Overview

Sona is a no-code automation platform built for operations teams at mid-size companies. Think Zapier, but designed for non-technical users who manage complex multi-step workflows across CRMs, spreadsheets, and internal tools.

They had a working MVP with solid engineering behind it — but the product experience was holding them back. Users were dropping off during onboarding, and the automation builder was too complex for their target audience.

The Challenge

Sona's core problem was a gap between product capability and product usability. The platform could handle sophisticated automation chains, but building one felt like writing code. Their target users — operations managers and team leads — don't think in code. They think in workflows.

Three specific problems needed solving:

• Onboarding completion rate was sitting at 23% — most users never built their first automation

• The automation builder used a code-first interface that intimidated non-technical users

• No template library existed, forcing every user to start from zero

The Approach

I started with 12 user interviews to understand where people got stuck. The pattern was clear: users understood what they wanted to automate but couldn't translate that into Sona's interface. The tool was speaking engineer, the users were speaking business.

The redesign focused on three pillars:

Visual automation builder

Replaced the code-style interface with a drag-and-drop visual builder. Each step in an automation became a card with clear inputs and outputs. Users could see the entire flow at a glance instead of reading through nested logic.

Template-first onboarding

Instead of asking users to build from scratch, the new onboarding started with pre-built templates for common workflows — 'Weekly sales report', 'Lead follow-up sequence', 'Inventory alerts.' Users picked a template,

Design system for scale

Built a component library with 80+ elements that Sona's engineering team could use to ship new features consistently. Every new feature now launches with a cohesive look without needing design review on every screen.

The Results

Within 8 weeks of launch, Sona's onboarding completion rate nearly tripled. Users were creating significantly more automations per month. The template library became the most-used feature — the majority of all new automations started from a template.