User Experience for Subscription Services

Is your business's model based on recurring revenue from subscriptions? And have you experienced the magic of ARR, Automatic…. Hem Annual Recurring Revenue? That's great, but you may have noticed a churn spike lately. Or maybe it's getting tougher to bring new customers on board? If so, it's time to face it: subscription fatigue might be creeping into your customer base. In "The Dream of Recurrent Revenue and the Reality of Subscription Fatigue," we dissect this complex issue that's causing subscription models to re-think themselves: how do we bridge the gap between recurrent revenue and recurrent value? How do we stop our valued subscribers from clicking the dreaded cancel button? The article takes a critical look at three key subscription areas feeling the heat: 💣 Fragmented services, struggling with an increased Total Cost of Subscription 💣 E-commerce subscriptions grappling with shifting consumer habits 💣 Digital goods where the subscription model might not be the perfect fit Actionable solutions are on the table, and we look in detail at some tools you can leverage now, including : ✅ Usage-based pricing models to align closer with customer usage patterns. ✅ Debundling services to offer transparent value and curb decision fatigue. ✅ Differentiation through new pricing models. Read the full article now and start looking at your recurrent revenue with the eyes of your customers! 🎙 No time to read the full article? Try the Podcast Episode instead on https://lnkd.in/eAEZFFwT or on your preferred streaming platform 👉 I write about subscription models, product pricing, e-commerce/marketplaces, and creating top product organizations. Follow me to receive my updates and articles! #pricing #pricingstrategy #subscriptions #revenuemanagement #productmanagement

Most companies try to scale by sprinting after new buyers and wonder why their churn spikes. I give them the Sustainable Growth Framework instead. Three focus areas. Total alignment. Real momentum. After helping subscription businesses grow and retain their members, I’ve learned this: scaling isn’t about speed. It’s about direction. Here’s the framework that keeps your growth steady and your subscribers loyal. 1. Relationships over transactions Don’t chase one-time buyers. Build long-term trust. When you focus on relationships, you create members who stay not because they have to, but because they want to. 💡 Example: If you’re a fitness app, build habits with your members. Send progress updates, celebrate milestones, and personalize recommendations. Growth happens when people feel seen, not sold to. 2. Freedom over friction Don’t lock people in. Make it easy to leave or stay by choice. Subscribers value autonomy. When you respect that, they reward you with loyalty. 💡 Example: If you’re a streaming service, a clear cancel button and transparent pricing signal confidence. The trust you gain outweighs the short-term retention dip. Ease builds credibility. Credibility builds staying power. 3. Outcomes over offerings Don’t pile on features. Deliver results that matter. Your best subscribers don’t want more. They want better. Example: 💡 If you’re a learning platform, don’t add hundreds of new courses. Focus on completion rates, results, and community feedback. Outcomes drive word of mouth far more than volume ever will. The magic? Only you know who your best subscribers are. Serve them well, and growth follows naturally. Because in subscription businesses, scale isn’t about adding more. It’s about deepening what works. +++++++++++ 👋 I'm Robbie, I'm a consultant, author, and speaker covering all things subscription businesses. +++++++++++ 🛎 Tap the bell under the banner on my profile to catch the next post. ++++++++++++

Your newsletter sign-up page is not just a gateway; It’s the first handshake with your audience. Yet, many fail to optimize this critical touchpoint. Asking the right questions about your page can elevate sign-ups. And set the tone for long-term subscriber engagement. Here are a few key questions to audit your newsletter sign-up page: 1. Who is your audience? → Clearly define your ideal subscriber. → Tailor the messaging to resonate with their needs & interests. 2. What value are you offering? → Why should someone subscribe? → Highlight benefits like exclusive insights, free resources, or actionable advice. 3. Is your call-to-action clear? → Use compelling, straightforward CTAs like “Get Weekly Insights” or “Join 10,000+ Readers.” → Avoid vague phrases like “Sign Up.” 4. Do you showcase social proof? → Numbers & testimonials matter. → Mention how many others have joined or share a quote from a happy reader. 5. How simple is the process? → Fewer form fields = more sign-ups. → Stick to essentials like name & email. 6. Is the page visually engaging? → A clean layout with eye-catching design elements ensures users stay and sign up. 7. Are you addressing concerns? → Reassure users by emphasizing privacy & how often they’ll receive emails. 8. Have you tested for mobile? → Most users browse on mobile. → Ensure your page is responsive & loads quickly. But here’s why it matters: A well-optimized sign-up page does more than grow your list— It attracts the *right* subscribers, builds trust & strengthens engagement. Take a moment to revisit your newsletter’s sign-up flow. The smallest tweaks can lead to big wins in capturing attention & turning visitors into loyal readers.

