Context

As Bloom scaled, onboarding became the primary path into the product and the main driver of subscription revenue.

While early engagement was strong, data showed significant drop-off before users reached subscription, particularly around the first reward and monetization moments.

The Problem I Uncovered

The onboarding experience disrupted momentum at critical points in the journey.

Users were forced through a long introduction that prioritized feature explanation over motivation or reward, limiting speed and control. More critically, after completing their first lesson, users expected to claim their free stocks but were unexpectedly blocked by a paywall or bank-linking step.

This broke the reward loop, undermined trust, and caused users to exit at a moment of peak excitement. The issue was not demand, but misalignment between pacing, expectation, and monetization timing.

Results After Launch