Defining a guided first-time use experience to drive activation and early value for a newly launched financial product.
First-time use • Activation strategy • MVP optimization • Small business finance • Product-led growth
2023
LegalZoom
Project context
Customer problem
Early LZ Books customers struggled to understand where to start and how the product would benefit them. Without guidance or early payoff, many never took a first action or realized the product’s value.
Objective
Increase product activation and retention by helping new LZ Books customers quickly take their first meaningful action and experience clear, confidence-building value early in their journey.
My role
Lead product designer responsible for defining the activation strategy, first-time use vision, and MVP experience, while coaching and scaling execution across designers and product partners in a high-growth environment.
Key decisions made
Activation as the product
Reframed first-time use from a deprioritized onboarding flow into the primary mechanism for delivering early customer value and driving long-term product success.
Outcome
Established activation as a top product priority, aligning design, product, and engineering around getting customers to their first benefit faster.
Value-first MVP
Defined a clear activation north star and experience principles, then led a cross-functional sprint to scope and sequence an MVP that maximized customer benefit while balancing delivery effort.
Outcome
Shipped a guided, personalized first-time experience that reduced friction, built confidence, and accelerated time to value.
