Adobe Express is an online web product from Adobe that helps people create content. I came across it as a first time user via a web search for a tool that could convert videos to GIFs.
The landing page promised a free way to convert an MP4 to a GIF with a call to action to “Upload your video.” Other than stating that a credit card is required, no other statement is made about requirements for, say, signing in with an account.
Clicking “Upload your video” takes you to a page where you can choose a file, drag from your desktop, and then trim the video and select export settings. The file is prepared in real-time and the whole experience feels very simple and seamless.
[Trying to] download the GIF
While the process of selecting and uploading a video is a simple and clearly explained experience, it gains a lot of friction once clicking the “Download” button.
At that point, the new users are prompted to sign up for an account in order to download the file.
By requiring sign-up as a requirement to download the file, it erodes the statement “create for free.” Because requiring users to sign up for an account is a form of payment. Canva had a similar flow where you could create a design without signing in, but at least let users download a static PDF of their file without needing to sign in to allow a form of task completion before introducing the friction of signing up. Adobe could consider allowing a limited number of downloads or find another way to reduce how much a user can do for free; otherwise, they should simply require users to sign up in advance to. By doing it like this, they annoy users who thought this task would be simple.
Additionally, it’s also not a smooth experience once choosing to sign up or sign in because it’s not straightforward to continue your task after doing it…
[Trying to] sign in
Although I was a first time user of Adobe Express, I did already have an Adobe account from other product uses. However, I saw no option to sign in on the prompt. I clicked the “Sign up” button hoping, and assuming, that it would lead to a flow that showed an option to sign in; this is common across a lot of products to have both options available.
Instead, it redirected me to a different webpage and a new overlay retitled “Create an account.” My original GIF content in the background was no longer there, reloaded with a generic homepage of sorts (note: the particular page in the background never showed up again even after signing in), and there was no content on the “Create an account” prompt that indicated it remembered I was there to create a GIF. This redirect behavior and failure to reinforce the user’s initial creations on the receiving page erodes trust in the outcome of this experience. Will the content be carried through, or not?
I tried to sign up using my existing account email, because it wasn’t clear if there was a different or new account type needed for Adobe Express. But then the overlay showed realtime feedback that “An account with this email address already exists.” There was no way to resolve this error and no display of a sign in option.
I had to abandon the page (and the file I had edited!) to go back to the original landing page screen where I could sign in manually. This is something that could be easily fixed by adding a simple sign-in option to this overlay or the original prompt.
It’s still unclear to me if the user would have been able to finish downloading their original file if they were creating a new account from scratch.
Adobe Express “setup flow”
After signing in, I was taken to a flow that looked like a first-time account setup flow, asking questions about my purposes for using Adobe Express. This is OK for a user who signs up for Adobe Express from a generic starting point, but could be frustrating for one, such as myself, who had been in the middle of a task (GIF creation) and just wanted to get on with it.
Regarding the design of the setup flow itself, it’s a reasonable flow: fairly short in length and with clear and actionable content. Only one question requires a mutually exclusive choice (the “What brings you to Adobe Express” step). As users often span across multiple needs and use cases, it’s best to avoid mutually exclusive questions. Also good is progress bar at the top of the screen indicating number of steps total, along with the notice at the top right of the screen stating that users can change the choices they make during setup later in settings. Finally, it is good that it clearly states that the choices made during setup will lead to showing more relevant content once they get to the product. Sometimes products have lengthy question-and-answer “setup” flows that simply feed into the company’s demographics measurements, without any benefit to the user themselves.
All steps are optional and you can select “Next” without making a selection (however, this could be made explicitly clear to users with a “skip” option).
Adobe Express empty states & homepage
After setup, I was taken to the home page of Adobe Express. For anyone who wasn’t in the middle of a task when they signed in or created an account, the home page has lots of good starter content for new and existing users, making good use of this empty state. It even carries through interests selected during setup (“More ways to start based on your interests”) with a deep link to change those preferences.
Because the starter content is embedded into the page itself, there are no annoying popups to contend with, which is also a bonus.
The only downside is that I have to search to find the “create from GIF” option that was my original intent for coming to this product in the first place. The site could make use of cookies to bubble up starter options based on pre-signin interactions the person has had, to allow them to pick up where they left off.
The side navigation has informative menu flyouts that only appear on hover; even though they’re technically overlays, appearing only on demand ensures they’re helpful rather than annoying.
Initial states for all other sections
The first-run state of each individual section pages, in contrast to the straightforward design of the home page, are very inconsistent with each other and overwhelmed by various patterns. It comes across disjointed, as if different teams have independently designed the first run flow for each individual section, instead of as a product whose first run experience was designed holistically.
Because I already have an Adobe account, my “Your Stuff” page has my existing files on it. But, it also makes use of a popup in the lower right promote connecting third party storage solutions. 
The “Brand” section has a basic empty state to explain what this section is for (to create your own product’s design system) 
The section under the “Templates” navigation item is confusingly titled, instead, “Explore”, with default “popular templates” content 
The “Schedule” section begins with a full-screen popup that doesn’t do much to further the purpose of this section. 
After closing the popup, a new tutorial overlay appears and it walks through 4 steps explaining a variety of concepts. 
Explaining how to add items to a calendar seems a bit detailed given most folks likely know how to use a calendar. 
The third tutorial popup has a verbose explanation of scheduling tasks for later and tells, instead of guides through interaction, the user to drag draft items to the calendar to schedule them. Overall, there are some complex concepts and instructions on this page, especially compared to other pages. 
The final step of the schedule tutorial is just to point out where to toggle the calendar views 
The learn page makes use of an explanatory banner at the top of the screen along with starter content 
The add-ons section offers no explanation as to what an add-on is, attempting to let the content speak for itself
Overall, the Adobe Express experience, when arrived at via a web search to a targeted landing page, starts off strong, with the offer of being able to complete multiple design tasks for free in the product and a simple presentation for creating work. However, this promise can fall apart easily during a very disjointed signup flow, which doesn’t even allow existing users to sign in, that takes users out of context and can discard the work they had started. The experience is much improved for users who join the product from a more generic starting point as the setup flow personalizes home page content, and the empty state is handled very well. But there is another feeling of disjointedness of the first run experiences for different sections, making it feel as if first run was designed at different times by different people at a feature level rather than at a holistic product level.