Rethinking Onboarding Process to Fix Retailer Dropoff on Pika Insights (Techstars NYC ‘24)Unearthing Africa

Retailers in Africa’s informal trade were stuck at “Inventory First.” I redesigned the experience to meet them where they are — with a sales-first entry that saved onboarding, improved product adoption, and fed the engine behind FMCG insights. (

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Role

Product Designer

Project Owner

Pika Insights (Techstars NYC ‘24)Unearthing Africa

Duration

4 weeks sprint (initial version)

Tools Used

Figma, Notion, WhatsApp (for direct user testing), Pen & Paper (in-field sketching)

Design Process

Problems - Process - Product... Iterate

Project Overview

PikaApp is a digital platform designed for informal retailers in Africa — think corner shops, market traders, and street kiosks. We give them tools to track their sales, manage stock, and gain insight. In return, we collect data valuable to FMCG manufacturers. But to get this loop running, we needed one thing: data from the field.

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Here are snapshots of what Pika App Onboarding process looked like before i came in on this big Project.

pROBLEMS

The Edge Cases and Painpoints

The Interface Overload

Our initial inventory-first UI demanded too much upfront effort. Retailers — especially market-based traders — faced fatigue trying to manually log dozens of products. It didn’t align with their fast-paced, informal workflows.

The “Free” Fallacy

We assumed making inventory tracking free would drive adoption. But value isn’t just cost — it’s time, ease, and habit. The tool wasn’t integrated into their daily flow, so they skipped it altogether.

Drop-Offs & Dead Ends

Even after onboarding, many users logged in, looked around, and left. There wasn’t a compelling action to take immediately. Our funnel had a glaring hole — no quick win, no reason to stay.

Real Stories. Real Problems.

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"I sell over 200 different items. I like the app — it's cool that we can use our phones — but I can’t be entering Golden Morn, Omo, Indomie, and all the rest one by one. It’s just stressful. That’s why I keep procrastinating instead of adding them."

Pika User(Market Trader)

Interviewed by Me

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"I sell in cartons, which the app supports, but I also sell in halves and quarters. That messed up my inventory. I got confused about how to track those smaller sales, so I just stopped entering them. It left part of my shop unrecorded and made me lose interest."

Trader 2

This conversation happened over the phone, she gave me a suitable solution that coul work for her herself.

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"Over 63% of new users drop off during onboarding. Most of the rest don’t even come back. We need to understand what’s causing this friction before we lose more ground."

Semilogo

Data Team

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"Based on feedback from our internal dashboard and sales department, we’re clearly not doing well. There’s a disconnect — retailers find our free app stressful to use. We’ve assumed it’s because the interface focuses too much on functionality and not enough on design. We need to speak directly with traders — our current users — in their actual places of work."

Internal Feedback – Dashboard & Sales Team

Understanding the Problem

To uncover what was working — and more importantly, what wasn’t our team spent over 6 hours in Lagos markets talking to real users. We didn’t start with assumptions. We sat together, created core questions, then hit the ground.

We spoke with:

Current users (some frustrated, others hopeful)

Pika ambassadors who onboarded traders

First-time traders unfamiliar with Pika

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🧭 Insight Labels

The current onboarding and product logic create early friction for users. Many find the inventory setup confusing, especially with mixed unit sales like cartons and pieces. Traders prioritize speed and want tools that help them sell faster and more professionally, including printed receipts. To improve adoption, onboarding should start with recording sales, product entry should be simplified with smart defaults, and features like quick sales capture and Bluetooth receipt printing should be prioritized.

Simple design, real impact

The Wireframe

Translating Insights into Structure

With user frustrations and habits now clearly defined, I began wireframing the core experience. I prioritized a sales-first flow, simplified product input, and ensured the interface supports fast interactions. Each layout here is informed by the lessons gathered — from reducing setup friction to reinforcing trust with receipts. This phase laid the groundwork for a user experience that feels intuitive from Day 1.

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Clean Design. Clear Impact.

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Design System

To bring order to the evolving Pika experience, I created a design system tailored for informal retailers. It was built to be intuitive for first-time smartphone users, with clear contrast, accessible font sizes, and repeatable patterns across screens. The system allowed us to scale from agent tools to inventory and insights without redesigning from scratch every time.

Final Designs

Once the design system was solidified, I translated wireframes and insights into final screens. Every element — from onboarding flows to inventory logging — was shaped by what we learned in markets: speed, clarity, and familiarity. These designs directly reflect the users’ mental models, enabling them to record sales quickly, understand their business better, and build trust with their own customers.

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What I Learned

This project deepened my understanding of designing for informal economies. It wasn’t just about sleek UI — it was about empathy, speed, and trust. I learned how to strip down features to their core value and design with a mindset of ‘every second matters.’ I also learned that introducing new digital habits starts with meeting users where they are, not where we think they should be.

Impact & Results

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Impact

“Since launch, Pika has grown from <20 to over 300+ active retailers. We introduced streaks, inventory breakdowns, and insights that our users now rely on daily. The designs helped us get into Techstars NYC and sparked partnerships with trader associations. More importantly, the app became a tool our users could call their own.”

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Let’s build your next big idea

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