Redesigning Vagaro’s Signup Process to Increase Conversions by 20%
Increasing conversions, improving lead quality, and making mobile signups easier than before.
Vagaro’s signup process had not been updated in 8+ years, becoming a roadblock to growth. The flow was long, hard to use on mobile, and designed more around collecting internal data than helping users get started quickly.
Data showed about 30% of users dropped off within the first three steps. At the same time, 76% of people were signing up on mobile, where the experience had the most friction.
I led the full redesign of the signup flow. I rebuilt it as a scalable system that balanced user speed, lead quality, mobile limitations, and sales-assisted needs.
THE PROBLEM
The Old Signup Flow Lost Users Before They Were Fully Committed
Users dropped off early due to friction and poor timing of information, impacting both conversion and sales follow-up.
The signup flow asked for too much information too early, which required a lot of scrolling on mobile and effort to fill up.
Step 2 asked users to choose their business type from too many options, which made it feel overwhelming. Even though most users completed it, data showed they were spending too much time deciding, adding avoidable friction.
Sales also lost around 15% of sales-assisted signups because customers felt uncomfortable sharing credit card details over the phone.
The real issue was not just removing fields. It was about reordering and timing the right information based on user intent, while still meeting the needs of Sales, Marketing, Analytics, and revenue goals.
GOAL
Designing Around User Intent
Our focus was on ensuring that every step balances user ease with business needs.
Instead of just trying to reduce the number of fields, we focused on when and why users provide information. We aligned the team around three key questions:
How can we make signing up easier early on without losing important business data?
How can we still get enough information for Sales and Marketing if users drop off?
How can we help users confidently enter payment details without disclosing information to our sales team?
These questions guided every decision in the signup flow.
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
A 3-Step Solution to Fix Onboarding
Focused on both User and Business Goals
Capturing Leads Without Losing Momentum
Streamlining the first step to boost conversion while serving Sales, Marketing, and Analytics
Step 1 had the highest drop-off and was the most complex to redesign, needing to meet the needs of multiple stakeholders while reducing scroll on mobile.
Key improvements:
Reduced inputs to only essential lead and tracking fields
Deferred business-specific details until later in the funnel
Added a short product video on desktop to communicate value
Designed mobile-first with primary actions above the fold and optimized input behaviors, including device and browser-based autofill
Focused on preserving user momentum while still capturing leads for Sales and clean identifiers for Analytics
This approach ensured faster progression for users, early value framing for Marketing, and higher-quality leads for business teams.
Preserving a “Lightweight Commitment” Step by Design
A trade-off to improve activation quality and long-term retention.
The Tradeoff
Step 2 had relatively high completion rates (90%) but asked users to choose from over 100 service options. From a pure conversion standpoint, removing it would have reduced friction further.
However, eliminating this step would have degraded onboarding quality and increased setup effort post-signup.
The Decision
Instead of removing the step, I clarified its purpose and reduced its cognitive load.
The redesigned step:
Presents only high-level business categories as selectable chips
Avoids exposing granular service options during signup
Remains visually lightweight and fast, especially on mobile
This step was intentionally retained because:
It creates early emotional investment and clarity
It powers AI-generated business descriptions later in onboarding
It enables pre-population of services and classes, reducing post-signup setup friction
We accepted one additional step in the funnel to improve activation quality and long-term retention, rather than optimizing solely for shortest-path conversion.
Designing for Trust, Speed, and Sales-Assisted Edge Cases
Building Confidence and Smooth Payments to Protect Conversions
The credit card step caused major drop-offs due to weak trust signals, lack of alternative payment options, and poor mobile optimization. A key pain point was the sales-assisted scenario; About 15% of sales-led signups stalled because users hesitated to share card details over the phone.
Key Improvements
Added clear security and trust indicators, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay to simplify payment entry
Optimized web and mobile inputs with autofill and smart field behaviors
Designed a secure sales-assisted flow:
Sales sends a one-time secure link via email or SMS
Users enter payment details privately
Users choose to either continue onboarding themselves or resume assisted support after payment
This approach preserved conversions, respected user trust, and handled sales-assisted edge cases without friction.
IMPACT
Results and Impact
Measurement and Impact
The redesigned funnel launched as an A/B-tested MVP across multiple regions over four weeks. We measured performance against the previous flow using metrics directly tied to revenue and lead quality.
+38%
Funnel Conversion Rate
Increased the percentage of site visitors who completed signup and entered payment, driving significantly more users to become paying accounts.
–12 pts
Step Drop-off Reduction
Reduced cumulative drop-off across steps from ~30% to 18%, with the largest gains in the first transition after simplifying early inputs.
+22 pts
Lead Capture Rate
Increased full contact capture in Step 1 from 62% to 84%, giving Sales higher-quality leads even when users did not complete payment.
Estimated Increase in ARR from New Users: The redesigned signup flow generated an estimated $2.4M in new annual recurring revenue, driven by higher paid conversion and improved sales recovery.
REFLECTION
Signup is not just a form. It’s a growth engine.
The real impact comes from timing, intent, and smart tradeoffs.
This project reinforced an important belief in my design approach: signup is not just a series of fields. It’s a connected business system.
The biggest improvements did not come from visual changes or simply removing inputs. They came from making clear decisions about:
What information truly matters
When users are ready to provide it
What should be intentionally left out
By considering user psychology, mobile behavior, revenue impact, and internal team workflows, we turned a fragile funnel into a scalable system. It now supports both self-serve users and sales-assisted signups without sacrificing trust or conversion.