Citrus: Freemium to Premium

I started my research by learning what Citrus offers as a free version and comparing that to Citrus+ to fully understand what the benefits are in upgrading.

When trying to use Citrus, it's evident that the approach to converting free users to premium subscribers is far from effective.

User Research Findings

I interviewed potential users to learn about their thoughts on the current app. I took notes on what they vocalized feeling and how they would react to different scenarios. I asked them things like “What would make you consider upgrading to the premium version?” and “Do you use other music streaming services? If so, which ones, and why?”

• Pandora: Uses fewer audio ads, but limits skips. Might not strongly motivate casual users to upgrade.

• YouTube: Cluttered interface, challenging to find premium sign-up options. Design may hinder premium conversions.

• SoundCloud: Promotes "SoundCloud Go" well without compromising the user experience. Provides transparency in explaining interruptions, building trust.

• Spotify: Takes a subtle approach to promoting Premium. No pop-up ads, banking on the quality of service. Successful user engagement features like "Wrapped" showcase their confidence in user conversions.

Designing

Wireframing

To make it more enticing for free users to upgrade to Citrus+, I wanted to highlight the payment plan that Citrus+ offers and provide the user information in the most transparent way possible:

How might we make it easily discoverable to learn about Citrus+ offerings?

Previously, the ways that users were discovering how to upgrade to Citrus+ was through buttons sprinkled around the site. Although this provided easy access to upgrade, it didn’t feel too welcoming.

I decided to create an engaging and visually appealing introductory tour or tutorial that highlights the premium features of Citrus+.

Hi-Fi Iterations and User Feedback

I had 5 potential users look over my work during this process to give me feedback on what looked good and where they felt confused. Below are snippets of feedback that I used to improve my design.

Final Designs

Taking the feedback into consideration, I developed a final set of screens and linked them into a tappable prototype.

Through my research, I found that there are a few things that help convince users to subscribe to paid subscriptions from freemium models:

• Make sure that the value proposition is clear. What are the benefits that users will get by subscribing to the premium product? Make sure that these benefits are clearly communicated to users.

• Make the process fun and intuitive. Doing this will engage users and make them care more about upgrading.

• Be transparent. The more transparent you are, the more trust you will build with users.

User Persona

The interviews helped me empathize with user needs and helped me write out a goal to set the tone. I chose “how might we…” statements to decide what our top priorities were.

"How might we improve the discoverability of Citrus+'s premium features and incentives within the user interface, making it more enticing for free users to consider upgrading?"

Team

Maximillian Navarro