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

Users weren’t clear:

  • which problem the app solved,

  • which supermarket were supported,

  • who delivered the groceries,

  • the cost of using the product.

Users weren’t clear:

  • which problem the app solved,

  • which supermarkets were supported,

  • who delivered the groceries,

  • the cost of using the product.

􂘪

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.

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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:

  1. Plan for meals by adding them to the basket.

  2. Shop: Review the basket, add any groceries and checkout with Sainsbury’s.

  3. 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.

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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

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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

􀑁

Conversion hit 7%

6 months after the start of the project conversion quadrupled surpassing the original goal of 6%.

􀑁

Conversion hit 7%

6 months after the start of the project conversion quadrupled surpassing the original goal of 6%.

􀑁

Conversion hit 7%

6 months after the start of the project conversion quadrupled surpassing the original goal of 6%.

􀍫

5x monthly active shoppers

We increased our monthly active shopper by 5x and achieved that target a quarter early.

􀍫

5x monthly active shoppers

We increased our monthly active shopper by 5x and achieved that target a quarter early.

􀍫

5x monthly active shoppers

We increased our monthly active shopper by 5x and achieved that target a quarter early.

􀜕

5x daily active users

The daily active users increased 5x, and the weekly active users increased 4x over 6 months.

􀜕

5x daily active users

The daily active users increased 5x, and the weekly active users increased 4x over 6 months.

􀜕

5x daily active users

The daily active users increased 5x, and the weekly active users increased 4x over 6 months.

􀅌

Shoppers monthly retention hit 50%

More than 50% of shoppers came back the next month to place a second order.

􀅌

Shoppers monthly retention hit 50%

More than 50% of shoppers came back the next month to place a second order.

􀅌

Shoppers monthly retention hit 50%

More than 50% of shoppers came back the next month to place a second order.

􀴽

Although the conversion rate improved and user retention seemed healthy there was still a need for further efforts to retain user months on months.