User Experience for Subscription Services

Are you generating enough value for users net of the value to your company? Business value can only be created when you create so much value for users, that you can “tax” that value and take some for yourself as a business. If you don’t create any value for your users, then you can’t create value for your business. Ed Biden explains how to solve this in this week's guest post: Whilst there are many ways to understand what your users will value, two techniques in particular are incredibly valuable, especially if you’re working on a tight timeframe: 1. Jobs To Be Done 2. Customer Journey Mapping 𝟭. 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗝𝗧𝗕𝗗) “People don’t simply buy products or services, they ‘hire’ them to make progress in specific circumstances.”  – Clayton Christensen The core JTBD concept is that rather than buying a product for its features, customers “hire” a product to get a job done for them … and will ”fire” it for a better solution just as quickly. In practice, JTBD provides a series of lenses for understanding what your customers want, what progress looks like, and what they’ll pay for. This is a powerful way of understanding your users, because their needs are stable and it forces you to think from a user-centric point of view. This allows you to think about more radical solutions, and really focus on where you’re creating value. To use Jobs To Be Done to understand your customers, think through five key steps: 1. Use case – what is the outcome that people want? 2. Alternatives – what solutions are people using now? 3. Progress – where are people blocked? What does a better solution look like? 4. Value Proposition – why would they use your product over the alternatives? 5. Price – what would a customer pay for progress against this problem? 𝟮. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 Customer journey mapping is an effective way to visualize your customer’s experience as they try to reach one of their goals. In basic terms, a customer journey map breaks the user journey down into steps, and then for each step describes what touchpoints the customer has with your product, and how this makes them feel. The touch points are any interaction that the customer has with your company as they go through this flow: • Website and app screens • Notifications and emails • Customer service calls • Account management / sales touch points • Physically interacting with goods (e.g. Amazon), services (e.g. Airbnb) or hardware (e.g. Lime) Users’ feelings can be visualized by noting down: • What they like or feel good about at this step • What they dislike, find frustrating or confusing at this step • How they feel overall By mapping the customer’s subjective experience to the nuts and bolts of what’s going on, and then laying this out in a visual way, you can easily see where you can have the most impact, and align stakeholders on the critical problems to solve.

Over the past 3 years, I've seen under the hood of 40+ PLG orgs. Here's 3 shockingly common patterns that stops them from being more successful. 1. Nobody is actively managing the free trial and/or free plan. The basics of the product-led offer were created years ago. There are tons of "green grass" optimizations that could be made. But they've been stuck on a product backlog board for years. 2. There's no in-product segmentation for new accounts. There's a basic product-tour shown to all new accounts that ignores their size, level of experience, and use case. They're all treated the same experience (both in-app and via email). It fails to deliver much value - or build habitual usage. 3. Lack of ownership/ accountability for main PLG KPIs (like activation, retention, and self-service revenue). Nobody is focused on moving the needle on those. As a result, most new self-serve accounts sign up, poke around a few minutes, then leave and never return to the product. Because of 1-3 above, leadership feels like they need to revisit if PLG still makes sense. Or if they should send every lead to a 1:1 sales team instead - to help them convert. The result is a disjointed user experience that doesn't deliver much value to users - and isn't an effective use of resources across the board. We can do better! My 10c: - Make sure there's a dedicated team and resources focused on PLG - Give that team accountability for self-service revenue and ownership over the areas of the product to impact revenue - Have that team collaborate/share learnings with the rest of the company to accelerate the pace of learning across the org.

Don’t make your subscribers fight to leave. If you have to hide the cancel button to keep them, you’ve already lost. Here’s why trust, not friction, builds retention that lasts. Subscription models work best when they're built on what I call a ”Forever Promise.” But too often, companies take the opposite approach: → $1 first shipments that convert into $200 second charges unless the customer returns everything in time → “Online sign-up, phone-only cancellation” with limited hours → Fine print that hides multi-month commitments That’s not a Forever Promise. That’s a trap. Meanwhile, smart businesses are doing the opposite: → Adding pause buttons instead of just cancel → Offering grace periods after renewals → Tracking inactive accounts and auto-canceling unused subscriptions (like Netflix did) Even financial apps like Truebill and Trim exist because people are so often misled by the businesses they trusted. The companies that win in the long run are the ones that put the relationship first, even when it’s time to say goodbye. If you're building a subscription offering, I encourage your team to take this simple pledge: “We will never hide the cancel button.” Because short-term tricks cost long-term trust. And the businesses that earn trust? They’re the ones with loyal members and recurring value. +++++++++++ 👋 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. ++++++++++++

