Hiragana Times is a digital magazine platform for Japanese-English learners, offering articles and audiobooks through a subscription model with individual purchase options.
The marketing team flagged this critically low conversion rate, but the root causes were unclear and it was significantly impacting business revenue.
Leveraged the high traffic in the article reading flow and added native ads and subscription banners.
Revamped the homepage layout to prioritize subscriptions as the primary action, aligning with business objectives.
Significant improvements in business metrics observed within 6 weeks of launch.
I partnered with our data scientist to analyze user behavior from app entry through subscription completion, revealing two key insights:
Our data revealed the article flow attracted 6x more users than the magazine flow, showing strong preference for article content.
However, this high-traffic flow had 55% lower conversion rates than magazines.
When we mapped the article reading journey, the issue became clear: users could browse and read content but encountered zero subscription prompts. The journey simply ended without conversion opportunities.
The magazine reading flow on the homepage prioritized single purchases over subscriptions, conflicting with our subscription-driven business model.
I worked closely with our graphic designer and UX writer to test multiple banner variations, ensuring each design maintained a non-intrusive user experience while staying visually consistent with our existing design system and communicating clear subscription value.
The redesign focused on better utilizing white space and visual hierarchy to guide users toward subscription. By moving the subscription CTA to the primary position and using distinctive visual treatment, I created a clearer path to conversion while maintaining user choice.
To leverage the high traffic in the article flow, I introduced native subscription ads within article lists and non-intrusive subscription banners that appear after users finish reading. These elements were designed to blend seamlessly with existing UI patterns while creating natural conversion moments.
After users enter the article page and read the article, they see the subscription banner at the end of the article in a non-intrusive way.
I restructured the homepage layout and visual hierachy to prioritize subscription CTAs over single purchases, aligning with our business objectives.
Single purchase options remained available as secondary actions, and I applied consistent visual hierarchy throughout the entire flow.
Within 6 weeks after launch:
This was my first project involving a data scientist from day one, and it fundamentally changed my approach to UX design. The combination of user behavior data and design thinking led to solutions that were both user-friendly and business-impactful.
Since this project, I consistently bring data scientists, researchers, and engineers into early design discussions. I couldn't be happier to see their diverse perspectives consistently improve both the process and the final product.
