How might we increase mobile form completion rates for real estate agents while thoughtfully redirecting unintended users?
Timeframe:
Jan - May 2023
Company:
Platform:
Web
Role:
Solo Designer + Strategist
Acquisition | Forms | Navigation
Multi-step form design improves completion rates and wayfinding
Context
Zillow Premier Agent is a subscription CRM product for real estate agents to connect with shoppers on Zillow. Prospects get started by filling out an intake form that is embedded on its own web page. I was tasked with improving the product acquisition experience and worked with a developer and researcher from our conversion rate optimization team.
Problem
Wayfinding Problem: Lost home shoppers, sellers, and other professionals were mistakenly submitting the agent form to either find agents or get help from Zillow.
Mobile Completion Rate Problem: Low form completion rates on mobile, a commonly used device size for the on-the-go agent demographic.
Outcome
The multi-step modal form design with responsive navigation toggles increased completion rates by 23% and inbound quality by 19% as lost home shoppers and other professionals were redirected to relevant web experiences on Zillow.
The device-adaptable form design became a component in our CMS for use across other lines of business.
Mobile
Desktop

Design Approach

01. DISCOVER
First, I used web analytics and heatmaps to identify current form pain points:
Then, I used form submit data from Salesforce and interviews with sales representatives to create user segments:
02. PROTOTYPE
I mapped the ideal paths on Zillow for the segments and prototyped navigation toggles to responsively disclose the relevant links for these user flows:
Non-Agent
Agent
Then, I broke the fields into steps (least invasive questions first) to enable mobile users to easily complete the form with their native keyboards:
03. EVALUATE
In testing, submission quality increased as unintended users were redirected, but form completion rates decreased slightly due to:
04. ITERATE
I clustered fields to consolidate steps, incorporated progress indicators, and designed upsells for custom product stats for the final design:
Conclusion
By using data to identify unintended form users and pinpoint mobile completion rate pain points, I was able to tailor design solutions that addressed the needs of both primary (agents) and secondary users (home shoppers/other professionals) while balancing business needs to improve acquisition quantity and quality.

While the navigation toggles served as a solution to the wayfinding problem of secondary users, the consolidated multi-step design met the mobile needs of on-the-go agents that were trying to fill out this form.
My approach centered on enhancing the user experience while testing and evaluating the business implications of my design decisions. I pivoted from my original prototype, leveraging data to refine my design and find the sweet spot where user needs and business objectives converged.

This resulted in a final design that increased form completion rates by 23% and inbound quality by 19%. The device-adaptable form design was also ingested as a design system component in our CMS, and was scaled for use across Zillow's rental products for landlords.