Startup Studio — Startup Studio · Tashkent
Brand-new mobile product launch. Onboarding 17% → 58%, retention rate 63%, +18% on key CTAs. Design system with dark mode and Local Variables.
Context
Studio was launching a consumer mobile product in a new niche. Team — three front-end developers, one PM, me. MVP deadline — 14 weeks from first sketch to App Store.
Problem
Activation in v1 onboarding (first useful action in the app) sat at 17%. Analytics showed users dropped on verification and on category-of-interest selection — the two longest screens. In parallel, the team wanted to ship dark mode from day one and lay a design system foundation for three future studio products.
Role
I joined as the sole senior designer. Owner of onboarding, key user flows, and the design system. Tight loop with PM (priorities) and front-end (Flutter handoff).
Process
- Onboarding audit. Heatmap across 8 screens, Amplitude event export, 6 moderated interviews with both activated and dropped users.
- Redesign. Cut onboarding from 8 to 5 screens, moved verification to a background process, turned interest selection into an optional “bonus step” inside the main flow.
- Design system. Token model in Figma Local Variables:
color/,space/,radius/,motion/. Dark / light theme support at the alias level. 64 components in the library. - A/B release. Old and new onboarding ran in parallel for two weeks on 50/50 traffic.
Outcome
- Onboarding activation: 17% → 58%.
- D7 retention: 63% vs 41% on the old flow.
- +18% CTR on key CTAs after the home-screen redesign.
- Design system migrated to the studio’s second product in 2 weeks instead of the planned 6.