Web Experience
Startup investment made simple
Project overview
DealMaker is a platform that helps companies to manage capital raises and investor relations, processing over $2B across 1.5M investments and 900+ raises.
As the sole product designer working with a cross-functional team, we redesigned DealMaker’s checkout experience—a critical yet outdated component of the platform.
The new checkout increased conversion rates by 60% and AOV by 15%.
The challenge
DealMaker pioneered online capital raises, but by 2023, its checkout experience had become outdated. As the market expanded into first-time startup investors, conversion rates slipped and new customers were becoming harder to close.
Objective
Modernize the checkout so that investing in a startup felt as simple as any other online shopping.
Constraints
Startup investing is a highly regulated industry. The checkout needs to adapt to different circumstances based on different regulatory scenarios. Mistakes are extremely costly.
Process
I followed the double diamond methodology due to its focus on research and synthesis. The high-stakes nature of this project meant we needed to get this right the first time, and so proper research would be critical.
Discovery
Initial research included a UX audit, stakeholder interviews, user interviews, competitor analysis, and a review of product analytics. Research was then aggregated for insight extraction using tools like user journey maps, user personas user flow diagrams, and more.
Define
Aside from tedious interactions and intimidating copy, a major finding was that our user base, who had once been less than 10% mobile users, was now more than 60% mobile, and growing. The new mobile checkout needed to be mobile first.
Develop
Initial ideation was a highly collaborative process. I conducted multiple whiteboarding sessions with stakeholders across the company. Collaboration was key as there were many questions I couldn't answer alone. Once we settled on an general approach I began the wireframing processes.
Deliver
Initial designs were tested using high fidelity prototypes with existing users and company staff. Once an MVP had been developed we continued iterating based on A/B and behavioral analytics.
Solution
Although at first there was a push to re-use old components, user testing made it clear that starting from scratch was the best approach.
Results
The project was a huge success with KPI improvements across the board.
Increased conversion rate
Conversion rates increase by around 60% based on A/B testing results.
Increased AOV
Average order value went up by around 15% based on A/B testing results.
Secured new clients
A number of clients that were previously on the fence about choosing DealMaker due to our poor checkout experience were closed by the sales team thanks to the updated checkout.