Interviews
UX research: first-run experience of the PulsePay signup
Aisha Bello
You've landed on the signup screen — what's your first impression?
Clean, and it looks like a serious finance product. But I want to know what happens before I hand over company details.
What would you do next?
I'd try to skip ahead to see the dashboard. Ask me for a card number too early and I bounce.
Anything that would stop you?
If it forces a demo call before I can look around. Let me self-serve first.
Mark Thompson
First reaction to this signup flow?
Looks polished, maybe a bit enterprise for me. I want to reach value in under two minutes.
What could lose you here?
Too many fields up front. As a founder I'll abandon a long form fast.
What would keep you going?
A quick 'see your spend in a sample dashboard' before any setup.
Sarah Kim
How does this first-run experience feel from a finance lead's view?
Trustworthy visually, but I'm scanning for security and integrations before anything else.
What would you look for next?
SSO, permissions, and whether it connects to our accounting stack — surface that early.
Any friction?
If onboarding assumes I'm the admin and card-holder. Separate those roles.
Daniel Roy
As the person who'd actually use it daily, what stands out?
I want to see the reconciliation and export flow, not just the marketing screen.
What worries you?
Whether the data exports cleanly for the auditor. Show me that early and I'm reassured.
Would you complete signup?
Only after I glimpse the actual working screens, not just setup steps.
Executive summary
The signup reads as polished and credible, but the first-run flow risks losing self-serve buyers by asking for commitment (card details, long forms, demo calls) before showing value. Every persona wanted to reach a working dashboard or sample data quickly, and finance-specific users wanted security, permissions and accounting integration surfaced up front. Founders are the most impatient with form length; controllers and accountants want to glimpse the real working screens before trusting the tool.
Key themes
Value before commitment
Users want to see a dashboard or sample data before entering card numbers or booking a demo.
“I want to reach value in under two minutes.” — Mark Thompson
“Ask me for a card number too early and I bounce.” — Aisha Bello
Surface trust signals early
Finance buyers scan for security, permissions and integrations before proceeding.
“SSO, permissions, and whether it connects to our accounting stack — surface that early.” — Sarah Kim
Show the real working screens
Daily users want to preview reconciliation and export, not just setup steps.
“I want to see the reconciliation and export flow, not just the marketing screen.” — Daniel Roy
Recommendations
- Add an instant sample-dashboard step before any card/setup.
- Surface security, SSO and integrations on the first screen.
- Shorten the initial form and separate admin vs card-holder roles.