Designing for adoption through immersion when information fails to convert
An agentic AI B2B platform for sales teams that captures, analyzes, and acts on every call SalesAI
Product Designer
Embedded with product, engineering, and design
0 to 1 Product design from concept to launch
In final production
Freelance
UX
UI
Constraint: Show product value before users had real call data
Outcome: Production-ready FTUX in final build, with launch metrics defined for demo engagement and activation
Designed a 0-to-1 AI B2B onboarding experience that uses immersion, not explanation, to earn trust before real data exists
Activation & Adoption
TTV & Dropoff
The most effective onboarding is not a tour, it's a demo
For a product that uses AI to capture and analyze sales calls, explaining features is not enough. SMB users need to feel the value before they will commit to changing how they work.
Standard onboarding — product tours and empty states — passively presents information. This first-time user experience (FTUX) actively puts users inside the product with real sample data, walking them through every major workflow before their first real call comes in.
Product in final production. Designed toward improving activation and adoption while reducing TTV and dropoff.
AI adoption fails when it feels like a new behavior
SMBs driven by calls and follow-ups already have a workflow. The barrier to adopting AI isn't understanding what it can do — it's not wanting to change how they work to use it.
With 20+ years of sales experience behind the product direction, the insight was clear: AI has to integrate into familiar patterns, not replace them. Receiving a call, reviewing a summary, acting on a suggested follow-up — the same steps SMBs already take, with AI handling what used to fall through the cracks.
The standard approach wasn't enough
A product tour and empty states were always part of the plan. The tour walks users through the main components. The empty states educate users on the value proposition before first use. Both are necessary. Neither is sufficient.
The signal came while designing the in-use screens. The client kept losing context without realistic data to look at. If the person who built the product needed real examples to understand it, a first-time SMB user had no chance with empty states and tooltips alone.
Passive information doesn't create activation. Users needed to be inside the product before their first real call came in.
Earning the aha moment before the first real call
The solution was to replace the empty state first experience with three interactive cards with sample data that puts users inside the product's core workflows before anything real comes in.
I designed the FTUX around three moments: understand an AI-generated call summary, connect Gmail and Slack for action, and try a ready-to-send follow-up email.
After completing the demo, users entered the real empty state with a clear understanding of what the product does and what to do when the first call arrived.
Product tour first. Interactive demo second. Real product third.
What launch will tell us
The product is in final production. Once it ships, the primary signal is whether users who engage meaningfully with the interactive demo activate at a higher rate than those who don't. This FTUX tests attention and understanding.
Secondary signals: time to first real action after onboarding, Gmail and Slack integration rates, and whether users return after their first AI-assisted call.
Launch will test whether immersive onboarding improves activation, time to first action, integration completion, and return after the first AI-assisted call. The roadmap is ready. The data will tell us what to build next.