Increasing Paid Conversions from a Free Trial
Cope Notes is a digital web service that provides users with a burst of positivity each day.
By combining psychology, technology, and communications, the company provides support to people struggling with mental health by sending them uplifting texts designed to encourage positivity, connectivity, and healthy thought patterns.
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Even before COVID, 19% of Americans were experiencing some form of mental illness.
Problem
Cope Notes doesn't know why users aren't converting from their week-long free trial to paid monthly subscriptions.
Process
After collecting information, looking for themes, and extracting actionable insights, I laid out my recommendations and created an implementation plan for the team at Cope Notes.
Solution
To address the conversion problem, I reduced friction and closed gaps by examining internal data and conducting user testing to pinpoint specific areas for improvement.
My Role
With my main focus on user research, I worked cross-departmentally within the Cope Notes organization to gather data, familiarize myself with the product, design user testing sessions, create test scripts, recruit participants, conduct user interviews, synthesize research and insights, present findings and recommendations, then finally to carry out the curated strategic implementation plan.
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Cope Notes has delivered 1,000,000 messages to almost 25,000 people
Analyzing and Reviewing Existing Data
As a trendy start-up, new users regularly visit the Cope Notes website on desktop and via mobile. To get a robust understanding of user behavior I used tools including Google Analytics, Metabase, and Hot Jar to review trial data, gain insight into usage patterns, see bounce rates, examine user flows, and follow visual heat maps.
Stakeholder Interviews
Founder, CEO, and Leadership Team expressed concerns regarding:
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Declining and unexpectedly low conversion rates
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Negative product reviews
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Lack of user engagement
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Decreased site traffic
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Extremally high bounce rate off the landing page
Designing Testing and Scripts
Leaning on the data and industry research the next step was to design a user interview series and create an interview test script. The script was designed to better understand how users were interacting with and perceiving the current Cope Notes experience.
Working from a script helps maintain consistency and direction while conducting user interviews.
Initial User Interviews
Total Participants = 10 ( 4 Male, 6 Female )
Recruited From = Mechanical Turk ( Amazon )
Task #1 = Screener Survey
Task #2 = Complete Task Test Script W/ Interviewer ( me )
Interview Duration = 20-30 Minutes
Interview Location = In-person @ comfortable location
Goal = Get participants onboarded and record feedback and insights.
Initial User Interview Findings
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40% of participants expressed discomfort when asked to provide their cellphone number to the website.
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20% of participants commented on the site looking loud or spammy.
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7/10 Participants expressed excitement about the features listed on the website.
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3/10 Participants stated they were unsure of what the service was or how it worked.
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100% of users were able to successfully sign-up for the seven day free trial.
Total Participants = 10( 4 Male, 6 Female )
Recruited From = Follow-up Session
Task = Answer scripted questions and perform scripted tasks
Interview Duration = 30 Minutes
Interview Location = Via Zoom or Google Hangouts
Goal = Gain insight and feedback from the seven day free trial.
Follow-up User Interviews
Because Cope Notes was created to deliver an occasional mental boost, the Free Trial is laid out over a seven day initialization period. Wanting to gauge consumer sentiment pre and post engagement, I coordinated a follow-up interview with the participants on the last day of their trial where they reflected on their journey.
Affinity Mapping and Synthesizing Findings
In addition to collecting some great user quotes, four themes began to surface:
Personalization, Interactivity, Content Connection, and Credibility.
Findings
Theme 1 - Messaging
Messages were perceived as robotic, users enjoy fun facts the most, and messaging asking for deliverables was seen as burdensome (causing some users to disengage).
Theme 2 - Interaction
Calls to action are unclear and lack consistency, users felt the messages needed additional substance to provide the value that was mentioned on the landing page.
Theme 3 - Personalized User Experience
Participants commented on the experience not feeling personal or unique and, consequentially, many of them felt the price was too high for little return. Users worried about a lack of credibility, origin, and sources for the shared facts and message content.
Recommendations
To increase conversions from the seven day free trail to the monthly paid subscription three main areas of improvement were identified: Messaging, Site Interaction, and User Experience. I created in-depth implementation recommendations for each segment, alongside a broad, forward-thinking UX / UI improvement plan.
Messaging and Promised Content
Avoiding accidentally exclusionary or triggering messaging, lean into fun and facts, stay away from HW and "asks". When services are promised on the home page be sure to deliver them.
Refining User Interactions
Standardize the CTA, directly connect people + value, collect more info to design focused message campaigns.
Personalized User Experience
Personalize and humanize the content, add depth with sources and citations, create dual-sided interactions.
Informing Design Decisions
Here I utilized journey mapping to help convey user's actions, thought processes, pain points, and engagement opportunities informing future UI designers of user expectations and potential motivational tactics and incentives.
Reflection and Future Direction
The main goal for this project was to develop an understanding of the user and their journey throughout the Cope Notes free trial. Ultimately my research assisted the team in identifying specific areas in need of improvement that, when addressed:
1. Increased user satisfaction and engagement by 31%
2. Encouraged users to engage with the brand and platform
3. Increased the quality and perception of product value
4. Boosted conversions to the paid subscription by 22%
Future directions for this project would include user interviews and testing as the product evolves. I would also want to conduct a general accessibility audit for the landing page, create element standardization, and add depth to page content.