I increased conversion rates by 71% for a wellness brand in 2 weeks by optimizing ‘the 3 C’s’ of a landing page. At the end of the day, even if you have really strong data and a high performing creative… If you’re not optimizing the web experience (especially on mobile) your conversion rates aren’t going to look very impressive. We’ve helped guide 100’s of our clients from a CRO perspective on what to do as far as their mobile web experience. These are the 3 most important things to think about when it comes to optimizing this component of the user journey: 1️⃣ Continuity Think about the landing page as an extension of the ad content. You absolutely have to make it a priority that there is continuity between the two. They clicked on your ad because they were interested in the exact content of the ad. So if everything looks, feels, and sounds different when they get to the landing page, they’re going to get confused and click off as fast as they can reach their cursor to the X button. Capitalize on their interest by keeping every variable consistent. 2️⃣ Content Like I mentioned previously, the user clicked on the ad because they were interested in hearing more. That’s why making sure your landing page has every single piece of information there is to know about the service is crucial. You don’t want to give them any reason to NOT convert. So: - Handle every objection - Highlight every benefit/feature - Make sure they understand everything about the process. 3️⃣ Call to action Make it easy for the consumer to progress on the page. You’d be surprised by how many people screw this up. They have a bunch of interested people visit the landing page, ready to buy… Just for them to click off because the CTA wasn’t clear enough. Tell them exactly what to do, and where to go if they want to proceed with the purchase. If you can really nail these 3 when it comes to this step in the customer journey, you’re going to convert a lot more of that traffic that you worked so hard to get with your ads. Again, the three C’s of landing pages: 1️⃣ Continuity 2️⃣ Content 3️⃣ Call to action Remember them and watch your conversion rate skyrocket.

While it can be easily believed that customers are the ultimate experts about their own needs, there are ways to gain insights and knowledge that customers may not be aware of or able to articulate directly. While customers are the ultimate source of truth about their needs, product managers can complement this knowledge by employing a combination of research, data analysis, and empathetic understanding to gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs and expectations. The goal is not to know more than customers but to use various tools and methods to gain insights that can lead to building better products and delivering exceptional user experiences. ➡️ User Research: Conducting thorough user research, such as interviews, surveys, and observational studies, can reveal underlying needs and pain points that customers may not have fully recognized or articulated. By learning from many users, we gain holistic insights and deeper insights into their motivations and behaviors. ➡️ Data Analysis: Analyzing user data, including behavioral data and usage patterns, can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and pain points. By identifying trends and patterns in the data, product managers can make informed decisions about what features or improvements are most likely to address customer needs effectively. ➡️ Contextual Inquiry: Observing customers in their real-life environment while using the product can uncover valuable insights into their needs and challenges. Contextual inquiry helps product managers understand the context in which customers use the product and how it fits into their daily lives. ➡️ Competitor Analysis: By studying competitors and their products, product managers can identify gaps in the market and potential unmet needs that customers may not even be aware of. Understanding what competitors offer can inspire product improvements and innovation. ➡️ Surfacing Implicit Needs: Sometimes, customers may not be able to express their needs explicitly, but through careful analysis and empathetic understanding, product managers can infer these implicit needs. This requires the ability to interpret feedback, observe behaviors, and understand the context in which customers use the product. ➡️ Iterative Prototyping and Testing: Continuously iterating and testing product prototypes with users allows product managers to gather feedback and refine the product based on real-world usage. Through this iterative process, product managers can uncover deeper customer needs and iteratively improve the product to meet those needs effectively. ➡️ Expertise in the Domain: Product managers, industry thought leaders, academic researchers, and others with deep domain knowledge and expertise can anticipate customer needs based on industry trends, best practices, and a comprehensive understanding of the market. #productinnovation #discovery #productmanagement #productleadership

