Xero
Practice Manager Activation

Problem

Xero offer a range of products to Accountants and Bookkeepers. As they have grown, there has become more overlap in the functions each solution provides, and a growing need to consolidate them into a single product experience. To do this, there have been clear milestones defined to allow for this to be technically feasible. One step on this journey required users to activate an Xero Practice Manager (XPM) account if they were only using Xero HQ. To do this, a targeted experience was designed to deliver the most seamless activation journey for different user types within practices.

Key success measures

  1. All Xero HQ-only practices will activate an XPM account

  2. All user types will understand how to complete the journey

Approach

Research was undertaken to understand users within the practice provisioning area of Xero’s business. After two rounds of customer research, clear themes around the mindsets and behaviours of users come through.

By consolidating the insights and 'point of view' statements of each participant from each round, user archetypes were developed to gain customer empathy. This research helped us to better tailor page structure, language, and content to drive higher activation rates.

Once initial designs were created, they were tested again using prototypes to ensure the intended behaviours were validated by users. This step uncovered minor changes which resulted in a final round of testing before production began.

Solution

Three versions of the Xero Practice Manager activation landing page were produced which catered to different user needs. For example - if a practice staff member did not have admin rights, they were presented with a different activation journey requiring them to talk to an admin within their practice.

Each of the pages followed a common layout as seen at the top of this page. There was emphasis given to helping users understand what XPM is and what would be required to set it up. From there a link to start a free 14 day trial allowed users to complete the activation process.

Key benefits were shown that spoke to needs identified through earlier research and educational videos provided users with more information if they needed it in an easy to digest format.

Deliverables

  • User research and archetype creation

  • Wireframes and mockups to share internally and discuss feasibility with engineering

  • Prototypes were produced for each of the 3 variants and these were tested with users

  • Final designs created and delivered with clear documentation and handoff conversations

User archetypes

Outcomes

The completed landing page allows users to understand the features and benefits of XPM for their practice. By empowering users with key information, delivered in a clear and digestible layout, they are now able to complete the process of activating a free 14 day trial for their practice.

This has resulted in an increased amount of practices completing the activation of Xero’s XPM software and is allowing them to proceed with plans to develop and deliver a unified product experience in the future.

Learnings

We had largely focussed on users experience in relation to the activation landing page, but later expanded this to include peripheral aspects of the user experience. This allowed us to deliver more targeted content in the final designs. For example - knowing that non-admin users were not able to complete the journey, we improved the experience by allowing them to send a direct message to their practice administrator requesting that an activation occurs. This removed the need for users to know who the admin was or exit the flow to take the next step in activating XPM.

  • Design team | Product Designers - Heather Song, Bridgette Bell

    Engineering | Principal Engineer - Steffen Schmidt, Lead Engineer - Mayra Martho, Team Lead Engineering - Catherine McKenzie

    Product | Product Manager - Michelle McGuinness

    Marketing | Product Marketing Manager - Andreea Balaianu

    Leadership | Engineering Manager - Sarah Tyler, Design Director - Clint Schnee, EGM Practice Management & Partner Experience - Luis Sanchez Castillo, GM Engineering - Andrew Blakey