FRICTION AUDIT — UX SPRINT

Jake McMahon — ProductQuant

B2B SaaS · Product · Growth

Friction Audit

A structured audit of your activation and free-to-paid flow — identifying the exact steps where users drop, get stuck, or decide not to convert.

Book a Scoped Call → See Deliverables ↓

Free diagnostic · Blueprint sprint with money-back guarantee · Full handoff

WHAT YOU HAVE AT THE END

Friction Map Every drop point ranked by conversion impact

Fix Playbook Specific, implementable fix for each friction point

Session Analysis Heatmaps, recordings, and funnel data interpreted

A/B Test Proposals 3–5 experiments ready to run immediately after

Priority Score Each fix scored on effort vs. conversion impact

Fixed price · Everything stays with you

Friction Audit — in plain terms.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

ACTIVATION FRICTION

You see exactly where new users give up before getting value

We map every step between signup and your activation event. Each drop point is documented with the behaviour pattern, likely cause, and a specific fix — not a theory.

FREE-TO-PAID FRICTION

You see which upgrade prompts work and which drive churn

The audit analyses where free users hit the paywall, how they respond, and what triggers them to convert — or leave. Fixes are ranked by expected conversion lift.

ONBOARDING DEAD ENDS

You remove the moments users decide to leave

Session recordings and funnel data identify the steps where users either go silent or explicitly exit. Each dead end gets a specific UX fix and a microcopy change.

PRICING PAGE FRICTION

You see what's stopping users from clicking 'upgrade'

Heatmaps and session data on your pricing page identify hesitation points, ignored CTAs, and confusing tier structures — with specific layout and copy fixes.

ENTRY POINT

Free Diag.

Every engagement starts with a free 45-minute diagnostic. We map your situation and tell you whether this sprint is the right fit before you spend a dollar.

GUARANTEE

Money-Back

Blueprint sprint has a money-back guarantee. If the agreed deliverable isn’t met, you pay nothing. No conditions, no argument.

OWNERSHIP

Full Handoff

Everything built during the engagement — code, models, documentation — is yours. No lock-in, no ongoing dependency.

THE PROBLEM

Signup volume, low activation

“"We have healthy signups. Activation is 22%. We've tried tweaks but nothing moves the number."”

HEAD OF GROWTH

Unknown drop-off

“"We know users leave at step 4. We don't know why and the recordings don't make it obvious."”

PRODUCT MANAGER

Free-to-paid stall

“"Free-to-paid is 3.2%. Industry benchmark is 4–5%. We're losing revenue we should be capturing."”

VP GROWTH

Conflicting opinions

“"Engineering says the flow is fine. Product says the copy is the problem. Marketing says the pricing page is broken. We need someone to tell us which one to fix first."”

CEO

WHAT THE BLUEPRINT SPRINT UNCOVERS

The gap between where you are and where you need to be.

Most activation problems are in the first session

The majority of churn decisions happen within 15 minutes of signup. The audit starts there — not with the feature that took three sprints to build.

Session recordings without interpretation are just video

We don't deliver a list of recordings. We deliver a ranked friction map with root causes and fixes ready to implement.

Friction points have different ROI

Some fixes take an afternoon and move the conversion rate 2%. Others take a sprint and move it 0.2%. The audit scores each fix on effort and expected impact so you implement in the right order.

One high-impact fix is worth more than ten low-impact ones

The playbook we deliver is ranked — fix #1 first. Don't spread effort across all 10 at once.

WHY THIS IS DIFFERENT

Most conversion audits deliver a list. A list without prioritisation is just more work.

A typical UX audit gives you a Notion doc with 40 observations. Nobody knows which one to fix first, so the team argues about it for two sprints and eventually does the easiest ones — which aren't the highest-impact ones.

The friction audit delivers a ranked playbook: each friction point has a root cause, a specific fix, an effort estimate, and an expected conversion impact. Your team starts with #1 on the list — not the one that's easiest to build.

THE METHODOLOGY

The UX Sprint System

Three phases. Audit to production-ready Figma in two weeks.

PHASE 1

Audit

Heuristic review, user flow mapping, and conversion funnel analysis. Every friction point ranked by impact.

→

PHASE 2

Design

Wireframes → high-fidelity Figma. Design tokens, component library, responsive specs included.