The world preaches loyalty, but how many brands actually live it? Last month, I got an invite to something called Summer Smash, 1st Phorm International's invite-only community event in St. Louis. Think three days of HQ tours, private pre-parties, high-energy workouts, rides, and live music from artists like Ludacris, Lil' Jon, Pitbull, and Steve Aoki. The whole thing sells out in under a minute each year. Pure community building at it's finest. I couldn't make it due to personal obligations, but here's what blew me away: they still sent me a surprise box packed with over 10 of their top products (proteins, apparel, energy drinks, protein sticks), plus a handwritten note that felt genuinely personal, not like a marketing ploy. We've gotten so caught up in digital tactics that we've forgotten about the power of high-touch moments that forge actual emotional connections. This kind of follow-through is almost unheard of in today's brand world. Most companies would've moved on to the next person on their list. But 1st Phorm gets something that a lot of brands miss: real loyalty isn't built through campaigns or offers, it's built through experiences that make people feel like they belong to something bigger. That's where lifetime value really takes off. Summer Smash is far beyond just an event; it's the kind of experience that flips the loyalty script entirely, where customers don't just buy, they simply belong. Here's what I think other brands can learn from this approach: ➟ Send unexpected value for no reason. A surprise product or handwritten note shows customers they matter beyond their purchase history. ➟ Build exclusive communities around shared values, not just products. Whether it's in-person events or virtual experiences, give your best customers something they can't get anywhere else. ➟ Create moments people actually talk about. A few hours with A-list talent or behind-the-scenes access beats another discount code every time. ➟ Lead with gratitude, not growth metrics. When thank-you moments drive your strategy instead of the other way around, authenticity follows naturally. The bottom line: loyalty is earned through emotion, experience, and belonging. If your brand isn't building that, you're just another transaction in someone's day. When did you last surprise your customers with something that wasn't even on your roadmap?

Consistency creates trust. Say what you will do. Do what you said you would. Reliability. Consistency. Whatever you call it, it is a customer experience superpower. When a brand is clear about what its customers can expect, and then it delivers on those expectations with its product, its service, its experience, that is consistency. That builds trust. ✈ Southwest Airlines is a great example. 💺 No seat assignments. You know this when you book with them. 2️⃣ checked bags for free. You know this as well. Guess what? They didn’t used to advertise about 2 free checked bags. Because 10 years ago, that wasn’t special. Now, with all the other airlines charging, Southwest has a new point of differentiation. Because of their consistency. While The Southwest experience is changing, it is changing in a predictable way. It does not feel like a moving target. How do you create consistency in your customer experience? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 👇 And here are 5 steps to follow to build trust through consistency: 🔷Start with the end in mind. What do your customers expect from you? 🔷Identify experience elements that meet those customer expectations. Ask yourself, What can we consistently deliver that will meet our customers’ expectations? 🔷Set customers’ expectations appropriately. Make promises about what you will consistently deliver. 🔷Keep those promises with your experience. Obvious, but make sure you’re keeping your promises the vast majority of the time. 🔷Apologize and rectify when you don’t keep your promises. This reinforces that unkept promises are rare exceptions, not signs of a new pattern. If you are showing up consistently, setting expectations for an experience that customers want, and keeping those expectations in most instances, then the exceptions stay exceptions. And, in fact, they’re service recovery opportunities that reinforce the fact that you usually do keep your promises, and that you take it seriously when you don’t keep your promises. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

When you’re trying to make sense of complex user behaviors, traditional segmentation methods often fall short. Sure, K-means clustering can group users by surface-level similarities - how they navigate, what they click on, or which features they use - but it doesn’t tell you why those patterns exist. And in UX, understanding the why is everything. That’s why I’ve found Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to be an incredibly valuable tool in my research practice. It’s a method designed to find hidden patterns in survey data, especially when you’re working with categorical or ordinal questions - like multiple-choice items or Likert scale responses. LCA doesn’t just sort users based on what’s visible on the surface. Instead, it tries to uncover what’s driving their responses underneath. It assumes that users belong to hidden (or "latent") groups that we can't directly observe, but that we can detect based on how they answer questions. For example, imagine running a UX survey that asks people about their comfort with technology, trust in AI, and preference for customization. You might get a wide range of responses. LCA helps you go beyond analyzing each question separately - it figures out if there are groups of people who tend to answer similarly across all questions, even if they don’t seem obviously connected. These groups - called latent classes - might reflect different user mindsets, like “curious but cautious explorers” or “pragmatic minimalists.” Once you find those groups, you can design more targeted and meaningful experiences for each. What makes LCA especially useful is that it doesn’t force people into just one group. Instead of saying, “You belong to Cluster 1 and that’s it,” LCA assigns probabilities. So someone might be 80% likely to belong to one group and 20% to another. That reflects real life better. People are complex, and their motivations often overlap. It also solves one of the common headaches in clustering: how many segments should we have? LCA gives you tools to evaluate that using something called model fit statistics. It’s still partly a judgment call, but at least you’re making an informed decision rather than guessing. I’ve used LCA in projects where we needed to go beyond demographics and usage stats. For instance, when helping a client develop personas, we didn’t want to rely just on age or job title. By applying LCA to their survey responses, we could uncover psychological groupings - how users think, what they care about, and what they’re hesitant about. That gave the design and product teams something much more actionable than “target 25-34 year-old tech users.” LCA does require some statistical literacy and careful setup. You need to think critically about which survey questions to include in the model. Including questions that are too outcome-driven or irrelevant can bias the results. And interpreting the segments takes domain knowledge. But, it’s absolutely worth learning

