Highbourne Group
City Plumbing App: Enhancing Experience and Expanding Features
Project Summary
This project focused on updating the City Plumbing app to improve usability and deliver a more personalised user experience.
Features introduced:
- New onboarding screens to create a personalised experience
- Quick links (for signed in users) to easily access favourites, orders and branch information from the homepage.
Scope: Homepage UI
Sector: E-commerce (Trade & Retail)
Tools: Figma
Year: 2025
Onboarding
Problem statement
The existing onboarding experience was generic, resulting in low interaction and poor sign‑up rates.
No user data was collected during onboarding, so we couldn’t customise content or product recommendations to the individual. This lack of personalisation meant reduced engagement and impacted revenue.
Wireframes
The wireframes highlighted a personalised onboarding experience, which was designed to gather essential user data early in the journey. By identifying customer type (trade or homeowner) and key product interests, the app could personalise content.
Homeowners followed a shorter, streamlined flow focused on quick setup and product discovery, while trade users completed a more detailed path showcasing account benefits and professional tools. This personalised onboarding created relevant content for each user type.
The data captured during onboarding helped with personalising each users homepage by adding personalised product recommedations, promotions and tools. Which in turn helped improve discoverability, engagement, and overall user satisfaction.
Iteration & Design
Early feedback on the wireframes revealed that the onboarding flow felt too long, leading to user drop‑off. To reduce friction, the first “continue” step was removed, allowing users to enter the app automatically after a delay. The tools section was also removed and was replaced with personalised tool recommendations based on each user’s selected product interests. Animations were introduced to make the section more intuitive and visually engaging.
These refinements quickened the user flow, increased onboarding completion, and drove higher sign‑up rates.
Results
The updated onboarding process not only improved the completion and sign up/sign in rates but also improved the users experience once in the app by having a personalised homepage.
Higher sign up/sign in rates also meant that the users could access the quick link feature which would better their app experience.
Quick Links – Homepage
Problem statement
Critical account features were difficult to find within the logged-in experience, slowing down key tasks and creating unnecessary friction for time-sensitive trade users.
User Understanding
Frequent users of the app, particularly installers and trade professionals, rely on it to complete tasks while on the job. Our data revealed high use of reordering, along with regular branch searches based on location and stock information. Having quick access to these would help with the user experience.
For users who haven’t created an account within the onboarding process, the homepage now promotes logging in or creating an account to help drive repeat custom.
Robert
Boiler Installer
Robert uses the app daily to reorder familiar products, track availability, and minimise time needed to hunt for products between customers. Quick access to favourites, reordering, and nearby branches helps him stay efficient and complete installations on schedule.
John
Plumber
John relies on the app while on-site to quickly find and reorder essential parts, check stock availability, and locate the nearest branch for fast collection. Speed and reliability are critical, as delays can directly affect job completion and customer satisfaction.
Design
1
My orders
2
Favourites
3
Nearby branches
Design solutions & results
The updated homepage introduces quick‑access features for logged in users including reorder, active orders, favourites, and a branch map showing the nearest locations.
A potential next iteration could explore the order of quick links and include usability testing to evaluate how users engage with “Reorder” versus “Favourites,” and whether these features could be combined.
1 - My Orders
Changes & Rationale
The My Orders feature was added to give users immediate visibility of their active orders directly from the homepage.
Notification of when an item is ready for collection or delivery gives the users a reminder to pick up their item. The QR code for each order also makes it faster for customer to collect their orders, which is extra helpful for trade customers.
2 - Favourites
Changes & Rationale
The Favourites section allows customers to quickly reorder frequently purchased products without searching or browsing through categories. This feature is specially useful for trade professionals who can repeat their common orders just within a few taps. This reduces friction, shortens purchase time, and supports higher order frequency.
3 - Branches nearby
Changes & Rationale
The Branches feature enables users to locate their nearest store and check live stock availability before visiting. This functionality saves time, supports quick in‑person collections, and provides immediate insight into product availability within each branch — a key improvement for trade customers who rely on local stock.