a senior product designer
who builds interfaces that disappear into the experience, guiding users forward without a second thought.
Melbourne, AU
Cascade Strategy empowers businesses to plan, execute, and track their strategy through a data-driven dashboard.
By analysing usability tests and CSM feedback, I uncovered a critical friction point in the chart creation flow.
The lack of guidance and an overly complex workflow created a "Discoverability Gap", significantly slowing users' time-to-value.
The interface provided no clear signals about what was possible or where to start, users were left to navigate through trial and error, leading to a 42% abandonment rate and a steady loss of customer deals during the sales process.
Target Success Criteria
-50%
Entry time
XX%
Improve NPS
XX%
Activation
Problems
Creating a new chart had a 42% abandonment rate. Nearly half of users dropped off before finishing.
The drop-off was especially sharp for first-time chart creation. Without prior context on how the tool worked, new users hit friction early and gave up before reaching real value.
And several customer deals were lost during the sales process, when prospects tried creating a chart and found the experience too rigid.
The core issue was flexibility. Too few options, too little room to adjust a chart to fit what the user actually needed.
Goal & Business opportunities
Deliver immediate value through a chart creation experience that's intuitive and fast, helping first-time users reach a working chart without friction and driving stronger activation and retention.
Build an expandable, customisable chart creation flow that gives users the flexibility to shape charts around their own needs, keeping loyal customers and encouraging upgrades to premium.
The Solution 1
Widget Templates
Ready-made charts that deliver value in seconds, no setup required.
Provide clear expectations of what users can do beforehand
Guide users to easily find the desired chart through categorising tabs by purpose on the left side.
Clear title and description with thumbnail images help users know what to expect beforehand.
BEFORE
Unclear what the difference is between Quick Start and Custom.
Some icons and descriptions didn't really match what users expected.
2.
Simplifying the decision-making process
The chart configuration process within the widget template can be completed with just a couple of clicks, as the chart type and data source are pre-configured for optimal use. Users can quickly add charts to their dashboard and discover the capabilities and value.
Moved the title field to the final step and made it optional, so users can skip it during setup. In-line title editing is also enabled directly on the dashboard.
BEFORE
Too many clicks and decision-making steps involving scrolling, leaving users confused and fatigued during chart creation.
Users frequently forgot to type the title, triggering an error state since it was a mandatory field, an unnecessary source of friction at this stage.
3.
10+ templates on the first release
The Widget library offers a variety of commonly used charts across industries.
To decide which templates to include in the first release, I looked at customer use cases, our ICP, technically feasible chart types based on onboarding data, and best practices in data visualisation and accessibility.
Each widget was thoughtfully crafted to serve a specific purpose, ensuring users can efficiently visualise and interpret their data.
The Solution 2
Custom Chart Builder
Full flexibility to shape a chart around your own data and needs.
1.
Streamline the workflow and improve discoverability
The custom chart builder occupies the entire screen, allowing users to view all the elements involved in configuring a chart at once, without scrolling or anything hidden.
This comprehensive view helps users understand what to do at a glance.
BEFORE
Inefficient linear workflow. Users continuously scroll up and down, verifying their selections and switching attributes within the confined space of the sidebar.
Hidden areas appeared as users scrolled down, requiring more input than expected and causing user fatigue.
2.
Quick visual feedback about availability
Configuration options vary depending on the chosen chart type, so users need immediate clarity on what's available. The interface clearly indicates active and disabled states for configuration options across different chart types, providing instant visual feedback.
This enables users to easily understand which options are applicable for their specific chart configuration.
BEFORE
All configuration options were selected from a dropdown menu, but it was hard to tell which options applied to the current chart type. Users had to reopen the dropdown every time they changed chart types, making it easy to lose track of context.
3.
Empowers users to seamlessly explore, experiment, and customise the chart that best suits their needs
The drag-and-drop feature makes it intuitive to build customisable charts. Green and blue visual cues guide users on which elements correspond to specific attributes, making it clear how each element and attribute interact with one another and shape the resulting data visualisation.
Achievement
47%
Reduction in Bounce Rate
By removing unnecessary clicks and surfacing clear next steps, we cut bounce rate nearly in half, from 42% to 22%.
87%
Improved Task Efficiency
Users who previously spent 7 to 15 minutes creating a single chart could now complete the same task in 1 to 2 minutes. The pre-configured widget templates removed the guesswork, letting users focus on the outcome instead of the setup.
100%
User Satisfaction
Every user who had experienced the previous version described the new design as more intuitive and easier to use. This consistent feedback confirmed that the redesign didn't just look better, it actually removed the confusion that had been driving abandonment.
And positive team feedback ☺️
Process
Research → Insight → Decision
Two user personas: casual vs. power users
Unmoderated interviews + CSM feedback → Affinity Diagram
Moderated interview + Usability testing + Session recordings → Root cause: lack of guidance, complex workflow, too many clicks.
HMW workshop: How might we help users understand the dashboard's value faster?
3 Options → Trade-off → Roadmap
We explored three directions: dashboard templates, widget templates, and a custom chart builder.
After weighing each against technical readiness, product maturity, and speed to value, we prioritised widget templates first, followed by the custom chart builder.
