QANDA / Feature Design / Mobile App
2021
How to Monetize Non-Earning Student Users: Strategic approach from QANDA's Premium Membership
Introduction
QANDA is an AI-based learning platform based in South Korea, now used by over 90 million student users worldwide. We conducted user research to generate ideas aimed at increasing the conversion rate for our premium membership with our Non-earning student users.
QANDA stands for "Q and A" and is an educational technology company; they use optical character recognition technology to scan math problems and provide step-by-step solutions. Their mission is to provide effective education to everyone worldwide.
TIMELINE
Feb 2021 — May 2021
THE TEAM
2 researchers, 1 product owner, 2 engineers, 1 data scientist, 1 product designer.
MY ROLE
User researcher
Objective
Why did we started this?
After reaching 30 million monthly active users (MAU) worldwide, the team shifted gears toward generating revenue by launching a premium membership. However, less than 1% of targeted users converted to paid membership, prompting the Revenue TF to collaborate with the UX research team to uncover users' needs and potential solutions to generate revenue.
The UX research team was tasked with defining the problem, providing the team with strategic direction, and suggesting actionable solutions for our product.
My role
Plan and conduct research and turn insights into actionable product solutions.
We conducted multiple rounds of surveys, 10+ in depth user interviews, and focus group interviews with student users. I was involved in the whole research process from research planning to operations and analyzing data.
Spoiler alert!
Here’s quick summary of the project!
After conducting intensive user research, analysis, and brainstorming sessions with cross-functional team members, the research team generated valuable insights and potential solutions. Collaborating with product designers, I translated these insights into actionable product ideas.
Suggestion 01:
Putting ADs on the Search Result
We proposed the idea of intentionally adding constraints (advertisements) for free membership users to boost the conversion rate to paid memberships. However, considering QANDA's mission to provide equal educational opportunities regardless of location or financial means, we still aimed for our student users to access premium features without payment.
To achieve this balance, we suggested implementing a 30-second ad before each search result solution. While we acknowledge that this decision may impact the user experience on our app, it was deemed necessary for sustaining the business.
Suggestion 02:
Payment Request feature for parents
The majority of users received financial support for their education from their parents, yet they haven't discussed QANDA with them. Our student users face difficulty in making payments using their allowances or credit cards for the app store. Convincing parents to pay for the mobile app is proving challenging.
To facilitate our users in persuading their parents and navigating the complex payment process, we recommended implementing the 'Payment Request Feature'. With this feature, parents can proceed with the payment process, granting access to premium features for both themselves and their children.
Suggestion 03:
Payment Page UI Revision to show more of our ‘Unique Value proposition’
Upon analyzing usage data, we pinpointed the Payment page as the primary area of user churn. Our observations during user interviews revealed low retention rates for premium membership offerings, with many users unable to recall price points and specific features. As a result, we recommended UI revisions to enhance information visibility and effectively communicate our value proposition.
Testimonial
“As a UX designer, I had various opportunities to co-work with Deanna throughout redesigning projects for QANDA Mobile App. It was little difficult for me to incorporate the huge amount of data such as user interviews, into an insight as I had no research experience. However, with Deanna's insights, in consideration of design aspects, I was able to collaborate effectively from discussion to actual decision-making. Deanna would give practical suggestions to the design team in designer's point of view with her background and this helped a lot when developing the actual design. Throughout the project, Deanna and the research team members used Affinity Diagram when addressing current issues and directions of improvement of the existing design. This was a very effective communication tool among researchers, designers and developers as we could visually see what we were discussing at multiple levels. Especially as a designer, being able to visualize discussion was really helpful.”
- Written by Arial Seo, Product Designer @Mathpresso
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Process
