Overview Impact Phase 1 · Landing Page Phase 2 · In-Product Phase 3 · Strategy Insights Artifacts

Case Study · 02 of 06

Expert 365 Business.

TurboTax's first end-to-end subscription tax service for small business owners — combining AI-driven automation with on-demand human expertise.

Client

Intuit · TurboTax

Role

UX Research Lead

Methods

Mixed · 3 phases

Scope

Discovery → Vision

Horizon

3-year roadmap

Unmoderated user testingValue proposition surveysLongitudinal interviewsDiary studiesBehavioral analyticsExpert call shadowingWorkshop facilitation

My Role

UX Research Lead — designed and executed end-to-end research from discovery through strategic visioning; facilitated multi-day cross-functional workshops.

Team

Cross-functional partnership with Market Research, Product Design, Product Strategy, Marketing, and Data Science; collaborated with Julie Yessin & Shane Chestnut on expert observation.

Duration

Multi-phase engagement (2025) spanning discovery, concept validation, in-production usability, and strategic visioning workshops.

Expert 365 Business team — “I'm excited to…” kickoff slide with three highlights: being part of year 3 of the rocketship, using AI in new ways, and working with a collaborative team.

Impact

Research that moved metrics.

+18%

Click-to-sign-up
projected via A/B testing

−20%

Call duration
via pre-call expectations

−30%

"Out-of-scope"
expert calls

Strategic roadmap also informed FY26 product milestones and aligned stakeholders on a long-term, human-AI hybrid service vision.

Project Overview

A first-of-its-kind subscription tax service.

Expert 365 Business is TurboTax's new end-to-end tax solution for small business owners, combining AI-driven automation with on-demand human expertise.

My role was to validate the value proposition, refine the landing page experience, and inform a 3-year product vision through rigorous, mixed-method research.

Business goals

Drive adoption and conversion for a first-of-its-kind subscription tax service.
Reduce early-stage drop-off by clarifying expectations of the "expert partnership."
Define target and future states to guide long-term product strategy.

Phase 01 · Landing Page Validation

Does the story match the value users expect?

Before introducing Expert 365 Business to real customers, we needed to understand whether the story we were telling matched the value users expected.

Method: Unmoderated remote user tests (UserTesting) paired with value proposition surveys.

Objective: Evaluate clarity of messaging, test headline and CTA variants, identify expectation gaps.

I led a round of unmoderated user testing and value proposition surveys to evaluate how small business owners interpreted the landing page — specifically, whether the headline, subtext, and primary CTA communicated the product's purpose and benefits clearly.

Through these sessions, I uncovered a consistent gap: while users understood that they'd get expert help, they weren't clear on how or when that help would appear in their journey. Many interpreted "expert support from start to finish" as instant CPA access, not an ongoing advisory relationship.

These insights directly informed a messaging and design pivot. We restructured the headline hierarchy to focus on "tax experts who partner with your business year-round," aligning expectations early and improving message clarity in subsequent A/B tests.

From research → to outcome.
Messaging hierarchy, restructured.

Phase 02 · In-Product Experience

What builds trust — and what breaks it.

TurboTax was preparing to launch Expert 365 Business as a subscription-based tax advisory service: first month free, $99/month thereafter. The goal: acquire 200 trial sign-ups and understand what drives users to trust the service, engage with experts, and convert from trial to paid.

While the product promised "expert support from start to finish," we didn't yet know what builds confidence, where friction occurs, or how value is perceived throughout the journey.

The approach

I designed a multi-phase, longitudinal study to capture the real customer journey from sign-up through the end of the trial period.

Participants: 10 small business owners (sole props & S-corps, $50K–$1M revenue, 0–5 employees)
Touchpoints: Onboarding → Mid-trial → End-of-trial → Post-conversion / Churn

Methods

Moderated interviews during onboarding and post-trial reflection
Diary study check-ins to track early impressions and usage patterns
Behavioral analytics in collaboration with data science to identify drop-off and "aha" moments
Expert roundtables and call shadowing to understand service delivery gaps

This study combined qualitative depth with behavioral validation — revealing why users behaved the way they did, not just what they did.

How Might We

Three reframes from the research.

Reframe Value

Peace of mind, not another cost.

How might we frame the value of Expert 365 Business to make the monthly subscription feel like a crucial investment in peace of mind, rather than another business cost?

Offer Flexibility

Grow with the business.

How might we create flexible, tiered offerings that can grow with a small business — providing exactly what they need at a price they can afford at every stage?

Prove the Magic

Indispensable, fast.

How might we demonstrate the product's value so effectively through a trial or demo that new users feel they can't imagine managing their business without it?

Phase 03 · Strategic Alignment

From insights to a 3-year vision.

Two-day cross-functional workshops with Product, Design, Marketing, and Market Research. The goal: synthesize findings into a Target State (Feb 2026) and Future State (3-year) experience map.

We first grounded ourselves with who our customers were — surfacing five distinct needs across business-grade small (BGS) customers:

Accuracy & Protection — Heightened FUD; assume shared accountability with their pro; crave reassurance with IRS protection.
Minimize My Tax Bill — Proactively find deductions so no money is left on the table.
Prep for Prep Burden — Unsure which expenses to track; manual and disorganized expense tracking.
Proactive Tax Advice — Crave personalized tax guidance and support beyond a single filing.
Tax Strategy & Implementation — Receive unclear strategies; crave step-by-step implementation plan.

Tax behavior & preferences

Customers split: half of BGS pay a flat fee (45% prefer to hand off completely; 38% prefer to work alongside their preparer). Average cost for tax preparation: >$600. Most are satisfied with their current preparer (86%). They rely on a single tax expert year-over-year as a trusted partner who knows their unique situation — and they want industry-specific personalization that drives confidence in outcome and future planning.

Key Insights

What we learned about trust.

Many users questioned if the "expert partner" was a human or an AI assistant.
Lack of upfront scope criteria led to misaligned calls and wasted expert time.
Small business owners couldn't distinguish Expert 365 Business from other TurboTax tiers.
Cost transparency and expert role clarity were top conversion blockers.
Users wanted industry-specific expertise and business-first conversation — not a scripted checklist.

"Is my expert partner a human or an AI?"
That question alone was a conversion blocker.

Artifacts Delivered

What shipped to stakeholders.

Value Proposition Report — quant & qual synthesis with prioritized recommendations.
Experience Maps — Current → Target (Feb 2026) → Future State (3-Year).
Workshop Playbook — Templates for cross-functional ideation and decision-making.
Executive stakeholder presentation for VP of Product & Marketing leadership.

Reflection

Layered research, vision-driving outcomes.

This project demonstrated the power of layered research — from tactical landing page testing to vision-driving workshops. By integrating market insights with deep user empathy, we not only optimized immediate conversion but also shaped the strategic direction of a flagship product.

The CG Design Research Team at Intuit, gathered together.

CG Design Research Team · Intuit · 2025

Expert 365 Business.

My Role

Team

Duration

Research that moved metrics.

A first-of-its-kind subscription tax service.

Business goals

Does the story match the value users expect?

What builds trust — and what breaks it.

The approach

Methods

Three reframes from the research.

Peace of mind, not another cost.

Grow with the business.

Indispensable, fast.

From insights to a 3-year vision.

Tax behavior & preferences

What we learned about trust.

What shipped to stakeholders.

Layered research, vision-driving outcomes.

Continue exploring