Recommendation R-04high priority
Pre-load a sample project so new users see a working result in their first session.
Finding 04: new users land on an empty dashboard.
First value · Linked to Finding 04 · Quick win
Activation Audit for B2B SaaS
Find what’s standing between your users and their first “aha.”
A focused audit of your trial and onboarding experience, from first impression to first value.
5.0 on Clutch · 7 verified reviewsRecommendation R-02high priority
Lead the signup page with the outcome users get, not the feature list.
Finding 02: the value is unclear before signup.
Understanding · Linked to Finding 02 · Copy change
Recommendation R-07medium priority
Replace the long setup wizard with a short checklist users can finish later.
Finding 07: setup blocks users from exploring.
Trying · Linked to Finding 07 · Design change
Recommendation R-10low priority
Rewrite empty states to point users to the one next action to take.
Finding 10: empty states don’t guide the next step.
Trying · Linked to Finding 10 · Quick win
The problem
Trials don’t fail all at once. They stall.
People sign up because they’re curious. Then they hit a confusing screen, an empty dashboard or a setup step they don’t have time for, and they quietly leave before your product has a chance to prove itself.
Unclear[01]
Unclear value
Visitors can’t tell what your product does for them before signing up, so the ones who do sign up arrive with the wrong expectations, or none at all.
Symptom: high bounce on the signup page
Friction[02]
Onboarding friction
Setup steps, imports, permissions and blank screens all ask for effort before users have seen anything worth the effort.
Symptom: drop-off between signup and setup
Stalled[03]
No clear path to first value
There’s no obvious next step toward the moment your product proves itself, so users wander around, get busy, and don’t come back.
Symptom: users log in once and never return
What we audit
We focus on the stretch where trials are won or lost.
Everything before this stretch brings people in. Everything after it depends on them getting through it.
Discovery
Understanding
Landing page, value proposition, signup
Trying
Onboarding, setup, empty states
First value
The first “aha” moment
Habit
Expansion
The Activation Audit
What you get
What you get
Findings your team can act on.
Gaps and friction, mapped
Identify gaps and friction in the flows that matter most, mapped from how your users actually move through the product.
Ranked recommendations
Turn each finding into a clear recommendation, ranked by priority so your team knows what to fix first.
A deliverable built for your backlog
Get a deliverable you can apply straight into your backlog: a documentation site with a checklist per flow, not a PDF that’s hard to scan.
How it works
How it works
- Step 1
Discovery
We learn your product, goals and where you think users stall, and check we’re the right fit.
- Step 2
Audit
We go through your product the way a new user would, from first visit to first value.
- Step 3
Report delivery
You get the findings, the priorities, and a clear next step.
Fit
Who this is for.
This is for you if…
- You run a B2B SaaS product with a trial or freemium signup
- Signups are coming in but activation or conversion is low
- You want an outside expert view before redesigning
This isn’t for you if…
- You don’t have a live product yet
- You need a full redesign or build right now
- You’re looking for the cheapest option
Pricing
Start with activation
One fixed package for the moment that matters most: a new user reaching first value. It’s a 10-day sprint to uncover what stops new users from activating, and what to fix first.
“I don’t recall a single missed deadline.”
Cadel Watson, Head of Technology at AgriProve
Activation Audit
$650
The full path from first visit to first value: landing page, signup or trial, onboarding, and the first key action.
Schedule a quick intro callCustom Audit Sprint
Scoped on a call
Checkout, pricing, search, retention, design handoff, or any flow you have questions about.
Flows and roles agreed together · Fixed quote and timeline before we start
Who’s behind it
Vicente LatagFractional UX
Senior UX expertise, without the full-time hire.
10+ years designing digital products. I work directly with SaaS and AI-native teams to improve what’s live, shape new features and solve complex UX problems, without the overhead of a full-time designer or an agency.
Founder of design316 (Clutch Top UX Company PH 2023–2026)
Client experience
~/clients/disco:01
We were looking for a partner who could redesign our platform and help simplify a fairly complex product. design316 quickly understood the challenges of our platform through their discovery sessions and helped map out a clear direction for the experience.
What stood out to us was how they combined product thinking with design. The collaboration felt very natural, almost like they were part of our team, and the final designs and documentation made the developer handoff smooth.
