Intuit: QuickBooks
Pre-migration Hub
Migration hub to move
450K Desktop users
Online, generating $400M
Saas
Product Strategist
Product designer
UX Researcher
Designed an in-product hub to help
QuickBooks Desktop users
transition to QuickBooks Online
smoothly and efficiently.
About Intuit’s
QuickBooks
Intuit develops financial,
accounting, and tax softwares,
including QuickBooks, TurboTax,
Mint, and MailChimp with 100 million+
customers worldwide.
A glimpse of QuickBooks Online’s dashboard.
QuickBooks is a SaaS accounting software designed for small and
medium-sized businesses to manage expenses, track income, and facilitate
financial tasks.
Business Problem
QuickBooks aims to enhance the
migration process for its Desktop
app customers transitioning to
QuickBooks Online, with a target of
generating $400M in revenue.
Current state
Current discovery methods include
notifications within the QuickBooks
Desktop application. These methods
currently drive only 7% of migrations
and 1.5% of Gross Net Subscribers
(GNS) for QuickBooks Online.
The challenge
Increase user engagement and
conversion rates by addressing
user concerns. Improve the overall
migration experience to better
facilitate transitions.
Deep-Dive
Into The Problem
I partnered with my Product Manager
to conduct qualitative research
with a set of 12 customer interviews
to understand customer sentiments.
Before QuickBooks Online
purchase concerns
Customers questioned if QuickBooks
Online fit for their specific business
needs, and the presence of familiar
features/workflows.
Post QuickBooks online
purchase concerns
Concerns about the integrity of
Desktop data in Online, time required
for migration, and assistance with
data migration.
Transition concerns
Expectations of QuickBooks Online’s
interface to be the same as that of
Desktop, lack of awareness
regarding data migration, and
challenges faced during migration.
️TL;DR gist of my research
Customers bear the burden of
understanding QuickBooks
Online's fit for their business
needs and the transition process.
They rely heavily on external
sources for information and face
challenges with current
in-product experiences.
Solution Hypothesis
Approach 1: Make QuickBooks Online
the same as QuickBooks Desktop
QuickBooks Desktop's dashboard
QuickBooks Online's dashboard
Current function
QuickBooks Desktop has 40+ years of research and development.
Whereas QuickBooks Online was aimed at making accounting more
user-friendly over—similarity with Desktop.
Cons
Mimicking QuickBooks Desktop’s functionalities in Online needs extensive
organisation-wide alignment, time, effort, and money.
Approach 2: Revamp existing
‘Explore QuickBooks Online’ migration
tool on Desktop
Explore QuickBooks Online page
Current function
/ Quick comparison between QuickBooks Desktop & Online features.
/ CTA leads to QuickBooks Online trial.
Cons
Pop-ups that led to ‘Explore QuickBooks Online’ have low conversion rates,
and CTA on this page has low CTR; bringing customers to ignored pages
is not ideal.
Approach 3: A new tool in
QuickBooks Desktop
High level proposed solution
A Pre-migration hub on QuickBooks Desktop offering personalised
information and guidance on:
/ Why move to QuickBooks Online?
/ What to transfer?
/ How to make the transition?
Current awareness
QuickBooks Desktop customers are
generally aware about QuickBooks
Online on a high-level.
Evaluation
/ Will QuickBooks Online have all
the functionalities that I use?
/ What happens to QuickBooks
Desktop data?
/ Re-learning interface.
/ Data security concerns.
Migration
/ Will my QuickBooks Desktop data
be there?
/ What data comes over?
/ Which version to choose?
/ Migration duration.
Target state
QuickBooks Desktop users know
about QuickBooks Online but have
concerns about its features, data
transfer, re-learning its
interface, and data security.
They wonder if their Desktop data
will transfer, what data comes
over, which version to choose,
and how long migration takes.
The Pre-migration hub will
address these concerns by
offering personalized
information and guidance, linking
Desktop tasks to Online benefits,
suggesting the best version, and
ensuring a smooth transition.
