This is a real worked example, not a live audit — coldrun is in private beta. We ran our own product through the exact process a customer's would go through and kept the report unedited, findings and all. Join the waitlist to run one on your own product.
coldrun
coldrun auditing itself
Agent summary
coldrun's own signup is fast, and the email verification fallback — a 6-digit code, not just a magic link — meant the agent never got stuck waiting on an inbox. The one real drop point: the first empty dashboard state offers no action of its own, just a link back up the page, which cost more hesitation than anything else in the session.
- Signup clarity
- 85/100
- Time to first value
- 74/100
- Error recovery
- 80/100
- Empty state guidance
- 58/100
Every screen it hit
7 steps · 3 min session
Friction points, prioritized
Ranked by how much each one likely costs you in drop-off.
- 01
Empty dashboard state has no action of its own
First dashboard view — no audits yet · step 4HighAfter verifying email, the very first authenticated screen is an empty state that describes what to do ("Paste a signup URL above…") but doesn't put an action where the eye lands — it links back up the page instead of offering its own input. The agent paused here longer than anywhere else in the run (24 seconds), working out that "above" meant scrolling back to a field it had already passed.
Recommended fix
Give the empty state a working form of its own — a URL input and submit button right where the message is — instead of a link back to a field elsewhere on the page.
- 02
Password requirement isn't shown until after a rejected attempt
Create account · step 2MediumThe password field has no visible hint about the 8-character minimum. The agent typed a shorter password on the first try, submitted, and only then saw the requirement in an inline error.
Recommended fix
Show the minimum length as helper text under the field before the user starts typing, not only as a post-submit error.
- 03
Status screen doesn't explain what's happening behind each stage
Audit running — status screen · step 6LowThe progress label updates ("Exploring signup…", "Generating report…") but gives no sense of what's actually happening or how long is left, so a first-time visitor has no way to judge whether it's still working normally.
Recommended fix
Add a one-line explanation under the current stage — e.g. "The agent is filling out your form and clicking through, the way a first-time visitor would" — so the wait reads as active, not stalled.
Suggested copy rewrites
Drop-in replacements for the specific copy that caused friction.
−Run your first audit Paste a signup URL above to watch the agent sign up cold and generate a scored report. Scroll up to start ↑
+Run your first audit [URL input] [Run audit →] Drop in a signup link — no scrolling required.
Rationale: Puts the actual action inside the empty state instead of sending the user hunting for a field they've already scrolled past.
−Password
+Password — At least 8 characters
Rationale: States the requirement before the user commits to an answer, instead of only after a failed attempt.
−Exploring signup…
+Exploring signup — filling out your form and clicking through like a first-time visitor
Rationale: Turns an opaque status word into a sentence that explains what's actually happening, reducing the sense that the run has stalled.
Want this for your own signup?
coldrun is in private beta. Join the waitlist and we'll email you when it's your turn.