Neon: Instant Postgres Playground

Driving product-led growth with a no-signup demo environment

Overview

As Head of Design at Neon, I launched a high-impact 0→1 growth product to drive top-of-funnel engagement—allowing developers to experience serverless Postgres instantly, with no setup or account friction.

This was Neon’s first in-browser, no-setup experience: a fully functional, no-signup SQL playground at psql.sh. It showcased Neon’s branching, storage separation, and autoscaling in action—removing barriers to trying the product.

Inspired by how platforms like Replit, Vercel, and CodeSandbox offer “instant-on” experiences, this project helped answer:

“What if you could feel Neon’s magic in seconds—no account required?”

The result: a shareable, self-contained playground that aligned perfectly with our product-led growth strategy.

My Role

Head of Design @ Neon

I led the product vision, strategy, and execution of this growth experiment—shaping a zero-friction, high-conversion entry point to experience Neon without signup.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Conceived and pitched the demo-first strategy as a top-of-funnel growth lever
  • Defined and designed the end-to-end user experience
  • Partnered cross-functionally with Engineering, Platform, and Growth
  • Led UX prototyping, usability testing, and content scaffolding
  • Shaped conversion path design from demo to full Neon account
  • Integrated brand design components and styling to align with the Neon identity
  • Inspired follow-up growth experiments across onboarding and activation

The Problem

Most developer tools require users to sign up before demonstrating value. This created a significant barrier for Neon, especially among devs casually evaluating alternatives to RDS, Supabase, or PlanetScale.

“We were asking for commitment before showing why Neon was worth it.”

Goals & Alignment

User Goals

  • Experience Neon’s core value instantly, without account setup friction
  • Learn how serverless Postgres works through guided exploration
  • Decide whether Neon fits their use case through hands-on demo

Business Goals

  • Drive awareness of Neon’s differentiators (branching, autoscaling, storage separation) through live demo
  • Increase qualified sign-ups by allowing developers to self-educate
  • Lower acquisition friction by removing the login wall
  • Create a viral, scalable top-of-funnel growth lever

Hypothesis

If developers could try Neon instantly in a live environment—no signup, no friction—they’d be more likely to explore the product further and convert to full users.

The Solution: psql.sh

I designed a live, browser-based SQL shell backed by a real Neon instance. Key experience features included:

  • Pre-seeded database with a relatable schema
  • Examples of branching, queries, and connection workflows
  • In-browser terminal + visual inspector
  • Seamless CTA to “Continue in Neon” with preserved data
  • AI Query Assistant — /ai <prompt> command allowed users to generate or modify SQL with natural language, making the experience more accessible for non-expert users

Try it today!

Key Design Considerations

  • Zero friction → No login required to interact with a real Postgres database
  • Educational by default → Built-in templates and usage hints to guide success
  • AI-Powered Guidance → /ai <prompt> helped users write or understand SQL without prior knowledge
  • Conversion-aware → Users could convert demo projects into Neon accounts
  • Responsive → Optimized for mobile and integrated with console branding
  • On-brand experience → Used Neon’s design system, typography, and colors to ensure visual continuity and credibility

Outcomes & Impact

Measurable Outcomes

Released in December 2024

  • 1,020+ sessions in the first 60 days, with steady weekly usage

  • 34% click-through rate on “Continue in Neon” CTA

  • 2.6% of users used /ai query assistant, showing early traction with AI-powered UX

  • ~240 users flowed into Neon’s signup path directly from the playground

  • >70% success rate for first-query completion (telemetry-based)

Strategic Impact

This work unlocked a new top-of-funnel acquisition strategy for Neon:

  • Lowered activation friction
  • Enabled faster understanding of product differentiation
  • Gave Growth and Marketing a tangible, shareable asset
  • Supported Neon’s “Postgres without the baggage” positioning

“Now anyone can feel the power of serverless Postgres—no setup, no sign-in.”

Learnings & Reflection

Learnings

  • Small visual and UX details—like scaffolding, layout, and clear CTAs—can significantly influence conversion
  • Real-time experiences are powerful entry points, but need strong bridges to full product adoption
  • This experiment triggered internal dialogue about pricing tiers and feature clarity—showing that if tiers feel too similar, even a perfect UI won’t drive sustained conversion
  • AI enhancements like /ai <prompt> made the tool more inclusive for less technical users—an example of how smart defaults can broaden your audience

Reflection:

This project proved how lightweight, experiential design can drive deep product understanding. By removing barriers and letting developers try before committing, I built trust and surfaced real interest.

However, the project also revealed a critical insight: demo playgrounds can drive interest, but may not always convert at scale for backend infrastructure tools. Many users need deeper context and stronger value framing to move from interest to adoption.

“Demo-first is the new doc-first—but onboarding and education must follow.”