Christine Gu
Context
This project came top-down from leadership, inspired by competitor sign-up funnels that were longer and more personalized than ours. With a tight deadline, I was tasked with expanding our existing funnel from 7 questions to 11 — adding deeper layers around ingredient preferences, cuisine tastes, and desired dinner options, drawing inspiration from competitors like Cook Unity, Hungry Root, and Blue Apron.
My first instinct wasn't just to add more questions. I flagged the risk of user fatigue and potential drop-offs early, which shaped how I approached the design. Rather than a passive Q&A, I made each question feel responsive — giving users a clear sense that their selections were directly influencing the meals they'd see. I validated this through user testing, measuring whether the expanded funnel felt effortless or exhausting.
The result: reduced churn and improved net conversion rates.
I crafted a personalized sign-up funnel that improved retention rates and net conversions over the course of 5 months — and counting
+5.00%
Gross conversions
+3.50%
Net conversions
Role
Senior Product Designer
Timeline
November 2025 -
Prior to this project, the HelloFresh onboarding funnel included seven questions focused mainly on customer goals. While adding questions about flavor and ingredient preferences risked increasing completion time and drop-off, I hypothesized that users who completed a more in-depth onboarding would be more invested from the start—creating an opportunity to drive stronger long-term engagement and loyalty
Old funnel
8 min
Transactional conversions
‘11-’25
In collaboration with the UX research team, I tested the updated flow with multiple users. While the signup process took longer to complete, users did not find it tedious. In fact, many appreciated the deeper questions, noting that it set clear expectations for more personalization
New funnel
20 min
Personalization focused
‘25-
“Make it more delicious”
The FoodTech equivalent of “make it pop.”
To reduce fatigue, I introduced more recipe imagery throughout the experience. These visuals helped balance out text-heavy screens while enticing prospective customers with the meals that awaited them
Personal goals
Before
Personal goals
After
Moment of assurance
Before
Moment of assurance
After
Nutrition preferences
Before
Nutrition preferences
After
Setting the table before the food arrives
Enticing visuals alone weren't enough.
I wanted interaction design to do heavier lifting — not just exciting prospective customers about the menu, but setting honest expectations about serving sizes before their first box arrived. The user journey doesn't end at checkout; it extends to the moment someone opens that box and starts cooking. Designing for that full arc meant reducing the gap between what users anticipated and what they actually experienced.
Cooking frequency
Before
Cooking frequency
After
Same dish, better presentation
Inclusivity wasn't an afterthought — it was a design constraint. With millions of customers across vastly different households, a one-size-fits-all visual approach was never going to work. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the household module, where I was asking users how many people they cook for
My first instinct was photography of families eating together. But no combination of images could authentically represent the full spectrum of households we served — and choosing one interpretation meant excluding another. The solution came from stepping back from faces entirely. Hands reaching into frame, holding food, became the visual language instead. Hands are universal. They don't prescribe what a household should look like — they simply invite everyone into the same moment.
Cooking frequency
Before
Cooking frequency
After
What difference was made?
5% increase in gross conversions, 3.5% increase in net conversions
The new funnel increased sign-ups and successful box orders
Significant decrease in cancellation rates
Higher retention rates followed a more high-effort funnel