From Friction to Conversion
How I optimized the subscription journey that grew subscribers & revenue by 25%.
Client
The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Wired, Condè Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, GQ, Architectural Digest, Pitchfork
Categories
Interaction Design, Visual Design, Design System, Subscription Conversions, User Retention and Engagement
Duration
6 - 8 months (design discovery and deliver MVP)
Credits
Adam Lifshitz, Marcella Maltese, Shweta Gupta, Pooja Doshi, Sammie Spector, Jack cave, Vir Karamchandani, Gabriela Resende, Cedric Mascarenhas, Vishnu MN, Sanjana Sangameswara
The pandemic (post 2020) triggered a spike in digital engagement, driving subscription growth across brands like The New Yorker, Vogue, and Wired. To sustain this momentum, Condé Nast began centralizing paywalls and checkout infrastructure.
While subscriptions were high during 2020–2022 due to lockdown, low user engagement and dropouts started emerging later.
In 2023, I was part of an ambitious project to redesign the subscription journey, focused on conversion rate optimization (CRO), user engagement, and clearly communicating the value proposition and benefits while creating a premium and compelling experience.
Collaborative workshops
Phase 1: I worked closely with data, product, marketing, and research teams to analyze the subscription flow, focusing on user expectations and marketing needs.
Old Checkout flow
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Users had to manually calculate value, causing drop-offs. Bottom content blocks (~30% viewership) showed no conversion impact
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Users couldn’t connect with the brand values and offering, would often confuse with the benefits
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Majority of users drop from the landing page after seeing true annual cost; price framing unclear, no motivation to drive forward
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Users expected more dynamic, premium-feeling design.
Phase 2: After defining my design priorities as per MoSCoW framework, I took a step back and re-looked at the project timeline from a holistic view, ensuring it allowed sufficient space for meaningful design discovery.
MoSCoW prioritization and deliver MVP of a web app in 6-8 months
INTRODUCING •
INTRODUCING •
Landing page 2.0
How might we make purchasing a selected offer quick, friction-less, clear and compelling?
Checkout flow 2.0
How might we better promote the value, benefits and terms of our subscription products so that users feel compelled to choose an offer?
Time to jam on my machine -
let’s kick this off!
Phase 3: I used UX and design basics to create modular architecture for the checkout flow. These blocks form an adaptive framework that made it easy for marketing to plug in their data: keeping the experience clean, focused, and easy to follow.
• Offer block: Simplified offer comparison to reduce cognitive load.
• Streamlined content architecture to facilitate faster decision-making.
Hick’s Law
• Added subscriber life preview section with branded visuals.
• Enhanced premium perception through improved design.
Aesthetic-Usability Effect
• Ensured finger and cursor-friendly target sizes of input fields and CTAs for seamless interaction across mobile and desktop.
Fitts's Law
• Order forms: Grouped related form fields, reduces mental effort & improves scannability.
• Separated Billing and Shipping sections minimizes confusion and mistaken entry.
Law of Common Region
• Value Proposition block: Adding interactivity and response to user actions.
• Using transitions to maintain interest during navigation.
Doherty Threshold
• Making the selection CTA sticky to provide easy completion.
• Positioning FAQs strategically to address concerns while making a offer purchase decision.
Peak-End Rule
Learning Curve
Phase 4: Based on insights from usability testing, we identified key areas for improvement. I collaborated with engineers to conduct a thorough QA across all pages to catch and fix gaps, then revisited feedback to bring more inclusivity into the subscription journey. These changes, along with ongoing refinements, have helped make the checkout flow more seamless and user-friendly.
Viewport Distribution of Condé Nast Audience
While designing Subscription 2.0 for Condé Nast, I learned to balance global consistency with local brand needs. A key learning curve moment was realizing that optimizing for conversions alone doesn’t always lead to long-term subscriber satisfaction. Early in the process, we explored UI patterns that emphasized urgency and limited-time offers to drive immediate sign-ups. However, user testing revealed that some of these patterns introduced friction especially among readers who were engaging with our more thoughtful journalism. This moment taught me the importance of designing for sustainable engagement over short-term wins.
Reduced navigation ambiguity
We improved navigation clarity by introducing clear labels on top nav and restructuring the checkout flow, reducing drop-offs by 18%.
Brandless scalable templates
The Conversion Effect!
Through UX efforts and strategic design interventions, we delivered meaningful business impact across multiple brands. There were significant uplifts in conversion rates, subscriber growth, and revenue.
Vogue led the results with a standout 25.2% increase in subscribers, a 24.4% uplift in revenue, and an 18.7% rise in conversion rate (CVR) .
Featured: Top 5 Out of 232:
The New Yorker subscription page 2.0 shines in UX Rankings!
Curious to see the entire process of how I boosted revenue by 25%? I’d love to share the full story.