A significant number of new users of Fortnox’s cloud-based accounting software face problems at the beginning of their journey, leading them to abandon the platform. This project aims to address motivation and learnability issues related to Fortnox software.

Employees at Fortnox noted that a significant portion of users struggle to navigate the system, with up to 25% of them citing the complexity of the platform as the reason for discontinued use. The purpose of this project was to identify struggling users and propose design solutions to facilitate a smoother onboarding experience and foster the user's confidence to establish Fortnox as their primary digital accounting solution.

The study focused on user motivation and learnability, drawing from John Keller's ARCS model and experience-centered design. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 new users of Fortnox's accounting software, selected through purposive sampling to ensure a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Participants included small business owners, freelancers, and accounting professionals.

Additionally, we interviewed five members of Fortnox's customer support team, who provided valuable insights into common user pain points and challenges. Through these interviews, we gained a deeper understanding of users' motivations, expectations, and difficulties encountered during the onboarding process.

Initially, we aimed to interview users who had discontinued their Fortnox subscription to understand the reasons behind their decision. However, we encountered several challenges in reaching out to this specific user group. Many former users had outdated contact information or were unresponsive to our attempts to contact them via email or phone.

Some users expressed also reluctance to participate in interviews due to time constraints or privacy concerns. Despite our efforts to overcome these challenges, including using multiple contact methods and offering incentives for participation, we ultimately found it impractical to gather sufficient data from this user segment within the project's timeframe. This led us to pursue new users instead, they would be able to contribute with equivalent information because they were or had recently been in that same learning phase where many chose to leave.

After transcribing the interviews, coding, and analysing our data, three main themes emerged: expectations, accounting knowledge, and onboarding challenges. Findings suggested discrepancies in user expectations and a lack of accounting skills contributing to user frustration.

Using the ARCS model, we pinpointed areas where design enhancements could boost user motivation and learnability in the Fortnox accounting software, you can see our suggested actions in the table below.

In conclusion, our UX research project has provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by new users of Fortnox's accounting software and identified opportunities for improvement. By focusing on user motivation and learnability, we have proposed actionable design recommendations to enhance the onboarding experience and foster user confidence.

While our findings underscore the complexity of addressing user needs in a digital accounting context, they also highlight the potential for significant improvements in user satisfaction and retention. Moving forward, we encourage Fortnox to consider implementing our recommendations and continuing to prioritize user-centric design practices to drive business success.

As this project primarily focused on UX research, we didn't have time to propose UI implementation within the frame of the project. Nonetheless, I gained valuable insights into design processes and working with cross-functional teams within a large company like Fortnox. I would like to thank my supervisors Claudia and Samantha, and Product Design Manager Magnus Eidehall, for their trust and support during my time at Fortnox!

Not satisfied? Due to NDA restrictions, I am unable to share more details about this project. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more.