Dimitri Metaxas, COO at disco← Prev~/clients/avaana:02
design316 has been a strong extension of our team, especially as our priorities continue to shift and evolve. They’ve helped us improve the experience for our practitioners, patients, and corporate clients in a way that feels thoughtful and aligned with how our platform is actually used. The collaboration has been easy and seamless throughout, and they genuinely feel like part of our internal team.
Matthew Robertson, Technology Growth Executive at Avaana~/clients/cswap:03
We’ve delivered the decentralized exchange to Cardano and had incredible feedback regarding the UI/UX. Despite having a relatively small amount of liquidity, our platform attracts the second most users on Cardano.
They’re a serious UI/UX design firm that’s willing to go outside of their core function to help teams. It’s rare to find a quality vendor like design316. Any ambitious team would be extremely lucky to work with design316.
Jon Kravetz, CEO/Founder at CSWAP~/clients/gonsave:04
I had the pleasure of working with Vicente. He demonstrated exceptional professionalism and consistently delivered the highest quality work on time. The result of the clickable prototype was beyond our expectations.
What I found most impressive was their exceptional communication skills, thorough research on the topic, and genuine interest in learning more about the field and target audience.
Maria Andrea Prieto, COO at GoNsave~/clients/agriprove:05
Vic and the team were exceptional at delivering work on time and managing projects. I don’t recall a single missed deadline.
We had bursts of design requests, which the team responded to quickly. But in the “downtime” between bursts, Vic and co proactively built out a full design system for us, ran UX analysis using our analytics tools, anything they could do to help.
Cadel Watson, Head of Technology at AgriProve~/clients/awst:06
The entire experience with design316 was amazing. The time management and professional way of managing the entire project was impressive, given that we are not even in the same country. They delivered everything on time and all in great order.
The professionalism and the timely deliverables was the most impressive for us.
Elston Yee, Product & Growth Manager at AWST~/clients/hcpa:07
We’re thoroughly impressed with the team’s level of execution and the quick turnaround times for all the deliverables. Agencies that communicate on this level of clarity and transparency while delivering such high-quality end results are rare.
Extremely professional and helpful with finding the right solutions to our goals. Very clear expectations were set from the get-go.
Katherine Byeon, Head of Marketing at Health Care Providers AssociationNext →
Questions
Questions
What is an activation audit?
A review of the path a new user takes from first visit to first value: the landing page, signup or trial, onboarding and the first key action. We go through it the way a new user would, find where people stall, and turn each finding into a ranked fix.
What do we get at the end?
An audit site your team can work from: an experience map, findings linked to fixes, a priority summary and a checklist per flow. Then a walkthrough call to go through it together.
How long does it take?
10 business days, from the kickoff call to the walkthrough call.
How much of our team’s time does it need?
About two hours: a kickoff call to agree goals and the user roles, and the walkthrough call at the end. Questions in between happen async.
Do you need access to our analytics?
No. We sign up like a new user would. Read-only access to your analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude, GA or similar) helps tie findings to real drop-off, but it’s optional.
What does “2 user roles” mean?
The audit follows the path for up to two kinds of user, for example the admin who sets up the account and the teammate they invite. More roles can be scoped as a Custom Audit Sprint.
What if our product doesn’t have a self-serve trial?
It still works. Give us a test or sandbox account and we’ll walk the path from first login to first value, the way your new customers do after a sales call.
What kinds of products do you audit?
B2B SaaS and AI-native products, on the web or mobile, and consumer apps with a signup and onboarding flow.
Can you also design the fixes?
Yes, as a follow-on. Design work for the fixes is quoted separately once the audit is done. If your team would rather build them in-house, the audit site is written to be built from.
How does payment work?
$650, paid in full before we start. A Custom Audit Sprint gets a fixed quote and timeline before any work begins.
Will you sign our NDA?
Yes. We’re happy to sign yours before we get access, and your product, data and findings stay private.
Find out where your users stall.
A short call to see if the audit fits your product. No pitch, no obligation.
Schedule a quick intro call- 5.0 on Clutch
- 7 verified reviews
- Clutch Top UX Company PH 2023–2026
- 10+ years in product design
- NDA on request
- $650 fixed, 10 business days