ILLUSTRATION & MOTION
Jibin Joseph
Abhishek Balan
Midhun Mohan
Sarath Chandran
product design
Me
Nandini Gangal
DEVELOPERS
yadhu manoharan
Prateek Srivastava
/ The Challenge
In 2022, CRED faced the challenge of refining its onboarding process to handle rapid user growth and an increasingly complex suite of services. The goal was to create a seamless, informative, and engaging onboarding experience that not only attracted new members but also clearly articulated the platform's unique benefits and offerings.
/ our approach
Building a conversational journey
Focused on creating a modular and flexible onboarding experience that would facilitate rapid experimentation while maintaining narrative strength. The approach centered around several key principles:
Building a tight and engaging narrative with delightful presentation
Creating a visual language that felt conversational between brand and member
Implementing experiments to validate hypotheses about funnel conversions
Ensuring proper gating criteria to filter eligible users efficiently
Optimizing the payment intercept screen to boost business metrics
Over the years, experiments and patch fixes had led to a disconnect in the app's storytelling. It became imperative to bring a sense of delight and exclusivity to the experience while making the flow modular for easier maintenance.
/ Solution: Enhancing the Reward Flow
The crucial element of the onboarding flow was the reward redemption loop. A payment intercept was introduced at the end to prompt users to make credit card bill payments and experience the core reward loop. This addition helped boost key business metrics and NPS.
Key moments like Coin Gift Credit and Card fetching sequences were added to increase narrative strength and transparency. These highlighted the connection between paying bills and earning rewards, making the value proposition clear to new users.
/ Scalable Design System
Evolution, not revolution
CRED's 2021 design evolution focused on expanding the design system without complete architectural overhaul. The team reskinned the flow to the new style, prioritizing the Payment Intercept screen.
NeoPopUI implementation offered enhanced flexibility and visual impact, with careful attention to transitions and animations.
Data collected over two years validated major changes and ensured the flow would scale with company growth. This data-driven approach grounded design decisions in user behavior and business metrics.
/ Experimentation & Validation
Simplifying the Core Loop
The team conducted low-hanging experiments that helped validate hypotheses about funnel conversions. me and PM spent time testing changes that could potentially cause positive deltas in funnel conversions.
Enhancements focused on increasing users' understanding of the app's core loop: Pay bills → Earn CRED coins → Claim Reward. Screens were visually lightened and key steps highlighted to make the flow feel conversational rather than transactional.
/ Execution
The right members, right away
As CRED expanded its user base, the team recognized the need to evolve their gating criteria. This evolution aimed to filter eligible users more efficiently while maintaining the app's premium, members-only positioning. The growing scale of operations demanded smarter qualification processes to ensure only appropriate users entered the ecosystem.
To address this challenge, the team implemented alternate criteria steps for various user segments. These included specialized CIBIL setup flows, thoughtfully designed "Report Not Found" experiences, and enhanced waitlist screens. Each of these touchpoints was crafted to maintain brand standards while efficiently managing the growing influx of potential members.
/ NOT AN AFTETHOUGHT
motion with meaning
One key focus area was reimagining animations within the flow. The team reevaluated the pacing and visual style of the Lottie animations, enhancing the experience with tactiles and sound effects.
This attention to animation details supports the overall narrative approach—making the onboarding feel like a thoughtful conversation between the brand and new members rather than just a functional process.
/ OBSERVED IMPACT
Business results that matter
The strategic redesign of the onboarding flow had significant positive impacts on both business metrics and user satisfaction:
The payment intercept successfully nudged users to make credit card payments, boosting metrics
Enhanced narrative strength led to improved NPS scores
Highlighting the onboarding reward created better conversions
Modular design allowed for faster experimentation and iteration
Key moments increased transparency and understanding of the value proposition
~~ FOOTNOTE : Narrative over complexity
⚘
The CRED onboarding flow evolved from a utilitarian process to a delightful experience that effectively communicated the app's core value proposition. As summarized by the designer: "My biggest takeaway was that the number of steps becomes secondary if your flows follow a tight and engaging narrative and delightful presentation on top with it."
Another important insight gained was how tech and design communicate. Ensuring design quality while giving ample tech and product flexibility proved to be a valuable learning experience.
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cred referral : designing for growth
dynamic and complex system, enabling member invite mechanism at scale
onboarding
CRED's onboarding is a meticulously designed, members-only entry process that verifies user eligibility, introduces key platform benefits, and ensures a seamless first-time experience.
ROLE / SR. PRODUCT DESIGNER
UI DESIGN / UX DESIGN / PRODUCT STRATEGY
played a key role in CRED’s onboarding experience by optimizing the user funnel, refining the reward redemption loop, and leading two major design revamps to scale the for a growing user base.