The Problem
What Caused This is a B2B software company building Root Cause Analysis (RCA) tools. They wanted to grow their customer base by launching a free trial and lite version of the product. As it stood, new users had to manually contact the WCT team just to access the platform, and once inside, the complexity of the interface left them with no clear direction on what to do next.
The brief had three aims. Cut the time the WCT team spends manually onboarding each new user. Reduce the time it takes a new user to reach their first value moment. And improve conversion from trial users to paying customers.
The people I was designing for were managers, department heads, and project leads. People trying to identify and resolve recurring issues within their organisations.
What Research Revealed
During the research phase I introduced five users to the existing platform and observed where they ran into friction. All five users failed to complete the primary task without assistance.
Two issues came up every time. Users didn’t know where to find what they were looking for, and even when they found it, they didn’t know how to use it. Navigation and feature understanding were the two blockers.
The problem was poor orientation combined with no contextual support. Users didn’t need more information. They needed guidance at the right moment to take action.
Design Process
After identifying these issues, I defined the goal as helping users reach a meaningful action as quickly as possible, specifically creating their first RCA report.
I started by mapping out where users were most likely to get stuck across the interface. This quickly revealed a key tension. Too much guidance can be just as disruptive as too little, particularly if it stops users from exploring at their own pace.
From there I focused on guiding users in context rather than front-loading explanations. Wireframing explored how to structure onboarding as an operational flow. The design walked users through completing actions step by step, reducing cognitive load and building understanding through interaction.
Early designs
The Solution
I designed two features to address this. A product tour and a tutorials page.
The product tour is an interactive walkthrough triggered the moment a user lands on the dashboard. It guides users through creating their first RCA report by highlighting key interface elements and prompting actions within the product. Users engage with core functionality straight away rather than navigating it alone.
The tutorials page supports learning. Users can search for specific guidance, revisit the onboarding tour, and access help based on their experience level.
Choices and Trade-offs
The central tension was guidance versus freedom. Early concepts mapped instruction points across the whole interface and the list grew quickly. Too many prompts risk blocking users just as much as offering none.
That led to two decisions. I cut the onboarding flow to essential steps only, removing anything that didn't serve the first key action. I added a skip option so users who wanted to explore on their own could do so.
AI Integration
I explored one additional concept. A proactive support feature that could detect when a user appeared stuck, through prolonged hovering or inactivity, and surface contextual help in response.
I chose not to pursue it within the project timeline. The core onboarding experience needed to work on its own first, before layering in anything more complex.
Working With The Client
On this project I was given the brief and the WCT Figma design system at the start, with no ongoing contact beyond their initial presentation. Feedback came at the final stage only.
The conversation I would have wanted most was early in research. To understand how far the redesign could go. With more room, I would have explored whether the core interface structure itself needed rethinking, rather than building solutions around it.
Reflection
My solutions target the onboarding friction identified in testing. The product tour and tutorials reduce confusion and improve early usability. But the deeper issue I didn’t get to tackle was the structure of the interface itself. The onboarding problems I solved are symptoms. The interface is the cause. That’s where I’d start if making another attempt.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Peter Drucker
© 2026 Benjamin Segall