The Ken

Problem

The Ken's checkout was inefficient and lacked any recurring payment option, capping subscription growth.

Solution

A focused one-step checkout that added recurring billing, cut the redundant steps, and reflected the new brand.

Outcome

The redesign lifted subscription conversion by 5.6%.

PROBLEM

What Was The Problem?

For readers of The Ken, the checkout presented usability issues, efficiency in particular.

For the business, the checkout lacked a recurring subscription option, limiting long-term subscription growth.

Additionally, not reflecting the company's rebranding while purchasing the subscription risked distrust among readers.

GOALS

Project goals

Project goals

DESIGN PROCESS

How we arrived at the solution

Design process

UX AUDIT

Insights from auditing the existing checkout flow

Insights from auditing the existing checkout flow

ITERATIVE DESIGN

Solution 1

Solution 1

Pros

  • One-step checkout
  • Communicates subscription duration and renewal info

Cons

  • Visuals were distracting
  • Recurring subscription is the default, so the user has no control over it
  • Technical feasibility of implementing "Avail GST Credit" as designed

Solution 2

Solution 2

Pros

  • Traditional, safe two-column checkout
  • Breaking the flow into steps
  • Re-affirming the user's decision to buy the subscription

Cons

  • Carousel format was distracting
  • Subscriber card, would the user even understand what it is?

Solution 3

Solution 3

Pros

  • One-step checkout
  • Presents just the bare minimum information needed to check out
  • Layout is extremely focused

Cons

  • Building user trust, was this effective at this stage?
  • Subscriber card pulls attention away from the checkout steps

CONVERGE

We decided to move forward with Solution 3

Why?

  • One-step checkout
  • Clearly surfaces recurring subscription details
  • The one-column layout felt focused on the task at hand

SOLUTION

Final Design Solution

Final design solution

REFLECTION

"You Don't Design in Silo," a personal lesson on embracing cross-functional feedback

Regular feedback from both the product and development teams gave me valuable insights into their perspectives, what resonates with them, what doesn't, and what they prioritize.

Understanding how feedback from cross-functional teams influences design was my biggest takeaway from this project.

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