Onboarding for activation and retention
Depop’s biggest growth blocker was that 90%+ of new users took no action on day zero. I led a cross-functional redesign of the end-to-end onboarding journey.
From app download to homepage, we achieved the goal of turning first sessions into meaningful actions.
We introduced AI-powered recommendations to personalise the flow, clarified messaging, and overhauled the UI for speed and accessibility. These changes unlocked early trust, improved activation, and lifted retention — directly unblocking growth.
Before
After
-
Depop is a global resale marketplace with over 43 million users, mostly Gen Z.
-
Senior Product Designer (strategy, UI, testing)
-
Staff PM, EM, 4 Engineers, Brand, Creative, Research, Growth
-
6 months, 2024
Before, users faced too many steps, too little guidance, and no compelling reason to act. This made onboarding 2x slower than competitors, with 30% skipping outright.
We streamlined onboarding by cutting steps, layering in guidance, and designing early action drivers. This cleaner, faster journey set users up for success from the start — and it worked:
Day-0 likes increased by 26%+ as users engaged sooner.
Product views rose by 28%+ within 14 days, showing sustained activity.
Onboarding completion improved by 54%, directly unblocking growth.