Thalamus is about to launch its media service on multiple platforms. The service is aiming to provide its target audiences with engaging, informative, and accurate educational videos. Now that the product is at the end of the development cycle, Thalamus wants me to create a website for its online presence.
After multiple discussions, we sorted out our goals for the website from two different aspects: business and design.
During the wireframing phase, I tried to get as much information as possible from the stakeholders about the content outlines, market research insights, and favorable aesthetic styles. We decided that the website should have a techy feel with a simplistic design style. Website information architecture should be easy to follow. The way of telling the narrative should be attractive and immersive.
As a SaaS website, the first and foremost mission is to tell a story about the product and showcase the most important aspects.
We decided to boost the narrative with animation. It is interesting and fun to see on a website; it introduces the product illustratively and effectively; but most importantly, Thalamus, as a media company, has an edge in animation creation.
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Thalamus’ product is launched on multiple platforms. After the initial registration and payment phase on the website, users are guided to download the application on their Windows system and encouraged to further explore the Google TV and iOS programs.
My job is to design a smooth and painless onboarding process for new users.
In order to save time and money, diminish errors, and boost productivity, we want to optimize the automation workflow for the onboarding process.
The onboarding process requires communication between website forms, third-party payment platforms, the email system, the admin system, and the Windows app. I sorted out the workflow to ensure the right action could happen under the right conditions on the right platform.
After we launched the first version of the site and started to have users sign up for a trial, I noticed a severe problem: users were not proceeding to download the app after they finished signing up on the website.
Users who have downloaded and set up a profile on the Windows App will have a fully registered record on our admin system. However, about 8 out of 10 users quit the process after successfully signing up on the website. I decided to tackle this problem right away to increase the sales of the product and improve user satisfaction.
As I continued to inspect the reasons of users' failing to use the Windows App, I listed the problems that hindered the users' ability to proceed under 3 different categories: personal, environmental, and technical issues.
It is hard to remove the environmental hinderers, and the technical problems are handed to the programming and QA team. After discussed with stakeholders, I made several decisions and changes from UX design aspect.
The last screen that the user will see on the website is also a "transit screen" between the website and the Windows App. After the user successfully registers for a trial account or a paid account, they are expected to download and use the Windows App.
The original sign up screen does not provide much information other than telling the user their subscription is done. Users need to check their email to get both the Access Code and instructions for the next step.
I made some adjustments to this screen, to make it more “useful” and “encouraging”.
It gives users easy-to-follow instructions, makes it easy to download and set up the app, and has an option for people who want a full explanation. Users at this point have a clear idea of what action to take next and what to expect later on. In this case, it reduces anxiety and confusion for users and makes the transition from the site to the app less bumpy.
We often notice that users may take a break after finishing a task or get distracted by the life around them. The user totally fell out of the flow, and after a while, they totally forgot where they were before the break. It is something that just happens. We as designers, should remind and encourage them to come back to pick up where they left behind.
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I designed this reminder email. It will be sent out automatically to users who failed to set up the Windows App. The email has all the important information and instructions a user needs to move on to the next step. It also attracts users and calls for action in the end with a brief promotion of the product.
By the time users get to the Windows App, it has already been a long journey. I want to make sure once they land on the app, they can get to the staple of the product as fast and easy as possible.
As requested by the stakeholder, the user has to fill in and confirm the practice information in the app. Since the user should have already filled in the basic information on the website registration form, I want to make sure the app grasps that information and automatically fills it in for users when they set up the app. This helps to largely reduce the amount of time and effort from users.
Despite the fact that market research revealed that the majority of our target audience searches for our site on desktop computers in the office. The data shows that around 40% of the traffic actually comes from mobile devices. Based on this information, we decided to improve and optimize the site's mobile version.
While the home page attracts most of the traffic, we want to lower the bounce rate on the home page. We want to direct users to the trial sign-up page or pricing page, where they can learn more about the product and pricing. I adjusted the buttons on the home page. Both the button to the trial page and the pricing page is now on the top navigation bar. Users are able to access those pages whenever they are browsing the site.
While marketing with social media, Google ads, email, etc., we found that little of our traffic came from social media. The majority of the traffic comes from Google ads and direct access. Based on this insight, we reduced the marketing on social media and improved the SEO of the site.