Most products obsess over removing friction. But at Bumpa, adding friction doubled onboarding completion—from 27% to 50%. I spent an hour with Precious O'Dahunsi, Bumpa's Product Growth Manager, and this story flipped how I think about UX. Here's what was happening: Bumpa would automatically launch e-commerce websites for users the moment they signed up. It felt like great UX. Instant value, zero effort required. But Precious discovered something troubling. Users were reaching out to support asking basic questions about features that were right there in their dashboard. Some didn't even know they had websites. The frictionless experience had created a disconnect. So she flipped the approach entirely. Now users have to earn their website: → Add at least one product to their catalogue → Set up payment methods → Complete key profile details → Only then does the website unlock The result wasn't just better completion rates. Users stopped asking "where's my website?" Support queries dropped. Feature awareness skyrocketed. The psychology behind this is called the IKEA Effect. We assign higher value to things we help build. In this case, people valued their website more because they had to take action to create it. Sometimes the best user experience requires users to invest effort upfront to get more value later. This wasn't Precious' only counterintuitive win. She also took an "abandoned" feature with only 5% adoption and turned it into a revenue driver through similar thinking. Bumpa's full growth story (including that feature resurrection) is in the comments 👇🏽

Great journey maps start from the intersection of user touchpoints. A customer journey map shows a customer's experiences with your organization, from when they identify a need to whether that need is met. Journey maps are often shown as straight lines with touchpoints explaining a user's challenges. start •—------------>• finish At the heart of this approach is the user, assuming that your product or service is the one they choose to use in their journey. While journey maps help explain the conceptual journey, they often give the wrong impression of how users are trying to solve their problems. In reality, users start from different places, have unique ways of understanding their problems, and often have expectations that your service can't fully meet. Our testing and user research over the years has shown how varied these problem-solving approaches can be. Building a great journey map involves identifying a constellation of touchpoints rather than a single, linear path. Users start from different points and follow various paths, making their journeys complex and varied. These paths intersect to form signals, indicating valuable touchpoints. Users interact with your product or service in many different ways. User journeys are not straightforward and involve multiple touchpoints and interactions…many of which have nothing to do with your company. Here’s how you can create valuable journeys: → Using open-ended questions and a product like Helio, identify key touchpoints, pain points, and decision-making moments within each journey. → Determine the most valuable touchpoints based on the intersection frequency and user feedback. → Create structured lists with closed answer sets and retest with multiple-choice questions to get stronger signals. → Represent these intersections as key touchpoints that indicate where users commonly interact with your product or service. → Focus on these touchpoints for further testing and optimization. Generalizing the linear flow can be practical once you have gone through this process. It helps tell the story of where users need the most support or attention, making it a helpful tool for stakeholders. Using these techniques, we’ve seen engagement nearly double on websites we support. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

The subscription strategy nobody saw coming! ⬆️ Harry's didn’t scale subscriptions by shooting discounts or locking customers in. Their real advantage was how refreshingly simple they made the entire experience. Most brands treat subscriptions like a billing strategy. Harry’s treated it like a service people should genuinely enjoy. ⛳️ 1️⃣ Delivery timings were flexible. 2️⃣ Cancellations were effortless. 3️⃣ Refills arrived exactly when people needed them. And, 4️⃣ Customers could tweak everything without feeling trapped. This level of customer empowerment created something rare in subscriptions: trust! ⛳️ Because when a brand respects their customers’ preferences, the customers stop guarding themselves against commitment. A strong subscription program isn’t built on urgency timers. It is built on reducing friction at every step so customers feel in control of their own journey. 🎯 Make the refill experience predictable. 🎯 Make making changes easy. 🎯 Make the end to end experience feel like it fits their life instead of interrupting it. That’s how convenience quietly turns into loyalty.

The first moments post-subscription are vital for engagement - here's how some of the top publishing brands are onboarding new subscribers on-site: > Average of 2-3 steps, pretty much always promoting newsletters and the app > Onboarding steps should reflect what's valuable to your brand - for instance, at The Telegraph, I imagine that puzzles have a significant impact on retention through habit forming, which is why this (very cheap) upsell is pushed during onboarding. This is similar for the NYT, who clearly sees value from subscribers who are engaged in multiple verticals (cooking, games, The Athletic, etc.) > Le Parisien & The Washington Post collect data on their subscribers during these steps, WP for personalisation that provides immediate value for the user > When we look at the changes in onboarding for those I benchmarked a year ago vs today, we mainly see changes in UX, such as the inclusion of all information/CTAs on one page without the need to scroll > The best in class publishers also onboard their free registered members, like The Irish News and The New York Times, to maximise engagement early on. It's also a great moment to promote your premium offer > The Washington Post promotes their Chrome Extension, a great way to ensure readers continuously revisit your site and see value in your product > Make sure you include a progress bar, the option to skip a step and text that highlights the value of each action for the user. > Oh and we onboard at The Audiencers! It's early days but we aim to promote our community (the WhatsApp channel) and build close relationships with readers by offering a call with myself or Marion. This also helps us introduce subscribers to our premium offer and sometimes "upsell" through events or consultancy Keen to see more onboarding journeys & hear about behind-the-scenes testing! Feel free to comment or PM me More recommendations and benchmarks on The Audiencers: https://lnkd.in/eqiehihX

