PowerVoice ‘try before you buy’ onboarding missed the mark.
I had aimed to minimize the time between landing on the site and experiencing value by allowing users to immediately upload their own audio files for free. While this approach works well for many apps, it didn’t work for PowerVoice.
Why? Three reasons:
– Trust: Users were hesitant to share personal recordings without clearly seeing the value upfront. However, until they uploaded a file they would not see the value, catch 22.
– Logistics: Most users who wanted to try it did not have a relevant audio file handy. Even if they planned to come back later – the reality is that attention is very limited. If you lose the user before you show them value it’s very hard to get them back.
– Messaging: I tested two approaches, one emphasizing the “what” and one the “why”. In terms of engaging, the “why” version performed better than the “what” one. However, it failed to show or explain features of the product – and given the ‘Trust’ and ‘Logistic’ challenges already mentioned, resulted in low conversion overall.
Above: left focused on the what, right focused on the why
Thanks to all this feedback, I’ve completely revamped the onboarding — it now starts fully focused on the user and their unique needs. Only after they have engaged, I’ll share how the product can uniquely help them overcome their problems.
After completing the pre-flight onboarding, knowing what the app can do for them, users can choose one of three subscription options. All including a 7 day free trial to provide peace of mind.
This experience reinforces the criticality of listening and learning from users, and how that trumps industry conventions. If you’re not familiar with PowerVoice you can learn more about it or try it here, all changes discussed above are live!
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Marc