Use Nudging To Direct Users To More Conversions

Use Nudging To Direct Users To More Conversions

The Stretchit app is great but has some problems when it comes to the onboarding flow.

Let’s break it down:

The Context

First StretchIt has a long onboarding process that’s all about them collecting info from you. I get it, you need to do that. It's a business. But it gets long in the tooth for the user. 

And if you are going to do that, you should have some pay off. They all but say they’ll create a personalized plan for you  - which is kind of true. 

Here’s roughly what it breaks down to:

  • Chat: an initial chat UX section which is lengthy
  • Personal Program: they generation a personal stretch program
  • Subscribe: A series of subscribe screens
  • Free Classes: free classes section if you do not subscribe

I'm going to focus on the last screen - the Free Classes screen. The assumption here is not many people subscribe right away. They would rather experience the product before signing up. 

Notable problems with the Free Classes screen include:

  • Random classes (Stretch Break 2, Splits Class 4)
  • No order or structure other than a running list of random classes
  • No personalization
  • Forces the user to make more decisions with limited information

There's quite a few issues in general, many that can be solved with evaluating the app with tried and true usability principles.

Here's the blueprint wireframe of the Free Class screen with the issues called out. We'll build off of this.


The Design and UX Principles We'll Use To Solve This

We'll use a number of principles to solve this. First up is nudging.

Nudging

Nudging is a concept from behavioral economics and psychology that refers to subtle changes in the way choices are presented which can significantly influence people’s decisions—without restricting their freedom of choice

Nudging can be done in an ethical way. We don't want to push or force the user to do anything that would be detrimental to them. We want to nudge them in a direction that is good for them and the business.

Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue is a well-researched psychological phenomenon that explains why our ability to make good decisions deteriorates over time when we're forced to make many decisions in a row.

At this point in the UX journey, the user has made a lot of decisions. Now, on the free screen they are presented with a ton of options with no real guidance on what to decide.

The app puts the mental load and burden on the user. We can fix that with some good UX design.

The Fix

First things first, we want to nudge them to a specific class. We don’t want them to think, about it, we want them to click on a class.

Of course, this class has to be one we are:

  1. proud about and feel good about
  2. we know users like (from feedback)
  3. Is aligned with the user’s needs

Since they told us what they are looking for in onboarding, well be able to offer up classes that match their needs.

If the class meets the criteria above, we can feel good about nudging them to a specific class.

After all, they came to us for a solution, we should feel confident in providing a specific solution. 

Not: “here’s some classes, i don’t know, just choose one”

Reduce. Prioritize. Organize.

Reduce, prioritize, organize (RPO) is a great way to solve this. Reduce the amount of information, organize it into meaningful chunks, and prioritize key pieces.

RPO is a great way to approach any UX redesign. For bigger scale UX problem solving, ideation may be needed. 

Here’s the first crack at RPO:

A few things we did:

  • Prioritized one key class. It sits above the rest, separated. We’re nudging the user to this one.
  • Reduced the number of classes. Analysis paralysis is real and we want to take the onus off the user.

We didn't address organization but there's some we can do here to level this up. Let’s step that up:

Here we added categories of classes. Now instead of random classes, they are grouped into ways that make sense for the user. If they don’t tap on the first class, they can easily browse these categories.

Nudge Some More

If we really want to nudge the user to the top class some more, there’s a couple thingsin the UX we can do:

  • Add a face to the first one. Either on top of the thumbnail or the thumbnail itself should have a face quite visible.

Faces: we’re wired to recognize faces and are drawn to them

Something else we can do, combining design and personalization:

  • Show a recommended badge. We can layer this on top of the video to draw more attention to the top video

Designer Pro Tip

To draw more attention to the center of the video we can do a couple things. One, the text below the main video creates two imaginary lines that converge at the center of the video. These lines draw your eyes to the center.

Second, if you use a face, think about where the gaze is. We will be naturally drawn to where the face is looking. Use a face where their gaze is focused on the center of the video.

Nudging In UX Design

The takeaway is to organize your content in ways that helps push a user towards a certain outcome. 

Not restricting or forcing. 

Being smart and ethical in how you push them towards a certain area. 

It's easy to get caught up in just getting an app out and building initials screens. But you definitely need to think through the UX strategy. 

We went from an unorganized, random list to a more structured, prioritized and personal offering.

What people love

People love

  • Order
  • Structure
  • Personalization
  • Not having to think

Using nudging and RPO in our UX design can help achieve this.

 

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