MASTERCLASS approach to running a subscription-focused brand straight from the shack sack. SUBSCRIPTION WITHOUT KILLING TRUST Pre-select subscription with crystal clear transparency. Show savings in immediately understandable terms and compare one-time vs subscription side-by-side. Brands love to hide their subscription offers or make them confusing - successful brands do the opposite. OPTIMIZE FOR SUBSCRIPTION ADOPTION Position subscription as a smart consumer choice, not a trap. Use social proof about subscriber percentages to show it's the popular option. Highlight flexible pause/skip/cancel options prominently so customers feel in control from day one. ELIMINATE CHECKOUT DROP-OFFS Emphasize permanent savings at checkout and visualize the long-term savings impact. Stress customer control over subscription management throughout the entire flow. The moment someone feels locked in, they bounce. NAIL POST-PURCHASE ONBOARDING Send a detailed subscription management welcome email immediately after purchase. Provide easy subscription modification access points and reinforce benefits to prevent buyer's remorse. The first 48 hours are critical for retention. PREVENT CHURN PROACTIVELY Send pre-billing reminders before renewals so there are no surprises. Enable email adjustments without login barriers - make it stupidly easy to modify subscriptions. Offer pauses instead of immediate cancellations whenever possible. WIN-WIN CANCELLATION PROCESS Keep the cancel button visible and accessible - hiding it destroys trust. Present alternatives to complete cancellation, like pausing or reducing frequency. Track cancellation reasons religiously to improve the experience for future subscribers. LONG-TERM SUBSCRIBER RETENTION Escalate perks for loyal subscribers to reward their commitment. Use personalized win-back flows for churned customers based on their specific usage patterns. Test various renewal incentives continuously - what works today might not work next quarter.

If I were starting to work on a new subscription app today, here are five things I'd be sure to focus on. After working on monetization for dozens of apps—from early MVPs to 7-figure ARR—I’ve learned what actually drives upgrades, retention, and LTV. Most of these lessons came from failed tests, leaky funnels, and trial-and-error pricing. 1️⃣ Seasonal apps need seasonal pricing psychology. Insight: For apps with peak seasons (e.g. Dec-Jan), retention plummets in the off-season—but perceived value doesn’t have to. Takeaway: Experiment with short-term plans or in-app purchases to match user behavior, not just subscription cycles. 2️⃣ A paywall is a landing page—optimize it like one. Insight: If users drop-off even after tapping “Start Trial.” That’s a trust gap. Takeaway: Test copy, proof, risk reducers, and benefit framing like you would in paid ads. 3️⃣ High refund rates often mask deeper trust issues. Insight: A 3%+ refund rate isn’t just about price. It’s often tied to unmet expectations, vague trial terms, or unclear cancellation flows. Takeaway: Improve how you set expectations—before you try to improve how you monetize them. 4️⃣ Don't split personas by demographics—split them by intent and usage. Insight: For travel apps, “trip planners” and “professional drivers” may both be 45+ and in the US, but their motivations differ dramatically. Takeaway: Segmenting by usage frequency and purpose leads to sharper messaging, better feature prioritization, and smarter monetization. 5️⃣ Cancel reasons are gold mines, not graveyards. Insight: Users who cancel and say the app wasn’t “needed.” That’s not churn—it’s unmet value. Takeaway: Use cancellation reasons to build smarter winback campaigns, improve onboarding, and reshape feature messaging. I share practical growth lessons from the field—no fluff, just findings. Let’s connect or drop a comment with your biggest growth “aha moment.” Follow me 👉🏻 Alice Muir Kocourková #SubscriptionOptimization #SubscriptionStack #Subscription #PLG #MobileGrowth #Monetization

We built our subscription the wrong way first and that’s exactly how we learned to get it right. When we first launched subscriptions, we made the same mistake most brands do. We just copied our one-off journey, added a small discount, and hoped for the best. It didn’t work the way we thought it would, so we changed the way we thought about subscriptions altogether. The 5 switches that made our subscription finally work. First, we lowered the entry price. We wanted people to try the product easily and stay because they loved it, not because they’d committed too early. Second, we stopped measuring success on first orders. A subscription isn’t about that initial conversion, it’s about what happens over 60 or 90 days. That’s where lifetime value is built. Third, we rebuilt the entire experience, from a dedicated landing page to clearer messaging about what you actually get, how flexible it is, and why it’s worth it. Fourth, we made it effortless to manage. Our old setup created daily headaches for customers who couldn’t log into their accounts. Switching to password-less access changed that overnight. And finally, we planned like operators. With subscriptions, you can predict demand, manage inventory better, and plan cash flow with far more confidence. The result was higher take-rates and stronger 90-day LTV. Most brands add subscription. We rebuilt the journey around how people actually clean - small, regular top-ups that just show up when you need them. Fun fact: our peak purchase time is the morning.