now
Unlocking conversion toward product-market fit
Case study
Lollipop is an early-stage startup helping people eat better effortlessly by enabling users to plan meals with curated recipes, shop for ingredients, and cook with step-by-step instructions.
My 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%
*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 in the market.
Competitor analysis
Benchmarking of meal box companies and meal planning apps.
Simultaneously, we conducted user interviews 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 view recipes
Find suitable meals
Checkout experience
Sainsbury’s only
User interview notes
Define: Learnings & product strategy
Completing the user research phase enabled us to concentrate on strategic 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
Early sign-up blocked 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
Invest heavily in the app
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 interviews frequently to ensure a short feedback loop.
Fast ideation
User interviews
Our hypotheses to unlock conversion and get it to 6%:
Focus on main user segment
Young families and couples struggling to plan meals on a weekly basis.
Sainsbury's online shoppers.
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
Main hypothesis:
This will reduce drop-off by 20% up to the checkout phase.
Show Lollipop’s value early in the journey
At launch, the signup flow was the first thing to appear, and there was no option for a "guest journey."
It was moved later to let users explore the app and its value before registering.
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.
Main hypotheses:
This will double 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 hypothesis:
80% of users interviewed will understand Lollipop’s USPs.
Testing & Validation
To determine success, we directly compared the funnels of the mobile and web platforms, from onboarding to 1st and 2nd Shop.
The objective was to surpass the web & app funnel by a 20% margin.
Beat funnel by 20%
We ran moderated user interviews to test multiple flow variations with both existing and new users. After each round, we gathered key feedback and refined 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
Final prototype flow design
Our key hypotheses 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.
Confident in this new streamlined proposition, the business built the app to collect live data and measure its impact on conversion.
Deliver & track
The team shifted focus to launching the new app and phasing out the web platform, delivering features in stages with clear metrics and rigorous tracking. From the start, I established a robust design system, enabling faster, more scalable delivery.
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.