If you're only segmenting your customers based on ARR, You're going to have trouble driving your customer outcomes. Why? 📣 Because ARR is about what you want. Not what they want. 📽️ The Big Picture: Effective segmentation has three key components: 🧩 Use Case  🔨 Vertical, and  💰 ARR. By understanding these aspects, you can align your strategies with what customers truly want and ensure their desired outcomes. 🎉 Customer Segmentation by Use Case: What outcome are they trying to achieve? How should they use your product/service so that they achieve that outcome? Mapping that out is the foundation of customer success. 🔨 Customer Segmentation by Vertical: Vertical-based segmentation holds tremendous value. Different industries utilize your product in unique ways, even if they share similar use cases. Tailor your approach accordingly to deliver customer success and drive advocacy within each vertical. 💰 Customer Segmentation by ARR There IS some validity to segmentation by ARR - mainly because the size of the company will dictate the complexity of the rollout. It's going to take different strategies, processes, and enablement materials to roll your product out to an enterprise company with 1000 users, than you would use for the mom-and-pop shop down the street. ⭐️ And while we are focused on the customer attaining their goal, don’t forget… you work for YOUR company. And money is THEIR desired outcome! 🧪 Mix-and-Match: Don't limit yourself to rigid segmentation. Explore cross-pollination opportunities within the same industry. ✏️ Create Modified Customer Journeys: Craft distinct customer journeys for each use case and vertical. Analyze data from successful customers to refine your approach. Engage with customers to understand their business problems and how they use your product to solve them. Tailor health scores and success metrics to cater to the unique needs of different verticals. 👯♀️ Customer Segmentation by Vertical = Community and Thought Leadership: Vertical-based segmentation provides an opportunity to build communities and establish thought leadership. Create industry-specific content, foster networking opportunities, and invite successful customers to share their experiences. By becoming a gathering place for your ideal customers, you strengthen your brand and nurture advocates. What are your thoughts on customer segmentation? Share your experiences and opinions in the comments below! 👇🏻 #segementation #customersuccess PS - If you like practical CS strategies like this one, be sure to sign up for the Provan Success newsletter below!

I spent 5 years scaling Superhuman's white glove, concierge onboarding. …and another 2 years rebuilding it in product. My biggest lessons on effective product onboarding: It must be *opinionated*, *interruptive*, and *interactive*. ••• 🧐 Opinionated There's a million ways to use Superhuman, but only one correct way. We had unopinionated steps in the onboarding, like teaching "j" and "k" to navigate. But what really matters is Inbox Zero. Marking Done. Our most extreme form is Get Me To Zero — a pop-up that practically coerces you to Mark Done *everything*. This experience gets an astonishing 60% new user opt-in. New users want to experience something different; they want to learn. We pruned away the bland, and left behind pure, unfiltered opinion. Exactly what made our concierge onboarding effective. 💥 Interruptive We've all seen them before: checklists, tooltips, nudges. Inoffensive growth clutter that piles up in the corners of your app. We shipped all this and more. But it had precisely zero impact. Our most impactful changes were interruptive: on-rails demos, full-screen takeovers, product overlays. Arresting user attention is critical: if an experience is tucked away in the corner, it will be ignored. If it's ignored, it may as well not exist. 🕹️ Interactive You can't be Opinionated and Interruptive without being Interactive. It's a crime to force users to engage with non-actionable information. Instead, provide functionality: an action to take, setting to toggle, CTA to click. It's more fun AND users build muscle memory. There is something to do in every step of our onboarding. Perhaps that's how we get away with an onboarding nearly 50 screens long 🤭 ••• Final thought: if you're struggling with this flow, simply watch new users. Note all the places you want to jump in — there's your onboarding 👌 s/o to the very thoughtful Superhumans building this: Ben ✨Kalyn Lilliana Kevin Peik Erin Gaurav 💜 #plg #onboarding #activation