MXD Mobile App
Monetizing Freemium Media Product via Subscriptions
Timeframe: Jan 2022- Feb 2022
My Role: UX Designer throughout this capstone project from research, user flows, wireframing, visual design, prototyping, and testing
Overview
MXD (Mixed), a media startup company who has built a strong user base providing free media, is ready to monetize their product via premium subscriptions.
The goal of the project is to create opportunities for new and returning users to upgrade into a premium plan. A secondary goal is to find the best strategy for incentivizing users to upgrade.
Problem
MXD currently operates under a freemium model, so there are no calls-to-action or incentives for users to upgrade. They want to identify the best screens on the app to place those upgrade offers seamlessly and with the most potential for conversions.
RESEARCH
Research
First, I conducted an analysis of the best practices and standards that have already been set in the industry. I looked at various other music/media streaming apps as a starting point.
2. I conducted secondary research via a study that looked at what motivates basic users to become premium users. This study broke down the various reasons users are motivated to upgrade. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/isj.12262
3. I conducted a short survey to see if there were any opportunities for improving on best practices and also when/where is the best time to start the upgrade flow. Insights from the survey included:
Most people are happy with their upgraded service because it creates a more enjoyable experience without ads.
An ad free experience is ideal, but adding in promos would incentivize budget conscious users
Users are likely to upgrade after an ad and start a free trial.
Analysis
After conducting research I created a user persona to get more clear about the type of user this app serves.
Problem Statements
How might we incentivize users as they are signing up to start with a premium plan?
How might we offer better features that users value as part of a premium plan?
How might we customize the onboarding content to fit the user’s budget?
How might we create valuable bundling options?
IDEATION
User Flows
MXD identified three areas that they wanted to implement an opportunity to upgrade, which were:
A new users onboarding process
A returning user on the homescreen
A returning user consuming media
Based on that information I created three user flows:
Guerilla Testing
As it’s industry standard to offer premium plans during the sign in flow, I wanted to test the best option for presenting that offer. I set up two low fidelity clickable prototypes to test the best approach.
Option A:
Offer account preferences that a user can select as they set up their account and have the app recommend a plan with a free trial.
Option B:
After selecting artists to set up the app, show a visual ad with a promo bundling a secondary service as an incentive to upgrade with a free trial.
Results
Majority of participants expressed they preferred the first option. The main reason was that they were not sure how useful a bundled service would be for them and they would have to consider it more. This distracted them from the main goal of getting their account set up on the app.
VISUAL DESIGN
Design System
MXD’s brand attributes are bold, smart, and hip which were incorporated in the UI design:
TESTING
Usability Testing
I conducted a second round of testing using a high fidelity prototype after implementing the user preferences from the low fidelity testing. The goal of this round was to test all three user flows:
-Upgrading to premium during onboarding
-Upgrading to premium after running into a paywall with blocked features
-Upgrading while consuming media (running out of skips)
CONCLUSION
OUTCOME
Overall, users are very comfortable with using music streaming apps and their expectations for premium plans are about the same which is to enhance their enjoyment. There were some concerns with budgets and a bit of frustration running into the paywall that blocks premium content. I learned that additional testing is needed on what type of content would cause the least frustration while still motivating them to upgrade.