Activate
Get ready to take the first payment.
Prioritize required tasks, deadlines, installation status, and support.
The same dashboard served merchants with completely different needs
A restaurant preparing to launch needed setup tasks, deadlines, installation status, and access to its Customer Success Manager. A live restaurant needed performance data and ways to expand its setup. Merchant Hub treated both the same.
- 1No clear next action
Launch requirements were scattered across the product.
- 2Data without context
New merchants saw dashboard information before it could help them.
- 3One hierarchy for everyone
The interface did not adjust as merchant goals changed.
The opportunity was not to build separate dashboards. It was to create one system that changed its priorities as merchant context changed.
Lifecycle stage should determine what comes next
Workshops and affinity mapping organized merchant needs around four recurring jobs. This became the single model used across onboarding, daily operations, and feature discovery.
Configure
Tailor SkyTab to the business.
Sequence setup, teach in context, and confirm readiness.
Operate
Run service with confidence.
Surface performance, system health, exceptions, and timely support.
Optimize
Find opportunities to grow.
Connect trends and merchant needs to relevant capabilities.
Discovery input
The work reframed onboarding as an ongoing lifecycle rather than a single setup flow. Merchant context, not account type, became the strongest organizing principle.
The detailed lifecycle map and workshop artifacts are available in the deep dive below.
Guide initial setup, then adapt the Merchant Hub
Required setup before Hub access. State-aware guidance afterward.
- Evidence
- Merchants needed a guided entry flow and a different next action as their priorities changed.
- Decision
- Guide merchants through initial setup before Hub entry, then adapt hierarchy, guidance, and tone to their context.
- Tradeoff
- Initial setup adds work before dashboard access. Keep that work focused, make progress understandable, and provide support when a blocker appears.
Initial setup comes before the Hub
Merchants begin with a guided flow covering installation details, menu and tax information, restaurant details, and Offline Mode acknowledgment. They reach the Customer Hub after progressing through this initial setup. The completion screen marks the transition into the Hub. Dashboard access does not mean every operational task or additional service is ready.
One merchant journey, from setup to growth
A guided setup flow leads into the Merchant Hub. Within the Hub, a familiar dashboard structure supports changing priorities from launch preparation to daily operations and growth.
Activate and configure
Make the critical path impossible to miss
After initial setup, the Hub prioritizes remaining launch work, installation details, menu programming, and Customer Success support. Secondary content supports discovery without competing with immediate launch priorities.
- Clear ownership and status for every launch requirement
- Progressive setup that builds confidence
- Direct access to support when a blocker appears
Operate
Replace setup guidance with useful business context
After launch, the same dashboard shifts toward real-time performance, operational status, tutorials, and recommendations that support the restaurant's daily work.
- Data appears when it can be interpreted and acted on
- Exceptions and system health become visible
- Education continues after initial onboarding
Optimize
Use context to support feature discovery
Relevant capabilities appear as the merchant is ready for them, connecting feature activation to an immediate business need instead of presenting a generic catalog.
Exploring the setup flow and Launch Center
These explorations cover verification, business information, add-on selection, and a Launch Center concept with progress tracking and required tasks.
Measured impact across launch and adoption
The system supported merchants from their first setup task through ongoing feature activation.
Merchants launched
Reach through the redesigned Launch Center since launch.
Faster confirmation
Reduction in onboarding order confirmation time.
Feature activations
Value-Added Service activations recorded in 2025.
Measurement note: these figures combine product reach, process improvement, and feature activation. They are not presented as isolated A/B test results.
What I learned
Complexity handled at the system level can create a simpler experience for merchants. A shared structure also made it possible to change priorities without making each lifecycle stage feel like a different product.
What I would test next
I would explore stronger mobile workflows, predictive feature recommendations, and performance benchmarks that help live merchants understand what to do next.
Design for the user's context, not your convenience.
Deep dive
Supporting artifacts are available for reviewers who want to inspect the system in more detail.
Lifecycle architecture and illustration system
Feature activation flow
Delivery quality and interactive prototype
283 issues resolved, 29 open. Error-state coverage and close design-engineering collaboration contributed to a 90% resolution rate while the product continued to evolve.
Open interactive prototype