→

PHASE 3

Deliver

Dev-ready handoff: component specs, interaction notes, and a prioritised implementation order.

After handoff: your design system is documented so your team can extend it independently.

WHAT YOU GET

Everything your team needs to launch and maintain the system.

FULL ENGAGEMENT

Complete Friction Audit

A ranked list of the 5–10 highest-impact friction points in your flow — with specific, implementable fixes for each, prioritised by conversion impact.

Full audit of activation, free-to-paid, and onboarding flows
Ranked friction map: all drop points with root causes and fixes
A/B testing roadmap: 6–10 experiments with expected lifts
Redesigned onboarding flow: wireframes and microcopy
Pricing page optimisation: layout, copy, and CTA recommendations
Implementation priority matrix scored by effort and conversion impact

FIT CHECK

Is this the right sprint for your team?

GOOD FIT

Product and growth teams who have real signup volume but wea

The situation

Product and growth teams who have real signup volume but weak activation rates or low free-to-paid conversion — and don't know exactly where the problem is

What changes

Full audit of activation, free-to-paid, and onboarding flows
Ranked friction map: all drop points with root causes and fixes
A/B testing roadmap: 6–10 experiments with expected lifts

You have a ranked list of the 5–10 highest-impact friction points in your flow — with specific, implementable fixes for each, pri.

Jake McMahon — ProductQuant

Jake McMahon

B2B SaaS · Product & Growth · Behavioural Psychology & Big Data (Master’s)

I work with B2B SaaS product and operations teams to build and deploy the systems they need — without consuming their engineering capacity or waiting 18 months for the roadmap.

Every engagement starts with a free diagnostic and a scoped blueprint sprint with a money-back guarantee. If the sprint doesn’t hit the agreed target, it costs you nothing.

What does my team need to provide?

Data access, a point of contact, and a clear picture of the outcome you need. No engineering time required during the build phase.

Teams Jake has worked with

PRICING

Start with a free diagnostic. Commit when you’re confident.

STEP 1

Free Diagnostic

Free

45-minute scoped call

We map your current situation and data
We tell you whether this sprint fits your problem
You get a written summary of what we’d build
No commitment required to book

Book Diagnostic →

START HERE

STEP 2

Friction Audit Blueprint Sprint

$2,500–$3,500

Fixed scope · 2 weeks · Money-back guarantee

Full activation funnel analysis using your existing analytics and session data
5 highest-impact friction points identified, ranked by conversion impact
Root cause documented for each: behaviour pattern, likely reason, and evidence
Specific fix for each friction point: UX change, microcopy, or flow restructure
3 A/B test proposals ready to run immediately
Priority matrix: effort vs. expected conversion impact for each fix

Start Sprint →

STEP 3 (OPTIONAL)

Full Engagement

$15K–$40K

Scope-dependent · Full production build

Full audit of activation, free-to-paid, and onboarding flows
Ranked friction map: all drop points with root causes and fixes
A/B testing roadmap: 6–10 experiments with expected lifts
Redesigned onboarding flow: wireframes and microcopy
Pricing page optimisation: layout, copy, and CTA recommendations
Implementation priority matrix scored by effort and conversion impact

Discuss Scope →

If the blueprint sprint doesn't deliver a ranked list of at least 5 friction points with specific, implementable fixes, the sprint is free.

Questions.

Or book a call →

What data do you need access to? +

Read-only access to your product analytics (PostHog, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or similar), session recording tool (FullStory, Hotjar, or PostHog recordings), and your funnel data. No access to personal user data required.

What if we don't have session recordings? +

We can still run the audit using funnel analytics and heuristic review. Session recordings improve confidence — but the audit can identify the majority of friction points without them.

How is this different from hiring a UX designer? +

A designer will identify what looks or feels off. This audit identifies what causes users to not convert — with evidence from your actual user behaviour, not design intuition.

Do you make the changes or just document them? +

We document and prioritise. Implementation is your team's — we give you everything they need to execute without questions. If you want us to design the fixes too, that moves to the full engagement.

How quickly will we see conversion improvements? +

Depends on your implementation speed. The fixes we deliver are ready to implement immediately. Teams that start in the first week typically see data from their first A/B test within 3–4 weeks.