Smart Opt-in
Make SMS sign ups faster and smoother with an auto filled, one-time verification code.
Overview
Role: Product Designer | Duration: 1 month (January 2024)
Collaborated with Product Manager Uday K. and Engineer Chas R. to bring the project to life. Led the full product design process end-to-end, including user research, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, and final handoff to engineering.
Context
So what is Klaviyo? Who are we building for?
Klaviyo is a marketing platform that helps e-commerce brands connect with customers through email and SMS. It makes it easy to capture data, send personalized messages, and drive growth.
The problem
Brands using SMS sign up forms struggle with low opt-in rates. Top performing brands had at least 3% submit rates, so we used that as a benchmark.
Why this matters?
Brands lose the opportunity to grow their SMS list. Lower opt-in rates reduce the impact of one of the highest performing marketing channels.
Business goal
Increase SMS sign up performance across all brands so that every brand can reach at least the 3% benchmark established by top performers.
Research
Customer data and form performance showed a big drop-off between sign-ups and actual subscriptions.
The extra step of confirming opt-in by text was creating friction and causing many shoppers to fall out of the funnel.
Design goal
Design a smoother, in form SMS opt-in experience to reduce friction and increase successful sign-ups.
HMW..
HMW streamline SMS confirmation so more customers complete their subscription?
Ideation
So how does this work?
With Smart Opt-in, the user enters their phone number, they'll receive a text from the brand with a verification code, the code will be prefilled and then they're subscribed.
Define
End user journey
This is the customer visiting a brands site. Below is a comparison of the user flows before Smart Opt-In (top) and after (bottom). With Smart Opt-In, shoppers take fewer steps and remain on the brand’s site throughout the process.
Design
Wireframing the Klaviyo user journey
The wireframes below illustrate the brands user journey: starting in the template library, selecting a template with Smart Opt-In enabled, and then moving into form editing.
Iterations
From wireframing to high-fidelity
As I moved from wireframes into the design phase, three critical adoption challenges came into focus.
Challenge 1
How do we make users aware that this feature exists and drive adoption?
A new announcement banner on the Forms page highlights Smart Opt-In. Clicking the “Try it out” CTA filters the template library to only Smart Opt-In options. The user then names their form, confirms the SMS subscriber list, and is taken directly into the editor to begin customizing.
Challenge 2
How will existing users transition their forms from double opt-in to Smart Opt-In?
Within the phone number block, the user can switch the opt-in method from traditional to Smart Opt-In. Then they can select the list where new SMS subscribers will be added.
Challenge 3
How will users add SMS alongside their existing email forms?
In this flow, when a user adds a new step and selects SMS, the Smart Opt-In option is pre-selected by default since it’s the recommended approach.
_gif.gif)
The final designs
These high-fidelity mocks demonstrate how a brand can seamlessly add Smart Opt-In to their existing email form.
Measuring success
Impact and results
Brands that adopted Smart Opt-In saw a lift in form performance compared to the traditional double opt-in. For Klaviyo, this translated into 7–14M new emailable profiles and 3–5M additional SMS sends.
229
Unique accounts enabled Smart Opt-in
188K
Shoppers have opted in with Smart Opt-in
22%
lift with Smart Opt-in when compared to traditional opt-in
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of balancing business goals with the user experience. By introducing Smart Opt-In in multiple entry points, we made adoption more seamless for brands. One of the biggest wins was aligning early with cross-functional partners to validate assumptions about benchmarks and performance, which shaped clearer design decisions. If I could revisit without engineering constraints, I’d make Smart Opt-In a one-click experience. We handle everything in the background so brands just review the changes and accept.