A service design approach • Yoast

From patterns to priorities

Before the team had redesigned a single screen, it took a way to understand and communicate what did not work. They had to uncover what had to change to fix people’s experience in a way that also contributed to reaching our corporate goals. Service design tools, especially Customer Journey Maps and Service Blueprints, came into play here.

The Customer Journey Mapping helped visualize what users experienced through the detection through installation and initial applications. It not only underlines the steps that customers take, but also where they are confused, hesitant or fall off. Based on support talks, surveys and analyzes, the Journey Map revealed several problems. One of these problems was a lack of early instructions, which, among other things, led to missing configuration steps.

Before we became effective, we wanted to define the success by determining KPIs. This is an essential step. It will help to form the direction of the service and the experience that you will design. Instead of only regarding onboarding as a user interface problem, the service Blueprint mapped every user campaign in addition to the systems, processes and people behind it. This included content, customer support, notifications and work in the Shopify’s own platform restrictions.

Since it connects what is visible with the user, with what happens behind the scenes, a service blueprint was of central importance for the project. There was a common reference point from UX to development, support and marketing. By assigning each phase as a separate blueprint, the team could prioritize fast victories and at the same time keep an eye on a longer-term onboard view.

It converted a complex, cross -functional problem into something that everyone could contribute to. The blueprint has helped to simplify improvements, build up and test it in smaller, clearer parts.

A real example: transform uncertainty into security for larger businesses

One of the more surprising and important insights from our service blueprinting process concerned the scaling. We found that the app felt quickly and reaction quickly for smaller Shopify shops, but had a completely different experience. For business with tens of thousands of products and pages, the initial processing and indexing step can take between a few minutes to a few hours.

The problem? We didn’t tell the users. Small shops would see how your data is almost instantly reflected. Large shops landed on an empty dashboard without the system still working in the background. From the user’s point of view, it looked like nothing was going to happen.

We addressed this with a number of small but deliberate changes. First of all, we introduced a proper charging state with messaging, in which what happened. Then we added an e -mail field to this screen in which the user must be provided with the option to notify the setup. When you enter your e -mail, you will receive a confirmation message as soon as everything is finished.

It’s a small detail, but one that feels that experience feels. Instead of confusion or doubts, users now get feedback, a feeling of transparency and a way to get involved again later. And for us it is a concrete example of why aligning the front end and the back end of service design is actually important.

Tom, what problem did you see that this project made a priority?

With our Yoast SEO for Shopify app, we strive to offer our users a real, tangible value. It starts to understand your experiences from the moment you install the app. With a combination of user surveys, interviews, support requests analyzes and product analyzes, we have found that clear patterns appeared.

There were three main stimulus points that we heard and saw again and again:

1. Lack of instructions: Many users simply didn’t know how to use the app effectively. You installed it, but were not sure what you should do besides optimizing your business.
2. Unclear added value: We have found that crucial steps, such as the conclusion of the settings of the site presentation, were frequently skipped, the immediate SEO advantages. This told us that users did not see the connection between setup campaigns and real results.
3. Hesitate to deal with the free test version: The users were careful when it came to testing the app, not sure what the test version contained or whether it was really risk -free.

All of these findings pointed out one thing: the onboarding experience has not done its job. It led, calmed down or demonstrated no value early enough. We visualized all of these problems in a detailed customer Journey Map and helped ourselves to enlarge wider patterns. We found different types of users where she fell and what confused her. This card became an important teaching instrument and helped us to redesign the onboarding as a top priority project.

What would the success look like from the user’s perspective?

From the user’s point of view, the success of the first interaction with our app meant and supported. We wanted users to land on boarding flow and understand two things immediately: How the app can help you improve the SEO of your Shopify shop and what steps you have to take first to see results.

That meant offering a smooth, more intuitive experience. An experience that clearly announced the value in advance, improved instructions for the first furnishing steps and the highlighted key functions. It should also assure users that it is safe and worthwhile to try the app.

First, we wanted to help users quickly understand the full value of the app. In addition, we wanted users to perform important onboarding actions, e.g. We were emotionally aimed at feeling clarity, trust and motivation to continue.

If a user could say: “I know exactly what this app is doing, what I have to do, and I can already see that it works for me.” Then we knew that we were on the right track.

