The "Configuration Wizard"
Reimagining a purchase process for lifelong users
We achieved a 10% conversion rate on version one. With testing and iteration we’ve been able to improve AOV.
The Company
Logos is a software company that’s been in business for over 30 years. Until this project they have only sold their software as a perpetual license. In 2024, they switched to a subscription model. The catch, is that their software relies on the purchase of digital books to be most effective, which their users have been accustomed to buying bundled together with the software.
The Challenge
The primary challenge of this design was to inform existing users of the new model, educate new users about the importance of purchasing books once they’ve subscribed, as well as describe the value and new features of the software.`
As the project progressed, other challenges arose. The most significant of which was a series of business decisions changing the available subscription terms, and the intensity with which we suggested to users that they should purchase a library of books in the same transaction as starting their subscription.
The Beginning
The project began with a series of user tests to determine how we would name the subscriptions. We created a Figma prototype to see how different names would affect users understanding of the new structure. We expected that the simpler of the three names that we tested would win, which it did. However, we realized just how difficult it would be for our long time users to understand the new model. In each test we displayed the subscription first, and the libraries separate. In more interviews than we would have liked, the user thought that the library page was just a retelling of the subscription page. They were used to seeing options for a, bronze, silver, and gold base package to purchase their software and library. The subscription comes in multiples tiers with different features in each tier, but the libraries maintained the same naming convention as before, bronze, silver, gold, and so on.
All this heavily informed the design for the actual user flow. We knew we would have to explain to our users what was different about the way they’d be purchasing this software compared to the way they had done for years. A lot of effort went into educating customers about the change before they even got to the purchasing experience, but we knew that the percentage of people who would actually read all those materials before they got to this point would be less than we could risk.
We placed an illustration in the hero of the page that would change progressively as the user configured their purchase. The goal was to show them that without a library, their purchase was somewhat incomplete. When they added the subscription tier of their choosing to their cart, the illustration would change, and the user would be taken to the next step.
The library page would have an updated version of this illustration and a summary drawer at the bottom of the page showing the level of subscription as well as the price.
Change Management
One big difference between the software subscription and the library may be somewhat obvious to someone who is new to the product, but had to be explained due to the past way of purchasing: Subscriptions can be cancelled and are then inaccessible, books are purchased and kept forever. On the library page we made it painfully obvious that libraries are, “yours forever.” Once the user adds a library to their cart, it is added to the summary drawer at the bottom of the page, in some cases users by more than one library, so we didn’t send them to the cart until they were ready.
The software itself is extremely complex with a huge number of layered features. And the different tiers of the software don’t necessarily nest into one another. The comparison chart needed to show the difference between each tier as well as describe what the features do. This page became the home where the user learns what the individual features are.
To accomplish this we created layers of drop downs to let the user choose how much information they needed. The top level is feature category. Each one has a name that reflects what you do with the features in that category, “Tools and datasets to help your study.” The second level is the capability of the features, which is the specific application for the features “Bible study interactives.” And the last level contains each of the specific features within its parent capability. We used dots in the body of the table to show a “small / medium / large” for the categories that have more than a handful of features.
The last significant challenge that arose shortly before launch had to do with pricing. Most people are used to buying their subscriptions in either monthly or annual terms. But like just about everything we do at Logos, we wanted to try something a little unconventional. Before subscription, we operated on a two year release cycle. So every two years we would hold a launch event and start sales. This means our customers were used to spending money on their software every two years. We wanted to reward these users for their financial preparation by letting them pay for two years of their subscription up front at a discount. This also gave us a bit more cash in hand which is important when transitioning to a subscription model.
The challenge, is that this isn’t a 2 year subscription. It’s a typical annual subscription, but the user is paying for the first two years on day one. They get an extra month free and lock in their price in the event that the price would go up next year. We had to figure out how we would explain this information to the user, not promising a two year subscription, but explaining that the value was worth the complexity.
The final product was far from the idealized UX I had come up with six months before, but given business and technical limitations and the complexity of the product as well as the results of user testing. We came out with a configuration wizard that served our users and helped shepherd them into a new era of the product.