Trial first-run redesign with progress bar: +105% activation
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRedesigning the first screens of a free trial, with less decoration and a visible progress bar, more than doubled activation (+105%, or 7 percentage points).
AURUM ran this A/B test on Astrea, its legal practice software, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The team changed several things at once, so the lift belongs to the redesign as a whole.
- Activation rate during the 10-day trial: +105%, a gain of 7 percentage points.
- Activation meant doing a meaningful action, such as adding a task, adding a fee or processing a clipping.
- Several changes shipped together, so no single change can be credited.
The change
Illustrations out, progress bar in, required step explained
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The trial's first-run screens were dominated by large illustrations, with no clear sequence of steps. Registering with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) appeared as a bare mandatory step.
Variant
The large illustrations were removed so the setup action stood out, and a progress bar showed every step, the current one and those already done. Setup became one continuous flow, and the OAB step explained how it helps users get more from Astrea.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Removing big illustrations put the one action that mattered in front of users.
- A progress bar shows how much is left, which makes people more likely to finish.
- Explaining why a mandatory step helps them turns a chore into a reason to continue.
- Treating setup as one flow kept momentum instead of stopping at isolated screens.
Caveats: A bundled redesign of the whole first experience, so the lift can't be tied to one element. No sample size, duration or confidence level was shared.
Who ran it
AURUM ran this test and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on AURUM →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we strip decoration from our trial setup screens, add a progress bar and explain why each required step helps, then more trial users will activate because the path to value is clear.
- Primary metric
- Trial activation rate (share of trial users completing a key value action)
- Guardrails
- Setup completion rate
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Support tickets during onboarding
- Who should test it
- SaaS products with a free trial and a multi-step setup before users see value. It matters less if users reach value in one step or the setup is already short and clear.
Questions
Do progress bars improve SaaS onboarding?
They often help people finish multi-step setups. In AURUM's test a progress bar was part of a redesign that more than doubled activation, though it was not tested alone.
What counts as activation in a free trial?
It is the first action that shows the user got real value.
For Astrea that meant adding a task, adding a fee or processing a clipping.
Should onboarding screens use big illustrations?
Use them with care. AURUM removed large illustrations so the setup action stood out, as part of a winning redesign.