iQiYi International

Background

In south east Asia, the freemium model is more popular than subscription models. An important business goal of iQiYi is to convert free users into subscribers.

The task in this project is to increase conversion rate.
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Why is the conversion rate not high enough?

Empathize

I conducted interviews among iQiYi users in Thailand, aiming to collect attitudinal data about digital spending. The insights combined with secondary research revealed the story of users in the Thai market.

Findings

Users decision to choose a product or subscribe for a membership highly depends on promotions.
The local users are familiar with promotions such as bundle pricing (like Disney and AIS) and loyalty programs (such as credit card rewards).

But subscription for VOD platform in specific is still a relatively new concept. Users shared: A few years ago, we were watching all international videos on pirate websites for free.
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Many first-time subscriptions of iQiYi or other platforms are motivated by promotions of the yearly plan. When there are no promotions, users do not think about the subscription much.

Persona

Define

Pain Points

Daw thinks membership is too pricey for an account only used by herself.
Daw doesn't see promotions for membership subscription.
Daw doesn't know how the membership works.

Ideate

How might we make the premium service more affordable, noticeable, and understandable?

We can create various promotion plans, clearly labelling what are the discounts and benefits of each.

Meanwhile, a reward centre that gives free VIP can give users a trial for premium.

It's kinda like memberships in the shopping apps: if users are active in the app, they are rewarded with better services.

For our product, ads is still an important profit source. Metrics like daily active users and visit time can be boosted by setting daily tasks for rewards.

In a reward center, users can use in-app behaviours to exchange for reward points so that they can redeem memberships for free.

It solves the first need: by experiencing premium service as a reward, users can understand its benefits and consider making a purchase.

How might we make the reward gaining process exciting?

For the freemium model, advertisement is still an important profit source. Metrics like daily active users and visit time are very important.
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By rewarding for simple steps like checking in and watching video for a certain time, we can encourage users to remain active and explore more content on the app.

While it can be challenging to introduce a new reward system for some international audience, with clear rules and intuitive visual language, it would be easily accepted, ultimately increase user engagement and encourage membership subscription.

Design Process

Task Flow

User Flow

Low-Fi Prototype

On top of the screen, I use the membership theme color (gold) to create a distinguished vibe for the reward centre. Next, a stamp card of the check in progress makes an intuitive visual aid.

The next section includes three groups of tasks:
Beginner tasks include simple steps (such as building a user profile) so that new users get familiar with the system and build more connections with the app. To get them started, a special reward is available once they complete the beginner set. The progress is visualized on top of the task list. From the task list, by tapping on one of them, users are guided to complete each task and gather points.
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Daily tasks are for long term users to form the habit and remain active on the app, including sharing and watching videos. The tasks requires a higher engagement level, thus higher rewards.

Finally, the exclusive or limited time category is a placeholder and shows up when there are marketing campaigns.

Iterations

In lean evaluations of the first draft, participants showed a good understanding of the interface and information hierarchy.

However, they found the reward progress for beginner tasks confusing and could not distinguish it from the reward points. To keep the visual consistency, we decided to simplify and take out the beginner reward.

In the final version, the iQiYi brand color is used for the background to highlight the coins in VIP theme color. The text is more centered around the check-in card.

Outcomes

So far, users in 6 Asian countries have tried the reward center. 70% of users visit the page again in the next day, meaning they recognize the function and are attracted by the benefits.

90% of users use the check-in function, indicating the friction between landing on the page and completing the check in. Therefore in the next version update, we changed the interaction from manual to auto check in.

According to the Fogg model, the three components making a behavior are motivation, ability, and prompts.

Placed under the "Me" tab, the reward centre naturally has a low exposure. Even though the tasks are simple and users are motivated to use it, we are still missing a trigger for them to visit the reward centre.

To inform more users and prompt them to participate, we started adding touchpoints, for example, cueing for task completion at peak hours, or adding a toast that shows the change of reward points when users unintentionally complete a task, so that users are informed about the reward system without being cut off from their flow.

Everyday, 1.4% users who visited the page redeemed a reward. It validates that the check-in function is intuitive, the tasks are accessible. The completion rate of daily tasks are between 18% and 29%. While we could not trace the viewing time of individual users, we know the reward center is motivating 1/5 of the user population to earn benefits from watching.

iQiYi application design

Team

Time

Role

Methodology