How Finch Health Cut Onboarding Time by 50%: A Startup Redesign Case Study

Design · 5 min read

Finch Health launched with a lengthy onboarding that asked users to complete 18 fields before seeing any therapist availability. User testing revealed friction at the third step, where insurance and scheduling questions stacked into one dense form. The team decided to split the flow into immediate essentials and optional details, enabling users to book a session in two screens.

The redesign introduced progressive disclosure: basic profile and availability first, optional clinical history and insurance later in a dashboard prompt. Designer-researchers created three rapid prototypes and ran moderated usability tests with 24 participants. Metrics from the first month after launch showed a 50% reduction in time-to-book and a 28% increase in completed bookings among new users.

Implementation prioritized analytics and rollback safety. The engineers shipped the new flow behind an experiment flag and instrumented funnel events at each step. Product and design met weekly to iterate copy, button hierarchy, and the placement of “skip for now” options, resulting in a net promoter score uptick of 9 points among new users.