now
Unlocking conversion toward product-market fit
Case study
Lollipop is a startup in its early stages that aims to help people eat better effortlessly.
Its product allows users to plan meals by browsing curated recipes, shop online for the ingredients at Sainsbury's, and cook their meals using step-by-step instructions.
Role
Lead Product designer
UI/UX design - Strategy
The Challenges
Lack of focus
The product proposition was unclear. The team was thinly spread across two platforms, resulting in slow development and inconsistent features.
Undefined user journeys
The core user experience was developed based on business needs rather than clear user journeys.
Unfinished app
The mobile app was incomplete and primarily comprised of web views.
Poor performance
Both the web and mobile apps were underperforming in terms of low activation, low conversion, and high churn rates.
One key business goal
Unlock conversion* from 1.5% to 6%
*Conversion = new users converting into shoppers
How we solved it
Research & UX audit
We began with a UX audit and data analysis of the web and mobile apps to pinpoint friction points in activation, onboarding, conversion, and churn.
This was followed by a competitor analysis and benchmarking to gain insights into the current landscape and identify gaps that Lollipop could potentially fill.
Competitor analysis
Benchmarking of meal box companies and meal planning apps.
Simultaneously, we conducted user interviews with current and potential users to understand core jobs to be done, user needs, and pain points.
JTBD
Plan meals that suits my household
Do my grocery shopping
Book delivery
Follow cooking method
Needs
Find new recipes
Plan weekly meals quickly
Save time shopping
Eat more healthily
Waste less food
Pain points
What is Lollipop’s offering?
Sign up to see recipes
Find suitable meals
Checkout experience
Sainsbury’s only
User interview notes
Define: Learnings & product strategy
After completing the research phase on users, the app, and competitors, it was clear we needed to address key areas:
Go after the Meal boxes
Meal boxes offered clear inspiration with simple propositions, straightforward user journeys, and a well-defined target audience.
Gousto
Hellofresh
Deliver value early
Requiring early sign-up prevented users from seeing value, causing 80% to drop off before viewing a recipe.
Signup
Recipe
Rework core proposition
User funnels were unclear and finding recipes was tedious. The IA and UX needed redesigning to focus on meal planning and checkout, rather than doing a full grocery shop.
Communicate Lollipop’s USP
UX Audit • User interviews
Invest heavily in the app
UX Audit • User Interviews
The half-built, neglected mobile app was buggy and relied on web-views, leading to a poor user experience that differed greatly from the mobile web. The team had to decide whether to focus solely on the app or drop it entirely.
Mobile app
Web mobile
Web desktop
Ideation
In order to solve the product’s main problems we ideated quickly and ran user interview frequently to insure a short feedback loop.
Fast ideation
User interviews
Our assumptions to unlock conversion and get it to 6%:
Focus on a main user segment
Young families and couples struggling to plan meals on a weekly basis.
Shop online with Sainsbury’s
Specific needs and pain points we can solve
Simplify and streamline the core journey
The core Information Architecture was rethought to simplify the user journey
and clarify Lollipop’s proposition:
Plan for meals by adding them to the basket.
Shop: Review the basket, add any groceries and checkout with Sainsbury’s.
Cook the meals once delivered.
Plan
Shop
Checkout
We simplified the core journey to be:
1. Plan, 2. Shop, 3. Cook.
This new IA allowed a clear narrative, making each next step clear.
The Shop tab focused on meals in the basket instead of ingredients. The meal acted as an accordion revealing ingredients.
Booking delivery was moved to the checkout stage and done on Sainsbury’s webview.
The Plan tab focused on finding and planning meals.
The new vertical feed view allowed for larger recipe images.
Browsing categories followed similar pattern to other “Food” apps (Deliveroo, Gousto, … ).
Meals selected would populate the meal plan at the top.
A few features were removed that lacked polish and added too much friction such as:
Booking delivery
Lists & shelves
Emphasis on groceries
Main assumption:
These key changes reduce drop-off by 20% up to the checkout phase.
Show Lollipop’s value early in the journey
On the first launch, the signup flow was the first thing to appear, and there was no option for a "guest journey."
The signup process was moved later in the flow to allow users to explore the app, view recipes, and understand Lollipop's value proposition before being prompted to register.
The onboarding process was streamlined from 8 steps down to 4, with the same goal of getting users to Lollipop's value proposition more quickly.
New onboarding
Main assumption:
These changes increase by 2x the account activation rate and the amount of 1st time users viewing recipes.
Clarify Lollipop’s proposition
Since many users didn't understand what problems Lollipop solved, it was crucial to educate them from the outset. To address this, we reworked the splash page with more targeted copy and introduced an animated carousel that explained the key benefits of using Lollipop.
Main assumption:
80% of users interviewed understand Lollipop’s USPs.
The ideation work was conducted as an experiment on the mobile app. If successful, the business was prepared to transition to exclusive development on mobile and gradually phase out the web platform.
Testing & Validation
To determine success, we directly compared the funnels of the mobile and web platforms, including:
Signup, Onboarding, View Recipe, Basket sent, 1st and 2nd Shop.
The objective was to surpass the web & app funnel by a 20% margin.
Beat funnel by 20%
We conducted moderated user interviews to thoroughly test multiple variations of the full flow (onboarding, searching, signup, Plan tab, Basket tab & Checkout) with both existing users and potential new ones.
After each iteration, we collated the most relevant feedback from 4-5 user interviews and ideated on our design.
User interview notes - Prototypes testing
Moderated user testing
After a month and a half of rapid prototyping, testing and numerous refinements, we arrived at a new streamlined proposition that surpassed the existing app during A/B testing.
Prototyping
A/B Testing
Validation
Our key assumptions were validated.
The users clearly understood the new user journey and value proposition, and we addressed the primary user needs and pain-points for our target audience.
Final prototype flow design
(see link below to access the Figma file)
With high confidence in the new streamlined proposition, the business proceeded to build the app in order to gather live data and assess its impact on conversion.
Deliver & track
The business decided to focus the entire team on delivering the new app experience and begin phasing out the web platform.
We delivered various parts of the app in multiple stages. Each section of the app had its own target metrics, and tracking was established rigorously to precisely gauge success.
From the start of the project, I developed a robust design system that greatly helped the team to deliver at a new pace and scale.
Phased roll out
Target metrics
Design system
The sequence of release was determined by considering feasibility, technical requirements, and impact.
New onboarding
Plan tab
Basket
Basket transfer to Sainsbury’s
The Results
Although the conversion rate improved and user retention seemed healthy there was still a need for further efforts to retain user months on months.
