2 Designers, 1 PM, 10 Engineers
Feb 2021 - May 2021
Desktop & mobile web
Xbox Game Pass are video game subscription services that grant users access to a rotating catalogue of games. It currently has four product SKU: Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass for PC or Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Account.micrososft (AMC) is one place for users to manage their Xbox subscription. Customers can come and cancel their subscription on AMC.
Lead designer through discovery, research, experience requirements, design and user testing. Led the effort to envision future opportunities for xbox customer retention. Collaborated with Pragati Saraf for component creation and final shipping of V1.
The goal was to reduce churn and increase retention. After the release, the save rate went over 10%. Overall, ‘keep subscription’ increased by 300%. Downgrade went up by 470%.
Lack of understanding of the subscription was the top motivator for cancellation. When customers choose to cancel we communicate relevant value propositions that will motivate and drive them to stay loyal. For each SKU we tested & worked with Xbox to pick & choose ones that are most valuable to customers.
Cost of Ultimate was one of the top motivators to cancel. We provide customers option to downgrade/switch subscriptions. Customers can compare price & benefits. They can make an informed choice to switch or stay on the current plan.
The project required us to understand:
We did an experience review of our current experience. We understood key jobs to be done, gaps in experience & opportunities for retention. Following are the key takeaways:
Looking at compete gaming products and subscriptions helped us understand market patterns and opportunity areas. Following are the key takeaways:
We did focus discussion with 12 Xbox customers across gender, within the age bracket of 18 - 45. 1 set who had recently cancelled xbox subscription and other who still owned xbox. The aim was to understand expectations with cancellation, and key motivators to reconsider. Following are the key takeaways:
We worked with the Xbox research team to understand what issues were pushing most of our customers to cancel? We looked at the data for 3 years to find patterns. Two key patterns emerged:
Second inquiry was what parts of our service are most important for users to stay loyal? Majority of users were motivated by content (games in our library). The problem was that people might fly through the couple games they wanted to play in our library, then feel like there’s nothing else for them and cancel.
Informing customers about the product value as a motivator to stay. For each subscrition we worked with Xbox to pick & choose relevant value props that will push customers to stay loyal. For eg: Xbox Gold users prefer multiplayer value proposition.
Customers that find Ultimate expensive will have an option to downgrade/switch subscriptions. Customers can compare price & benefits. They can make an informed choice to switch or stay on the current plan.
I explored multiple approaches. Reviewed with triad & design early on. These iterations didn't make it to the final cut for one reason or another—either, usability issues uncovered from testing, scalability issues, technical feasibility or timeline etc. They were well received by our partners, stakeholders & customers. They helped shape the final direction and inspire future possibilities.
We celebrate the relationship we shared with our customers. Customers can view their personalised stats before cancelling that act as a quick walk down the memory lane. They can interact with details of these data points and play-around with it. They can share them on social media. The investment & the time put into their gaming journey can act as a strong motivator to reconsider cancelling their subscription.
Customers are informed about value props of their current subscription type and correlating gaming milestones. Leftover value & nostalgia were the key pivots for this. If they still want to continue cancellation, we offer them other SKU’s to downgrade/switch that will provide monetary value. The flow was moved to modal to give the impression of speed. It could also scale across other surfaces such as Xbox gaming app or windows.
Customers can view gaming content, value prop and interact with their personal milestones. They scroll down to choose among different subscriptions. We brought in Xbox branding without being too overpowering, keeping harmony with AMC. This approach combined two key focus areas in one page. Ensuring the focus on cancellation. This approach was evolved based on feasibility, usability & accessibility.
For the final cards we tried visual treatments from icon to smaller images. We finally went for an image rich treatment. The aim was to represent the value prop in the most impactful way. The key design principles were:
With ultimate we had 6 value props. We made sure we represent them with impact while keeping it concise. Final approach combined image + icon + value props.
These are different directions explored for designing the switch subscription experience. The aim was to provide customers an easy to compare, scalable & compact experience.
👍🏾 Things that work
👎🏾 Things that need work
👍🏾 Things that work
👎🏾 Things that need work
👍🏾 Things that work
👎🏾 Things that need work
Customers can downgrade or switch plans. They can continue enjoying Xbox, while saving money.
Experiences keep evolving and changing based on business needs and product evolution. We provided other teams and subscriptions across Microsoft with general guidelines that will help them design their cancellation experiences better.
