No tooltips, examples, time estimations, or support for users along the way.
THE SOLUTION: Remedy Framework and Feedback
My goal wasn’t just to “clean things up.” I wanted to create momentum in the onboarding process — to help new providers get started with confidence, not confusion.
CONTENT AND UX REFINEMENTS
REDUCED INPUT FATIGUE
Cut down on redundant questions like "Introduction", "Experience", and "What I do" into one section.
DEFAULT BRANDED IMAGE
Ensures every profile looks polished, even without uploading business images
MICROCOPY AND TIPS
Help text, example bios, and subtle tips keep users on track and help them create strong content.
CLEAR "GO LIVE" CTA
No more guessing --It's visible and actionable for users to publish their profiles.
MEMBERSHIP UPGRADE
Instead of making this part of the flow (a block to signing up), add it onto the profile page.
REFINING THROUGH FEEDBACK
After presenting the flow, I made four major adjustments based on stakeholder feedback:
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Removed Time Estimates: like “~2 min to complete” after the CEO noted they might deter users from starting.
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Adjusted the "Go Live" Button Styling: my original red CTA was too aggressive for the brand (in an attempt to draw attention), so we landed on a more visible but softer design to ensure it still stood out.
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Removed the Second Signup Box: Instead, we added a clean, direct sign-up CTA in the hero section of at the top of the provider landing page, making it immediately clear where and how to begin. At the CEO's request, we also added Google and Facebook signup options to streamline account creation and reduce friction for new users.
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BEFORE VS. AFTER: High Fidelity
FROM POLISH TO PURPOSE: Takeaways and Next Steps
Outcomes and Reflections
This redesign isn’t just cleaner — it’s strategic. It:
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Lowers the barrier to entry
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Gives users more control and context
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Builds trust by showing value early on
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Supports long-term growth by encouraging upgrades
This project emphasized a crucial lesson: UI polish can’t fix broken UX.
It’s easy to get caught up in styling, but if users can’t complete a core task with clarity and confidence, the visuals mean nothing. By reframing the sign-up through the lens of progressive disclosure and cognitive ease, we not only made it cleaner — we made it usable.
NEXT STEPS
While testing and launch are still in progress, the redesign was approved by stakeholders and built with best practices for usability and progressive onboarding. Once live, I plan to track task completion, conversion rates, and feedback to continue improving the flow.
Key metrics to monitor:
% of users who complete the two-step onboarding: to gauge if the new entry flow reduces drop-off.
% of profiles that go live after signup: to ensure the redesigned “Go Live” CTA is visible and effective.
% of users who upgrade their membership: to track how accessible and compelling the upgrade path is.
Time to complete onboarding: to measure if the new structure shortens the setup process.
