Keeping Firstbase Users 60% Longer

I worked in four stages: discovery, defining the core problems, exploring solutions and delivering the final design. They overlapped, and I went back to earlier stages whenever we learned something new.

Firstbase is a Y Combinator startup that helps founders from outside the US register a company there. A US company makes it easier to raise money from US investors, and most of the best-known unicorns are American. Firstbase wanted to cover the whole path, from registration to running the company, so founders wouldn’t have to piece it together themselves.

When I joined, Firstbase was a single landing page with most of the work done by hand. To become a full-service platform, it had to solve three problems:

• Founders had to use several different services to get everything done.
• Document handling and the registration process were confusing.
• Manual work made the service expensive to run.

Key Objectives

• Grow from a landing page into a full-service platform.
• Automate processes to cut costs.
• Make the product easier to use, so more people sign up and stay.

Target Audience

Founders, entrepreneurs and product managers from Europe and Asia who want to expand their business to the US.

Research Insights

• 7 of 9 users found the application process long and confusing.
• Half of them struggled with legal and business terms.
• A third were worried about uploading personal documents.

These findings told us what to fix first: make the process clearer, explain the terms, and earn users’ trust with their documents.

I split the application into a stepper, so users saw one manageable part at a time instead of one long form:

• Information grouped into 4–6 logical steps.
• Required and optional fields clearly separated.

I tested the prototypes with target users, offering discounts on the service to those who took part. The tests showed that:

• Users wanted to save the application as a draft and come back later.
• Legal terms needed tooltips and short explanations.
• Navigation had to show clearly which steps were still unfinished.

Changes Made

• Added draft saving.
• Wrote clearer tooltips and explanations for legal terms.
• Added a reminder in the navigation to finish incomplete applications.

I kept the final design simple:

• Application process: clear steps and predictable layouts.
• User profile: users can track application status, update their details and upload or download documents.
• Visual style: clean layouts with simple illustrations, to feel friendly and trustworthy.

Mobile Design

Every screen adapts to mobile, so founders can apply and check their status from any device.

Design System

I built the design system on Atomic Design principles, so new features could be added without breaking consistency.

I worked closely with developers to keep the build true to the design and to solve technical issues together. We shipped:

• The online application process.
• A user profile for managing data and documents.
• Content pages: blog, services, FAQ and a knowledge center.

Achievements

• Growth: Firstbase went from a landing page to a full-service platform.
• Lower costs: automating key processes reduced the cost of running the service.
• Engagement: time spent on the site grew by 60% after the knowledge center and blog launched.
• Completion: incomplete applications dropped by 33% in the first month after launch.

Lessons Learned

• Interviews and usability tests surface needs users wouldn’t mention on their own.
• A clear process with regular validation leads to better results.
• Localisation and accessibility still need work.

• Add analytics to see how people use the product.
• Localise the platform for users in different regions.
• Improve accessibility.