Project Overview
Project Title: ShootProof Foundations: A UX-Driven Approach to Increase Conversion and Reduce Churn
Organization: Foreground
Project Date: October 2021 - April 2022
Role: Strategy, Oversight and Framing
Project Summary: This case study examines how a comprehensive UX discovery process addressed declining user conversion and increasing churn at ShootProof, an online photographer platform. By conducting extensive qualitative research triggered by data analytics, we identified key usability issues, outdated information architecture, and a lack of user-centric design, ultimately leading to actionable recommendations and design improvements.
The Challenge
Problem Statement: ShootProof faced declining user conversion rates and increasing churn, with user sentiment trending negatively. A reliance on quantitative data alone failed to provide the insights needed to understand the root causes of these issues.
Business Goals:
• Increase conversion rates of free users to paid subscriptions
• Reduce user churn and improve customer retention
• Improve overall user satisfaction and platform engagement
• Regain a competitive advantage in the market
Target Audience: Independent photographers (wedding, portrait, and event-focused) ranging from established veterans to novice photographers who jumped back into the industry during the pandemic to supplement their income or make a career change.
Constraints:
• Foundational product issues based on monotheistic, outdated engineering practices
• Limited understanding of user needs and pain points
• Outdated personas and user journeys
• Resource limitations
• Heavy focus on quantitative data
• Organizational attrition
The Solution
Process: Extensive User Research using a diamond approach
Stakeholder Interviews: To gather diverse perspectives, we interviewed stakeholders across various departments, including Marketing, Customer Support, Product, and Engineering.
Onboarding Audit and Heuristic Evaluation: A thorough audit of the onboarding process, combined with a heuristic evaluation, revealed significant usability issues and areas of friction, particularly during the payment gateway setup.
Diary Study: A one-and-a-half-month diary study with existing users provided valuable insights into their daily workflows, challenges, and frustrations with the platform.
Service Blueprinting: Service blueprint exercises helped visualize user flows, identify pain points, and understand the impact of user actions on the organization.
Task Analysis: Task analysis studies with prospective users evaluated the ease of completing essential tasks, such as uploading photos, creating galleries, and setting up pricing.
Information Architecture Audit: An information architecture audit uncovered inconsistencies and areas for improvement in the organization and labeling of information within the platform.
Quantitative Data Analysis: Analysis of quantitative data from Google Analytics and Pendo provided a deeper understanding of user behavior patterns and areas of drop-off.
Archetype Definition: We defined user archetypes to create a more nuanced understanding of the different types of photographers using ShootProof and their unique needs.
Visual Audit and UI Survey: A visual audit assessed the current UI's effectiveness and alignment with user expectations. A UI design survey gathered feedback on the interface's visual appeal and usability.
Ideation: Remote sessions were conducted using Miro and Figma to reimage possible solutions.
Prototyping: Axure and Figma were used to create low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes for testing and feedback with customers and internal stakeholders.
Testing: The team connected with discovery participants, new customers, and non-customers to gather additional feedback.
Diagram of the approach we took towards providing viable solutions.
Working Miro board used to capture user flows and impacts on the various teams inside the organization.
Highlights from the service blueprint exercise.
Initial Discovery Findings
Qualitative research confirmed much of what we predicted upfront. The overall experience was poorly designed, with confusing navigation options, hidden features buried in obscure workflows, confusing verbiage, no proper CRM (customer relationship management), and disjointed information architecture.
Example of workflow exercises performed by the team.
Prioritization
UX worked with senior stakeholders in Product, Engineering, and Marketing to rank levels of effort and identify critical features that must be addressed first. Based on those working sessions, a preliminary roadmap was created.
We identified long-term initiatives and short-term opportunities that scrum teams could take action on immediately.
Prioritization exercise to determine focus areas.
Prioritized features based on initial exercise.
Framing
Based on the new insights, we put pencil to paper to reimagine what an improved flow should look like. The most significant finding revealed during sketching sessions was how ShootProof was constructed. The product is built around galleries, making adding new features to the platform challenging.
Collaborative sketching sessions were key exercises to put together a better experience.
Connecting key features to end clients and existing galleries is burdensome. Photographers resort to workarounds and hacks to complete critical tasks, often reentering the same information multiple times. The next step was to work with Customer Insights and Product Marketing leadership to reimagine what ShootProof's foundation should be: client-centric.
Visual Diagram of ShootProof's current state.
The team moved the sketches to the next phase and created lo-fidelity wireframes.
Rapid Prototyping, Testing, and Refinement
Using Axure, I worked with the lead UX strategist and designer to convert their wireframes into a clickable prototype for proof of concept and testing.
Axure Prototype was used to explore new ways of connecting clients with product options.
Axure Prototype was used to explore new ways of setting up commerce options.
The first iteration strategically contained pitfalls and multiple ways of referring to key features to spark dialogue and hear firsthand from photographers about their thoughts and expectations.
The prototype was tested with a mix of existing and prospective users. The results were insightful. We better understood how photographers thought about labs, commerce, and the high standards they expect to provide their clients.
Iterations were made, and we honed in on the navigation experience. The team recreated a new prototype to test, and the results were positive. We identified navigation as the first step in providing intuitive access to features that had previously been buried and difficult to find.
Next Steps and Implementation
Post-user testing - the product team worked with engineers to t-shirt size the effort and prioritize the work.