Quick Checkout: Removing the Account Wall
Replaced a required SSO signup and an outdated checkout with Stripe, wallet pay, and a one-step email code, cutting the path to a single video from 27+ clicks down to as few as 4.
+69.6% Relative Conversion Lift
Passwordless authentication
Checkout & Payments
Role
Senior Product Designer, sole designer on the project
Team:
Myself, Product Manager, Developers
Tools:
Figma, Stripe
Timeline:
2025
01: THE PROBLEM
Purchasing an event pass meant navigating a 27-click signup wall.
SportsEngine Play’s video platform forced every single-event pass buyer through a multi-step parent-company registration flow, forcing parents to complete lengthy accounts just to catch a live game.
02: THE CONSTRAINTS
Navigating parent-company auth mandates and tech debt.
Centralized SSO was the strict company standard across products, requiring executive buy-in to test a localized guest exception while eliminating heavy engineering maintenance on legacy payment code.
03: THE APPROACH
Decoupled checkout from central auth with Stripe & Email OTP.
Replaced upfront parent-company account setup with a lightweight guest checkout. Users complete payment via Stripe in seconds, while Email OTP creates a backend “lite account” post-purchase.
04: THE OUTCOME
Boosted purchase conversion from 4.54% to 7.70% (+3.16 pts) while cutting the checkout process from 27+ clicks down to 4, letting parents stream live games instantly without missing gameplay.
THE PROBLEM —
Converting one-time event buyers was stalled by a heavy, 27-click registration flow.
While basic content on SportsEngine Play was free to stream, purchasing a single event pass or unlocking premium features triggered a mandatory front-door gate. Before even reaching payment, new users were forced to create a full SportsEngine ecosystem account—answering personal profile questions, validating their email, and setting up centralized authentication.
Conversion = All-Access offer viewed to purchase.
Old Flow: May 1 to Jun 23, 26. Quick Checkout: Jun 24 to Aug 16, 26
CORE INSIGHT
We were burdening one-time event buyers with an enterprise account setup designed for long-term ecosystem retention, causing steep drop-off at checkout.
CONSTRAINTS & CONTEXT
Navigating Organizational & Technical Complexity
Redesigning this flow required navigating deep organizational and technical constraints. It would also require convincing stakeholders to move away from the auth requirements that the rest of the company centered around.
01
The "SSO" ecosystem mandate & executive alignment
Central authentication was the required standard across all parent-company products. Bypassing it required convincing executive leadership that single-event buyers needed a localized exception.
02
Legal and compliance sign off
Transitioning to passwordless Email OTP and background "lite accounts" required close coordination with legal teams. I designed the flow to explicitly account for compliance requirements—ensuring terms of service and consent were seamlessly integrated without re-introducing friction.
03
Engineering maintenance overhead
Our self-managed payment infrastructure consumed significant engineering resources, lacked modern wallet pay options, and lacked user trust for guest checkouts.
04
Long-Term Retention Needs
The business still needed a verified identifier to market future tournament passes and seasonal subscriptions.
THE APPROACH —
Architecting a deferred-identity guest checkout powered by Stripe & OTP.
Instead of treating account creation and payment as separate, sequential tasks, I proposed replacing upfront registration with a frictionless guest checkout flow.
Reasoning behind the design decisions
Deferred Account Creation via Email OTP
Moved identity verification to the final step of checkout using Email One-Time Passcodes (OTP). The email provided during checkout creates a backend “lite account" giving users instant video access while preserving an identifier for future marketing upsells.
Stripe Migration & Native Wallet Pay
Replaced our self-managed payment system with Stripe, introducing Apple Pay and Google Pay to allow mobile users to purchase passes in seconds without retrieving a physical card.
Executive Alignment
Pitched leadership on a localized test: defer central account setup for short-term buyers without corrupting the broader ecosystem user data.
IMPACT —
Cut the path to the video from 27 clicks to 4. Conversion rose
Moving email verification to the last step and adding wallet pay through Stripe let parents pay and start watching without creating an account first.
higher offer-to-purchase conversion
4.54% → 7.70%
A 3.16 point increase
clicks from paywall to the game
85% fewer clicks with wallet pay
67% fewer with credit card
buyers for every 1,000 viewers who hit the paywall
Same paywall in the 54-day window
Legacy flow vs Quick Checkout
Conversion = All-Access offer viewed to purchase in GA4. Before: legacy flow, May 1 to Jun 23, 2026 (42,918 viewers, 1,948 purchases). After: Quick Checkout, Jun 24 to Aug 16, 2026 (31,135 viewers, 2,396 purchases). Quick Checkout purchases include Event Pass choices made from the All-Access offer.
Beyond the conversion rate
Zero First-Five-Minute Drop-off
Tournament viewers could scan a link, authorize payment in seconds, and watch live broadcasts immediately without missing gameplay.
Reduced Dev Overhead
Migrating checkout infrastructure to Stripe eliminated ongoing engineering maintenance for self-managed payment logic.
Sustainable Growth Pipeline
“Lite accounts” successfully captured verified user emails, providing marketing with a clean bridge to re-engage single-event buyers for future pass and subscription sales.