Step one was a sell
Value Before Friction
Social Proof
Before asking for any info, the flow made the case of why somebody should become a Hummingbird. Brand logos showed what to expect and a row of creator avatars made it feel like a real community they could join, not an untested product.
Straiht from the creators' mouths
Using exact creators exact words to help bolster the value for potential creators.
Easy asks first
Progressive Discolsure
Commitment Ramp
Name and email — low commitment, familiar, fast. Their city came next, because local matching is the whole product. Each small yes makes the next one easier to give.
Harder asks, explained in the moment
Just-In-Time Context
Value-Exchange Transparency
Phone, gender, age each carried microcopy explaining why we wanted it and how brands used it — context delivered the instant it's needed, not buried in a policy nobody reads. Home address was optional, and we said so plainly, instead of hoping no one noticed.
Security, right where the hesitation lived
Point-Of-Decision Reassurance
The Instagram connection was the biggest ask. So the security callout sat directly beside the connect button. Reassurance placed at the point of anxiety.
A real introduction, not a tooltip tour
First-Run Experience
Core-Loop Reveal
On completion, a quick 1 2 3 walk-through explained the actual loop — find a brand, create content, get paid. A quick, high-level mental model setting step.
Empty states as a second onboarding layer
Empty-State As Scaffolding
Cntextual Onboarding
Underrated, and where the detail nerd in me got to play. Every empty state — no results, no active campaigns, no earnings yet, was treated as continued onboarding: here's what fills this when you're active, and here's your next move. The scaffolding stayed up until the product had something real to show.
