Clearer Onboarding: Inline Validation & Better 'Skip' Affordance
Clearer Onboarding: Inline Validation & Better 'Skip' Affordance
Release: v0.1.372
The onboarding wizard has been updated to give users immediate, actionable feedback at every step — instead of silently blocking progress with a disabled button.
What was the problem?
The previous onboarding flow had a gap: only Step 1 (property and start date selection) showed an explicit error message when the user tried to advance without completing required fields. Steps 2 and beyond — Rent & Deposit, and Tenants — relied on the 'Continue' button staying disabled, with no indication of which field was missing or invalid.
The deposit cap warning had a similar issue: it only appeared once both the rent and deposit amounts were entered. A user who typed a large deposit figure first received no immediate feedback.
Finally, the 'Skip for now' option was a plain text link, easy to miss and visually subordinate to the 'Continue' button in a way that made users feel trapped if they didn't have all their information ready.
What's new in v0.1.372
1. Immediate deposit cap feedback
The deposit cap warning now triggers as soon as the typed amount exceeds the allowed cap — no need to fill in the rent field first. This means users catch over-cap deposits earlier and don't waste time filling out the rest of the form before hitting an error.
2. Green checkmarks on valid fields
Required fields that are correctly completed now display a green checkmark. This gives users a clear, positive signal as they move through each step rather than only receiving feedback when something goes wrong.
3. Inline field-level errors on Steps 2+
Rather than blocking progress with a disabled button and no explanation, individual fields on the Rent & Deposit and Tenants steps now display inline error messages when they are invalid or empty. Users can see exactly what needs to be fixed.
4. Styled 'Skip for now' button
The 'Skip for now' affordance on each step is now a styled button rather than a plain text link. It remains visually secondary to the primary 'Continue' CTA but is now clearly interactive, reducing the anxiety users feel when they don't have all the information to hand (for example, if their deposit scheme reference isn't available yet).
5. 'Why do we need this?' hint on the deposit scheme step
Deposit scheme registration is a legal requirement that is not always obvious to landlords or new letting agents. A collapsible 'Why do we need this?' hint has been added directly on the deposit scheme step, explaining the context inline without interrupting the wizard flow.
How it fits the platform's goals
Fair and transparent deposit handling starts at onboarding. If users abandon the wizard — or worse, submit incomplete data — because they couldn't tell what was wrong or felt blocked, the downstream dispute-prevention features have less to work with. These changes reduce drop-off and improve the quality of data captured at setup.
For technical details, see the Changelog.