referral-onboarding-complete-redesign

Started work

From Onboarding Journey Sync 2026-03-17 (Zach + Rachel): Complete onboarding redesign required. Decided: (1) single clean flow — remove guided vs manual choice, no test/customer journey split; (2) AI chatbot must be the centerpiece, not a wizard adjunct — must customise to merchant-specific needs; (3) rewards strategy should be expert-recommended ('consultant'), not transactional 'give X get Y' — merchant shouldn't bear the decision burden; (4) visual design (Albert's program page mockups) should come first in onboarding to excite merchants before functional setup; (5) questions answerable from order data should be removed. Rationale: current flow is 'patchy and complex', incremental fixes insufficient, entire experience needs rethink. See [[meetings/1-1s/rachel-zach/2026-03-17]], [[make-onboarding-great]]

From Make Onboarding Great standup 2026-03-18: (1) Manual setup option confirmed for removal — data shows merchants strongly prefer guided setup; (2) Merchant goal reframing confirmed — frame design around merchant mental model goals (e.g., 'feel confident the program fits my business without being an expert'), NOT around the AI chat interface as a technology; (3) Goals-before-solutioning sequencing enforced — Jared + Gary to do full merchant walkthrough (record, note feedback) before any design screens; Rachel to describe UX process for joyful experience; Zach to align with Rachel on high-level + sub-level goals first. Builds on [[meetings/1-1s/rachel-zach/2026-03-17]]. See [[meetings/standups/referral/2026-03-18-make-onboarding-great]].

From standup 2026-03-27: Decided to fix the order count definition — raw 30-day all-status count (remove fulfilled exclusion + 7-day×4 proxy). The fulfilled exclusion was a legacy Ruby artifact with no intentional design rationale. Gary to implement. Glenn noted: don't tell Raul yet, let him see improved numbers. See [[meetings/standups/referral/2026-03-27]].

From standup 2026-03-27: Merchant persona must be finalized before locking onboarding flow direction. Target is the self-serve Shopify merchant (installs 4–6 apps, decides by first impression, not demo-assisted). Zach analyzing data + 20+ Irene call transcripts. Align with Glenn first, then team Monday. See [[meetings/standups/referral/2026-03-27]].

From standup 2026-03-27: Glenn reframed the core onboarding question — two fundamentally different merchant states: (a) undecided about RC, needs to understand the product vs (b) decided to use RC, needs correct setup guidance. These require different flows. Consensus: the default sequence is a tool the agent can use, not a mandatory script — agent follows Grace's lead. Reward setup should not be front and center. See [[meetings/standups/referral/2026-03-27]].

From standup 2026-03-30: 'Showing work builds trust — that's the key mechanism, not removal of choice.' Glenn reframed: previous version (single recommendation, no choice) already failed. What's different now is building trust FIRST by showing the agent doing legwork before presenting a recommendation. Mirrors how Irene earns merchant trust on calls. Also resolved: implement Jared's prototype as production base, remove guided/manual choice, use Rachel's showing-work screen, single recommendation instead of 3 program options. See [[meetings/standups/referral/2026-03-30]].