HomeAdvisor · Gig Economy · B2C Mobile
Gig Economy
Pro Sign-Up
Redesigning HomeAdvisor's professional onboarding to welcome an entirely new kind of user — the casual gig worker — without alienating the licensed pros they'd always served.
Context
A household name entering unfamiliar territory
HomeAdvisor built its business connecting licensed service professionals with homeowners. But the market was shifting — TaskRabbit, Thumbtack, and others were capturing the growing gig economy. Casual workers looking to earn extra money doing lawn mowing, furniture assembly, or moving help were finding their platforms instead.
HomeAdvisor had the brand recognition and homeowner network to compete. What it didn't have was an onboarding flow for this entirely different kind of worker.
The Problem
The existing sign-up was built for the wrong person
HomeAdvisor's current professional sign-up asked for licensing information, business credentials, insurance details — everything a licensed contractor would have, and nothing a college student or weekend handyperson would. The language, fields, and flow were entirely wrong for the gig economy user.
The new user base looked very different: high school or college-aged workers, professionals in other industries supplementing their income, people who simply didn't think of themselves as "home improvement professionals." They needed an experience that met them where they were.
Challenges
Speed, mobile-first, and a crowded market
- Fast move-to-market timeline — competitors were already taking significant market share and the window was closing
- Mobile-first, full stop — gig workers would onboard, manage accounts, accept jobs, connect with clients, and get paid entirely on their smartphones. Every design decision started from that screen
- Overwhelming onboarding — initial testing revealed users dropped off when front-loaded with too many steps before they could see the value
The Pivot
Progressive onboarding over front-loaded forms
After usability testing, the core pivot was clear: don't ask for everything upfront. The onboarding needed to be dramatically streamlined — getting workers into the platform quickly and collecting profile information progressively as they built their presence.
"Users weren't dropping off because they didn't want to sign up. They were dropping off because we asked too much too soon. The fix was trust-building through simplicity — earn the information progressively."
Project Goals
Growing both sides of the marketplace
- Move HomeAdvisor into the gig economy space using its existing brand recognition as a competitive advantage
- Increase user base on both the homeowner and pro sides of the platform
- Grow revenue by taking a percentage of homeowner task cost through increased gig transaction volume
The Final Result
Sign-up & onboarding flow prototype
The full prototype walkthrough of the new gig economy pro sign-up and onboarding experience — designed mobile-first, from the ground up for a brand new user base.
Prototype walkthrough: full gig economy pro sign-up & onboarding flow
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