Overview
— ROLE
Content Designer
— TIMELINE
Q4 2025 (3 months)
— TEAM
Product Manager
Product Designer
Graphic Designer
Engineering
I designed and wrote the onboarding experience for Text Request’s Free Trial launch.
My Contributions:
- Defined onboarding content strategy
- Designed interactive feature discovery experience
- Wrote onboarding and conversion-focused UX copy
- Created lifecycle email communications
- Partnered with Product, Design, and Engineering
- Helped shape trial-to-paid conversion experience
Challenge
Business Challenge
Text Request wanted to create a new acquisition channel by launching its first-ever free trial experience. Competitors already offered free trials, while prospective customers had to purchase a paid plan before experiencing Text Request.
Goals:
- - Increase customer acquisition
- - Improve conversion rates
- - Reduce early churn
- - Help users quickly understand product value
User Challenge
New users needed a clear path to discovering product value during a limited 14-day trial.
- Because users only had 14 days to evaluate the product, they needed a fast path to understanding whether Text Request could solve their communication needs. We needed to go beyond teaching features and ensure prospective customers discovered value quickly enough to make a purchase decision.
Process
Guiding Feature Discovery
Design Goal
Help users discover value quickly without overwhelming them with information.
Onboarding Guide
Rather than presenting users with a static list of features, I designed an interactive onboarding guide that acted as a roadmap through the trial experience. I looked at user data, as well as speaking with our Success and Support teams to determine the key features first time users would most likely be interested in.
Each dropdown provided a brief, informative overview of the feature or features within the category and then link to the specific page or launch the feature directly from there. Additionally, a secondary button linked users to relevant help docs that expanded on what the feature could do and how to use it.
Banner and Time Remaining
Throughout the trial, users needed visibility into how much time remained while maintaining easy access to onboarding resources and conversion options. This was achieved through several methods.
For informing them of their remaining time, a constant, blue banner appeared at the top of the platform on every page. This banner updated every day to remind users of how many days left they had. The onboarding guide went one step further, informing users of their number of days and adding a visual progress bar.
For converting, users could select the Sign Up! option in the navigation menu, click the Sign Up! button in the top of the onboarding guide (the most popular option), or click the button in the When You're Ready… dropdown option within the guide.
Lifecycle Messaging
Email Communication
Due to the nature of the free trial and its restrictions compared to a regular account, we had to make a new version of our usual welcome email. This included the tone, structure, and overall goal of the email.
Our usual welcome email didn't try to sell users on Text Request, because they had already purchased it. Free Trial users needed to be informed, as well as sold to so we could achieve a conversion, while also maintaining our usual friendly voice and tone.
Welcome email goals:
- Reinforce value proposition
- Highlight key features
- Set expectations
I also drafted, and with our Graphic Designer, designed a last day email that went out on the user's final day of free trial to remind them that it was ending and try to persuade them to convert if they were interested.
Provided a fun, upbeat attitude while reminding them everything transfers
Section 2 informed, and tried to sell them on, key features of Text Request
The last section provided them with all relevant help information
The last day reminder and final attempt at getting a conversion
Constraints
Engineering Constraints
Users could only message their own phone number during the trial.
This limitation existed because:
- - 10DLC registration incurs costs
- - Registration occurs after conversion
Organizational Constraints
The project experienced:
- - Leadership transitions
- - Shifting priorities
- - Limited engineering bandwidth
These factors required ongoing alignment and scope adjustments.
Outcomes
616
Free Trial Accounts
136
- Total Conversions
23%
- Reduction in Same-Month Churn
140
- Accounts Utilized Onboarding Guide
The Free Trial experience established a new acquisition channel for Text Request, generating 616 trial registrations and 136 conversions in its first six months. The initiative also contributed to lower early churn and increased adoption of higher-tier plans.
Takeaways
Authentic Experiences Matter
One of the biggest lessons from this project was that constraints designed to protect the business can sometimes reduce the customer’s ability to experience the product’s value.
Because trial users could only message their own phone number, the experience differed from how paying customers actually use Text Request. Given the opportunity to iterate, I would explore alternative limitations, such as message caps, that preserve a more authentic product experience while still managing operational costs.
Discovery Requires Iteration
Our user analytics showed that 14.2% of users interacted with onboarding guide’s feature discovery dropdowns.
While the guide generated the highest number of visits to the conversion page, this revealed an opportunity to experiment with alternative onboarding patterns and information architectures.