+80.7%
CVR
+108.7%
ARPU
+119.5%
ARPPU
Reading time: 6 min
App conversion rate boost by optimizing users’ funnel progression
SwingU is a leading golf app that offers
rangefinding and digital scorekeeping services. Created to offer users an
enhanced golfing experience, the platform supports the golfing of over
6 million users worldwide. This includes offering
precise distances, shot tracking, and strategic play insights for every course.
Key takeaway
The precursor experiment can be found (HERE).
Our previous experiment relied on guiding users towards System 2 thinking (slow – logical and analytical) by
expanding the funnel via comparison tables that increased information consumption. That way users could
overcome their emotional resistance to in-app purchases with rational decision making. However, in this new
experiment, our focus would be on re-triggering Systems 1 thinking (quick, intuitive, emotional) – by testing
different ways to streamline and hasten funnel progression.
By making the journey from free trial to paid membership shorter, we expected to create an experience that was
easier to follow-through on and faster to complete, thereby increasing conversion rate.
Shortening the journey from free trial to paid membership can create an experience that is easy to
follow-through on and faster to complete, thereby increasing conversion rate:
Preliminary Information:
As explored in a previous case study, (
HERE), app users tend to have
high expectations for free content and high resistance towards
in-app purchases. You can see how we began to overcome these biases in our previous
case study here.
Based on the results we achieved, we felt confident that following similar logic could create further
improvements.
In the original experiment, we saw some success in reducing the funnel from 4 steps to 3 by combining the
Promo Page and Plan Selection page.
So our new question was how could we make funnel progression towards a paid plan even smoother? What
UI changes would we need to implement to strike a perfect balance between
engagement that’s logically compelling and progression that’s fast and intuitive?
Research & Insights:
Flow Walkthrough:
Originally, users had to progress through four stages to subscribe to SwingU. In a
previous experiment, (found here), stages
2 and 3 were collapsed into one, making it so that only
3 steps would be required for progression. The stages were as followed :
-
Pop-up Stage – the flaws we discovered on this section are as follows:
-
Users would find multiple points on the upgrade popup redundant, as the next two
steps repeated the same information. -
Users would struggle to gain clarity from the popup – as it covered information
on the Plus plan, but failed to inform users of the Pro plan, nor did it clearly highlight the
differences between paid plans and free plans. -
Users were unlikely to find the Upgrade Popup compelling – the headline used CTA
language (Upgrade to SwingU plus today) which lacked any kind of intrigue or
clear user-benefit. -
Users were likely to be confused by the Popup’s messaging. The CTA button at the
bottom reads ‘‘Get SwingU plus’’. This makes it seem as thought users who click
on the button will progress to payment. However, this isn’t meant to be the case. The Upgrade popup is
only meant to progress users to the next page in the sequence.
-
Users would find multiple points on the upgrade popup redundant, as the next two
-
The Promotion Page that offers the paid subscription plans (Plus & Pro) – the flaws we discovered on
this page are explored in a previous experiment, found (HERE). -
The second page lets you select your paid subscription plan (Plus or Pro) – the flaws we discovered on
this page are explored in a previous experiment, found (HERE). -
The payment stage – unaffected and unchanged.
Quantitative Research:
-
Our previous experiment informed us that users would be responsive to
comparison tables that highlighted the features, strength, and weaknesses of each plan, and incentivize
users to perceive the most expensive option as more desirable.
More detailed information on this can be found in the part 1 experiment, (HERE).Also, from this experiment, we already knew which features would perform best when brought to a user’s
attention immediately, and which features could be revealed at a later date. -
Finally, we knew that users responded positively to having the funnel compressed,
as merging the original stage 2 and 3 into one produced an uplift. Therefore, for this hypothesis, the
information that we needed to consider was:-
Testing how the
conversion rate varies when users are urged to progress through the funnel by a 5 minute time limit
between each funnel step. However, the results we received for this were immediately unsatisfactory – it caused the vast
majority of users to churn. -
Second, we wanted to consider how
having the comparison table appear even earlier in the funnel – as a replacement to the Upgrade
Popup – could potentially produce a significant uplift.
-
Based on this line of inquiry, centered on speed and a learner funnel progression, we reached the following
hypothesis:
Hypothesis:
Based on the success of a previous experiment (found
here), we developed the following hypothesis:
If we replace the current Upgrade Popup with the new Comparison Table page (previously
the Plan promotion & Plan Selection Page), we will
reduce the steps that users need to take to progress through the funnel from the original 4 down to
2. This means users will need to perform less actions to subscribe to a paid plan. By
reducing the cost (cognitive load and work) required to subscribe, we can expect to
increase the conversion rate:
-
Our decision to remove the old upgrade popup, and replace it with a new popup made from the
comparison table page is justified by the ‘Leaner Funnel Progression’ and
‘Cognitive Load Management’ sections of the previous hypothesis – found (HERE). -
To improve visual clarity and ease of information consumption we decided to introduce a
‘dropdown’ UI that users could click to
‘compare all features’. Clicking it again would collapse the UI, and users would be
able to toggle it back and forth as they please, allowing for
control over how much information is displayed on the page. -
To ensure that the collapsed UI stays as compelling as possible, we would take the
most desirable paid features that we identified earlier, and place them
above the toggle fold, so that they are
immediately visible at all times.
Fear of Loss:
We expect to increase fear of loss by displaying the total active number of users, and creating an effect
where applicants may feel that they’re missing out on a thriving community.
Additionally, the amount of users creates a sense of competition – where applicants may
worry that the teaser shift they desire could be snatched up by someone else.
Results:
Reducing the number of steps in the funnel and streamlining the amount of actions that users had to take
before progressing increased the conversion rate by 23.51%.
The Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU) increased by 12.82%. Meanwhile, the
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) increased by a substantial 39.78%.
Keeping up with the Jones’s: Customers will often feel pressured to select the ‘best’ option, simply so they
feel like they’re keeping up with everyone else.
This shows that you can capitalize on system 1 (emotional) thinking by making the
journey from free trial to paid membership as smooth and impulse-friendly as possible.
Additionally, collapsing the comparison table meant that users could make an
intuitive decision based on the information immediately available, using system 1 thinking; while those who wanted to rely on system 2 thinking could choose to expand the table for the opportunity to
conduct a more in-depth logical analysis.
