Informatica Cloud used a free trial model to allow potential customers to try out its full functionality with the hopes that a substantial portion would convert to full paying users. However, most did not convert to paid usage. Informatica came to EchoUser to help them understand why users weren’t converting and find ways to change the initial trial experience to increase conversions.
Understanding the what and then the why
Informatica’s data analytics showed not only the low percentage of users who converted, but when in the process most trial users dropped off - downloading an agent and successfully accomplishing a ‘task.’ With an understanding of “what” was happening, we dove into understanding the “why” by conducting 1:1 interviews with trial users who had both converted to paid and those who had not.
We found multiple distinct personas
After talking to users, we uncovered three unique personas that used the Informatica Cloud trial: an IT expert at a large company, a developer at a small organization, and a business analyst at a medium-sized company. More importantly, each persona’s experience was relatively distinct. The developer and business analyst personas experienced similar challenges in the earliest stages of the trial that served as substantial blockers to continuing on. They differed with the success path - when the business analyst persona was able to get past the earliest stages, they typically went on to becoming a paid user. The developer persona, on the other hand, continued to experience frustration with other aspects, even after progressing through the early stage challenges. The IT expert persona, contrary to other personas, tended to have a positive experience throughout the entire process.
We illustrated key differences between each persona’s experience by creating persona-specific journey maps as well as a single combined journey map that juxtaposed all three personas’ experiences. This really highlighted the differences effectively, showing how different phases of the trial created different pain points for different personas.
Analyzing the current experience
With a deeper understanding of the personas’ experiences, we conducted a detailed heuristic analysis of the current product. This enabled us to identify existing UI issues that could be fixed in the short term.
Design directions going forward
To really improve the UX, however, we needed to come up with a deeper re-thinking and redesign of the onboarding experience. We ultimately came up with four distinct design approaches to improve the trial experience, each optimizing for different combinations of needs. With four potential design directions and a much richer understanding of their potential target users, we left Informatica with promising avenues to greatly improve their trial experience.
