Research problem
Merchants with limited experience of digital financial products struggled with long forms, unfamiliar terminology, and KYC requirements.
Razorpay · Product design and research
Onboarding and KYC
How can we optimize onboarding for merchants with low digital literacy?
I led research and design for a mobile-first onboarding flow for merchants who were new to digital financial products. We studied where they struggled with KYC requirements and used the findings to redesign the flow.
KYC and onboarding
First-time digital merchants
Under NDA
My role
Primary UX Designer & Researcherresearch, synthesis, principles, interaction design
Timeline
Dec 2021 – Feb 2022three months of research, design, and usability testing
Team
4 product designersincluding me, with one UX writer
Methods
Recorded session review, support ticket analysis, cross-functional workshop, competitive analysis, bodystorming, usability testing
At a glance
We studied where merchants were getting stuck during KYC onboarding.
Research approach
We reviewed recordings of more than 50 onboarding sessions and 150 support tickets, then conducted a cross-functional workshop, competitive analysis, and bodystorming exercise.
Outcome
The findings informed a mobile-first flow that presented one question at a time. After launch, conversion increased while support tickets and completion time decreased.
Project context
Small businesses new to digital payments were struggling to complete onboarding.
As small businesses moved online during the pandemic, many first-time digital merchants attempted to join Razorpay. The onboarding flow required extensive business information for KYC, but it had been optimised primarily for desktop and experienced users.
The objective was to increase monthly transacting users while reducing onboarding support tickets.
Research approach
We used several methods to understand where merchants struggled and what guidance they needed.
Support ticket analysis
150+ tickets and 50+ onboarding sessions
Cross-functional workshop
Journey review and prioritisation
Competitive analysis
KYC fields, sequencing, and language
Bodystorming
Simulation of assisted account opening
01
Support ticket analysis
- Purpose
- Identify drop-off points, requirements merchants did not understand, and recurring reasons for contacting support.
- Method
- I reviewed more than 150 KYC-related support tickets alongside recordings of over 50 onboarding sessions.
- Output
- I grouped recurring questions and drop-off points into themes, then mapped them to the onboarding flow.
02
Cross-functional workshop
- Purpose
- Review the journey with product, design, and content partners and discuss why merchants might be dropping off.
- Method
- I facilitated a workshop in which cross-functional partners worked through the onboarding flow from a merchant's perspective.
- Output
- The group documented usability and comprehension issues, compared them with the support ticket themes, and prioritised them through dot voting.
03
Competitive analysis
- Purpose
- Understand how comparable financial products structured KYC onboarding and explained compliance requirements.
- Method
- We compared required fields, field order, interaction patterns, and terminology across competitor onboarding flows.
- Output
- The analysis gave the team examples of common KYC conventions and clearer terminology to consider during design.
04
Bodystorming
- Purpose
- Examine how a relationship manager guides someone through a long form and explains sensitive information requests.
- Method
- We used bodystorming to simulate opening a bank account with assistance from a relationship manager.
- Output
- We documented the language, pacing, explanations, and prompts used during the simulation.
Key findings
Merchants needed clearer explanations of KYC requirements and better visibility into their progress.
- 01
Merchants found it difficult to estimate the time and effort required.
The number of questions and limited progress information made the onboarding process feel open-ended.
- 02
Short field labels did not provide enough explanation.
Merchants interpreted unfamiliar business and compliance terms differently, even when the requested answer was brief.
- 03
Requests for sensitive information required additional context.
Merchants wanted to understand why information was required and how Razorpay would use it.
- 04
Explanations, pacing, and prompts clarified the simulated account-opening process.
We used these behaviors as inputs when designing guidance for KYC onboarding.
The redesigned experience
The new onboarding flow was designed based on four principles.
The desktop-first flow did not work well for merchants completing onboarding on mobile.
Use a mobile-first layout
Optimize the complete onboarding flow for the primary device used by this merchant segment.
The long form felt open-ended, and merchants could not estimate the effort required.
Present one question at a time
Frame fields as clear questions with an explicit next step, following the pacing of an assisted account-opening conversation.
Short field labels did not explain unfamiliar business and compliance terms.
Use progressive disclosure
Provide definitions and supporting information when merchants need them without overloading the initial screen.
Merchants wanted context before providing sensitive business information.
Explain sensitive information requests
State why each piece of information is required and how it will be used.
Usability testing
We evaluated the redesigned onboarding with 11 merchants.
The sessions evaluated usability, understanding of KYC requirements, and preference for the question-by-question format.
73% of participants, 8 of 11 merchants, preferred the redesigned onboarding. Testing also identified usability issues to address before launch.
Impact
Product metrics improved after the redesigned onboarding launched.
63%increase in onboarding conversion
50%reduction in onboarding support tickets
64%reduction in form-filling time
I received the MVP award for my contribution to the project. Detailed product material remains under NDA.
What I learned
What I would change
The first primary research study took place late in the project, which limited the time available to incorporate findings before launch. In later projects, I planned exploratory and evaluative research earlier so that the team had more time to respond to participant feedback.