Explorations—
Pre-migration Hub
Concern 1: Does QuickBooks Online
meet my business needs?
We aligned with carousel to display
QuickBooks Online features,
auto-sliding every 10 seconds.
A marketing review advised using
claims from the approved messaging
strategy by QuickBooks Marketing
and Legal teams.
Pros
/ Images compliment and balance
text heaviness.
/ Takes less screen real estate.
Cons
Other features get hidden behind
scroll.
Concern 2: Does QuickBooks Online
look the same as Desktop?
We decided on showing the
QuickBooks Online Desktop app in
the feature section for awareness
and to boost confidence to switch
to Online.
Pros
/ Makes customers aware of the
desktop application.
/ Shows how the Desktop app looks
like.
/ Gives a sense of familiarity and
confidence.
Cons
/ Might get hidden behind scroll in
carousel.
/ Doesn’t give a holistic
understanding of the app.
Concern 3: Which version of
QuickBooks Online should I choose?
We leveraged a data model to
recommend a QuickBooks Online
version based on active QuickBooks
Desktop license and usage and went
with a sticky footer to avoid losing
the version recommendation section
under scroll.
Pros
Version recommendation has
prominence and yet will not get
hidden under scroll.
Cons
/ Too many CTAs may lead to
confusion.
/ Sticky footer is heavy with lot
of elements.
Concern 4: What happens to my
QuickBooks Desktop data?
In Q1, our plan was to focus on
QuickBooks Online awareness,
directing users to existing migration
tools and FAQs. In Q2, we'll introduce
a comprehensive data migration
section with a pre-migration
checklist and additional features.
Pros
/ Customers know that data
migration is a process that needs
to be done and doesn't happen
by itself.
/ Occupies less screen real estate.
Cons
/ Does not give an idea of data
migration process duration.
/ Not much space to detail about
data migration.
Concern 5: Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs)
We planned to have QuickBooks
Online benefits, migration assistance,
and version selection separately. Yet,
we saw the need for a dedicated FAQ
section to address common
customer concerns upfront to
boost confidence.
Pros
/ All of the customer’s concerns
upfront in a comprehensive manner.
/ Gives customers confidence and
increases hub's reliability.
/ Gives an idea of what questions we
are addressing, so might want to
see ‘More questions’.
Cons
/ Real estate issue to incorporate
all FAQs.
/ ‘More questions’ would lead to
marketing page which would divert
customer from hub.
/ Increases text heaviness in hub.
Testing
We had two options: usertesting.com
or user interviews. We opted for the
latter after we noticed that
usertesting.com repeatedly provided
misleadingly positive feedback.
We went with 10 customers to
start with.
Objective
We inserted placeholder content to understand what initially grabs the
customer's attention, their overall impression of the hub, their thoughts on
each section, if it encourages them to switch to QuickBooks Online, and any
shortcomings of the hub.
This is how the Pre-migration hub window would look on QuickBooks Desktop.
Insights
/ Customers found the help section with FAQs comprehensive and useful,
boosting confidence in the transition process.
/ Some initially viewed the carousel as a marketing gimmick but appreciated
its guidance and clarity.
/ The recommended version feature was well-received, though some users
expressed a desire to try QuickBooks Online before committing.
“With this, we’re better informed before
we commit to QuickBooks Online.”
Shannon Volz
Lecture Bureau Accountant
9 colleagues
“I’ll research before moving for my
satisfaction. But this is a good start!”
Chris Peruzzi
Workshop Owner
17 employees
Next Steps
and Strategy
We outlined strategic solutions to
address next steps and edge cases
in Q2 and further, ensuring users
experience a smooth and informed
transition from QuickBooks Desktop
to Online.
Feature Comparison
Show differences between
QuickBooks Desktop and Online to
clear up misunderstandings.
Plan Purchase
Enable buying QuickBooks Online
plans directly from Pre-migration
hub rather than external website.
Migration Processes
Offer checklists and support for
data migration, helping with complex
files and allowing easy self-service
for simple ones.
I can address the elephant in your room
Let’s Connect
HRUDAY KULKARNI©