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User must choose before seeing the product.
We showed early wireframes to 12 participants, 6 starters, 6 pros, and asked them to think out loud through two moments: their first impression of the demo account, and whether they could see a way out of it.
The pattern was consistent enough to act on. Starters didn't mind beginning in a demo — but only when the path to a real account was visible from the start. Without it, the demo felt like the product, not a starting point. Pros didn't object to the demo existing. They objected to not being able to ignore it.
That gave us a clear condition: demo as Level 1 works, but only if the upgrade is always one tap away, never hidden behind a flow they didn't ask for.
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My influence · {influence}
The product had the backing of one of Turkey's biggest banks. They came to us for a redesign aimed at properly positioning their demo account. As the design lead of their sole agency, I owned the UX design end-to-end and led the Researcher and the UI Designer working under me: steering the process, signing off the final decisions.
Abandonment rate was 82%. The obvious suspect was the onboarding, but the real problem was right after that. On first open, the app forced a decision: enter via demo, verify your identity now, or leave. For starters, the demo felt like a dead end with no clear path forward. For anyone who tried KYC and didn't finish, the product became inaccessible, they'd neither explored nor committed. The fork was a wall with two gates, and most users walked away from all of them.
We needed to understand how it actually behaved in the wild: a genuine entry point, or just a speed bump for anyone who already knew what they wanted? So we ran 12 in-depth interviews across both groups, benchmarked local and global exchanges.
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One token-based source of truth, built on Figma Variables, two modes, eight modules, components that recolor to whatever surface they land on.
My influence · My role here was direction, not execution, I guided the UI designer and approved every screen.
The 1-year active-user target is 45%—we're currently at 30% and on track, but we haven't reached it yet. Forecasts indicate that the gap will close within a year.
Designing the mechanics that nudge and incentivize users to upgrade from a demo account was a first for me. Working through those flows stretched me, it sharpened how I think about motivation and timing, and honestly, I enjoyed every part of it.