Simplifying Taxes

Financial

Onboarding Experience

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Project info

Objectives

TaxAct aimed to better understand its users in order to increase the tax return completion rate from 54% to 68% and improve overall Net Promoter Score (NPS). The focus was on enhancing the signed-in experience by making it easier, faster, and more trustworthy for users to complete their tax filings.

UX Process

I collaborated with the team to conduct user interviews with current customers and prospects, uncovering their goals, motivations, and pain points. Together, we developed personas and journey maps to capture key challenges across user types and product areas. Our research revealed three major issues: users repeatedly retyped basic information, struggled with overly complex language, and lacked trust in data accuracy when uploading documents—insights that shaped our design priorities.

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Testing

Over a six-week period, I led the creation of low-fidelity wireframes and prototypes, which we tested with users through in-person and remote sessions three times a week with 5–8 participants per session. We focused on simplifying content, refining information architecture, and streamlining data entry. A/B testing helped compare content variations and layouts, guiding us toward designs that improved user understanding and confidence. Iterations continued until 80% of participants could complete key tasks, validating and restructuring the user flow into a more intuitive, navigable experience.

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Outcome

Through continuous iteration and user testing, we significantly improved the user flow and interface. Clearer language, accurate data handling, and the inclusion of helpful features like pre-filled data and competitor comparisons led to stronger user trust.

Repeat users saw their saved personal details immediately, reinforcing security and continuity. Conditional logic ensured users only saw questions relevant to their tax situation, reducing cognitive load. As a result, completion rates increased, user confidence improved, and more users moved forward in the filing process.