Membership
As a fitness enthusiast, I’m looking for a straightforward, transparent membership process that lets me access the fitness plans I want without unnecessary hassle.
Date: Aug 2022 - June 2024 // Company: Amazon - Halo // Team: Halo UX Team // Title: UX Designer 11
Skills:
System Design, UX Strategy, Interface Design, Information Architecture, Design Library, Analysis, Collaboration, Communication, Design Leadership.
Role:
I led the comprehensive redesign of Halo’s membership across all devices and platforms, transitioning from a freemium to a paid subscription model. This included the introduction of in-app purchasing as the primary payment method.
Contributors:
1 visual designer
1 branding Team
2 engineering managers + engineers
2 product managers
3 QA
Overview
Problem
Halo had to transition from a free to a paid model in a seamless way across various product domains and amidst a new product launch.
Solution
I led a thorough redesign this membership experience, focusing on streamlining the onboarding process to enhance user comprehension and engagement. This redesign involved simplifying complex steps and ensuring a seamless integration of the new paid model across various product interfaces.
Challenges
Challenge One
Navigating Complex Membership Integration
Halo is a complex ecosystem of physical products like the Smart Alarm and Fitness Bands that share an app; Halo. Inside the app, there is a vast array of features in the health domains. Health domains mean Sleep features, Activity features and Nutrition features.
The challenge was to integrate all membership experiences through all platforms from the web to products to a free-trial version using in-app purchasing.
To make things extra spicy, some features used to be gated (member only access).
Challenge Two
Synchronizing Multiple User Flows to Enhance Membership Experience
Due to the complexity of the membership project, there is no single flow or domain I had ownership of. I owned the membership experience as a whole, meaning I partnered with various UX designer’s projects for their specific health domains.
Through a bit of elbow grease, I worked to synchronize these efforts and create a smooth user experience by fostering collaboration among project managers, engineering teams, and UX designers. This unified design approach was crucial in delivering a cohesive user journey from start to finish.
Challenge Three
Layoffs and Closing Halo
During the crucial stage of developing Halo's newest product, the project was put on hold due to the company's sudden closure and subsequent layoffs, which included myself. This unexpected halt in development during Beta 4 (launch to public was Beta 5) brought everything to a standstill. The experience improved my ability to adapt and handle crises, strengthening my capacity to stay flexible and composed when faced with sudden changes.
Method
Holistic view of current CX
Halo used to offer a free membership option that gave users access to essential app functions but restricted access to premium features. Which turned into a large amount of user flows.
To cut through this ambiguity, I organizing user interactions based on their desires and goals. Thus allowed a comprehensive understanding of their overall experience, rather than just their use of a particular feature.
How to improve the membership story
To create a user-focused solution, I aligned stakeholders and related projects to recognize that considering the customers' perspective is better for the company.
I conducted workshops and presentations involving key individuals such as the Halo Director of UX, Halo Onboarding UX owner, Marketing, Legal, several sister-project PMs, and Eng leads, to deeply understand the user's needs.
I then facilitated the collaborative brainstorming and modification of roadmaps to include these strategic improvements for the membership experience as a whole. Onboarding was a critical junction for membership, as the entire app was moving towards a free-trial fully gated experience.
Previous Onboarding Flow:
Step One: Make Onboarding Longer
Problem that it addresses?
The original POR was to put all legal information and membership benefits on one page. This was widely accepted because the current onboarding (for any product) was extremely long (see above).
Solution Idea:
As much as it seems counterintuitive and to improve user comprehension and interaction, I suggested splitting the information over two screens. The first screen would emphasize the benefits of Halo, while the second screen would provide important financial and legal information. Shortly, the department agreed, I received L9 approval and we moved forward with this approach.
Step Two: Make Onboarding Feel Shorter.
Problem that it addresses?
As mentioned, the onboarding process was extremely long. In addition, Amazon Halo is not as well-known as other brands such as Fitbit, Nike Training Club, and FitOn. So users will need a lot of context as to why they would benefit from signing up for a free-trail in order to try out the service.
Solution Idea:
In order to improve the membership experience, we needed to spread out the context of what halo has to offer. As well as add easy markers for folks to understand the onboarding process as a whole.
By providing customers with a step-by-step checklist at important stages and making sure every step has clear meaning, it helps the onboarding ‘feel’ shorter.
Why this matters:
This approach empowers customers to manage their time better, encouraging them to allocate enough time for the process and reducing the likelihood of frustration and subsequent abandonment.
Purposed Onboarding Flow:
Step Three: Add Pressure Release
Problem that this address?
There is a lack of certainty that simply presenting the value of the product will resonate with all consumers. Additionally, there is currently no way to assist users who are hesitant to commit to a subscription during the onboarding process, now that we are gating the entire app.
Solution idea:
To address the concerns of users who are uncertain about the benefits of Halo upon reaching the membership page (which was early on in onboarding), I suggested to include an optional in-app purchase (IAP) pathway before the required one.
Why is this important?
Offering a pressure release valve for individuals who are not yet prepared to commit to a membership allows space for them to explore how Halo can enhance their health goals by continuing their health fitness profile set up (the section after membership). This aims to boost the number of free-trial sign-ups, overall
Purposed Onboarding Flow:
Design and Build
Ideation
Landscape Research
Bringing it all Together
Impact
The redesign of Halo’s membership program demonstrated my capacity for excellent long-term planning and creative problem-solving. Despite significant challenges, such as transitioning from a free to a paid model, overhauling the user interface, and launching a new product simultaneously, I successfully delivered a seamless and cohesive membership experience across all platforms.
I streamlined the onboarding process and revamped marketing narratives to maintain project momentum, even amid major organizational changes. I fostered collaboration and synchronization among project managers and engineers, ensuring our project remained on track and adaptable.
This experience significantly enhanced my ability to manage large-scale UX projects under challenging conditions, affirming my qualifications for advanced strategic roles and further leadership opportunities in UX design.