Can you explain your service design process and how to help the teams?

After we had shown the current onboarding trip and identified the most important pain points, we knew that we didn’t just need a better user interface. We needed a more holistic service experience. Here the service blueprinting came into play.

We have started to define clear KPIs in order to measure the effects of our changes, e.g. B. the final rates for critical onboarding steps, time and value function recognition. These metrics gave us a common definition of success and helped the direction of the user experience.

Then we used the service Blueprinting method to reinterpret onboarding as a complete service. A service blueprint assigns relationships between people, processes and touches to a customer trip. It helped us to see both what the user sees and everything that happens behind the scenes to support this experience, from the content strategy to customer support and technical requirements.

This view of the system level was of essential importance for the orientation of several teams such as UX, development, marketing and support. Everyone could see how their work was connected to the experience of the user and where coordination was required. It also helped us to identify internal gaps, inefficiencies or dependencies at an early stage so that we can design around them.

In order to move quickly and to deliver value, we broke the optimized onboarding trip into phases in order to prioritize the most direct effects for users. This approach enables us to send improvements faster and at the same time remain in a long-term vision for the onboarding experience.

We called the entire effort based on a way of thinking for service design. We have enlarged ourselves to understand the system users with which users interact, not just the screens they see. Service Bluepinting helped us to take what users experienced (empathy and insight) to identify internal blockers and structural releases in clear hypotheses. It was not just about delivering onboarding, but about improving the service behind it.

How do you follow whether it helps users get started faster?

From the beginning we knew that the redesign of onboarding was not just about starting something new. We wanted to prove that it made a difference. So we have defined clear KPIs to measure the effects of our changes. To make this measurable, we have created the Tracking infrastructure that is required to monitor the user in every step.

But we didn’t stop in numbers. We also recorded qualitative tools for customer listeners, things such as in-app feedback, support discussions and interviews. How we wanted to understand how users feel when they move through onboarding.

Are there still improvements?

Absolutely, because onboarding is never really “done”. It is a developing experience and we see it as a continuous opportunity to better support our users.

The next phase of our optimized onboarding trip will concentrate on the deepening of the instructions we offer and help users go beyond setting up and make more meaningful improvements in your business. We take a look at how we can take better knowledge, suggest the next steps based on the context and enable users to empty even more value with trust.

Although I cannot yet share all the details, I can say the following: We do not stop to bring users through the door. We focus on helping them thrive as soon as they are inside.

Good things come. As always, we listen to our users exactly to ensure that what we build really meets their needs.

Pro tips for starting with the service Blueprinting

Do you remember to use a service blueprinting in your own work? Here are a few things that helped us:

• Start with a real trip: The assignment is most useful if it is grounded in the actual user behavior. Use support data, interviews and analyzes to anchor the blueprint in real problems.
• Define what “success” means in advance: Before assigning, direct your team to which results you work (e.g. faster time up to value, fewer declines).
• Map front-end + back-end: Not only follow what users see. Enter internal systems, support workflows, technical dependencies and everything that affects experience.
• Keep roles visible: Show which team is responsible for which process. It keeps the conversations focused and the cooperation is more smooth.
• Do not overcome: A blueprint does not have to be a polished artifact. Just start. The value is to make teams aligned, not what it looks like.

Blueprinting does not replace good UX research or draft, but it is a powerful way to combine it with the broader experience. If you work on something across function, it is absolutely worth trying it.

A common understanding drives real changes

This project was not just about sending a new river. We wanted to design with a clear, common understanding of our users and the processes that support them.

Our service Blueprint proved to be a great tool to align teams on a single goal: to help users quickly recognize the value of the Yoast SEO for Shopify app. On the way we covered friction, mapped dependencies and is based on something more consistent, supporting and more effective.

Thoughtful onboarding is the beginning of everything that follows. By making these early minutes clearly, calm and in the real results, we not only improved the setup times and reached our KPIs, but also changed our work, design and listening.

The work continues and focuses on feature onboarding, improved instructions and even future WordPress experiences. From now on we apply these lessons. We will design by putting users in the first place, creating teamwork for transparency and creating experience that is not just on board.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before he came to Yoast, he worked for a first-class web design magazine, in which he developed a sharp understanding of how great content can be created.

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