Accelerating merchant activation
I designed and shipped a social signup experiment at Shopify, influencing the default top of funnel experience for millions of users.
The Problem
50% of users dropoff
on the first step of signup
How
Split account & store setup
Introduce Google OAuth
Host signup on Identity
Solution
Simplifying signup
Reduce friction in the initial step by stripping it of anything unnecessary or redundant. Influenced legal, security & development on adjacent teams to move forward with the proposed design changes.
Adding Google signup
To avoid skewing results with more drastic changes and brand dilution, we kept the Google option at the bottom of the form.
Other versions
The experiment
While this seems like a relatively simple design to implement, it was part of a larger ecosystem of internal tools. Getting this experiment out the door involved close collaboration with my product design and adjacent teams.
Duration
4 weeks
Variants
5 including control
Sample
10% of signups
Key Takeaway
Google increased top of funnel conversion but store name is still a significant source of friction.
Impact
01
Redesigned the primary entry point for Shopify's PLG motion, visited by 200k visitors daily.
02
Established positive partnership with Identity team
03
Proposed 3 experiment ideas that were shipped following my departure
Reflections
Designing for growth at Shopify taught me to hold hypotheses lightly, ship with intention, and extract insight even when results were ambiguous. The internship sharpened my ability to connect design decisions to measurable merchant value, while building the stakeholder and communication skills to bring others along in that process.