Streamlining Account Creation & Subscription Flow for Conversion and Clarity
Role: Lead Product Designer
Duration: 3 Weeks
Team: Myself, Design Director
Create a seamless and intuitive subscription experience that increased conversion to membership. This meant rethinking the entire user journey, from sign in and account creation to checkout - to reduce friction, build trust, and align with Forbes’ broader digital strategy.
Create a seamless and intuitive subscription experience that increased conversion to membership. This meant rethinking the entire user journey, from sign in and account creation to checkout - to reduce friction, build trust, and align with Forbes’ broader digital strategy.
Create a seamless and intuitive subscription experience that increased conversion to membership. This meant rethinking the entire user journey, from sign in and account creation to checkout - to reduce friction, build trust, and align with Forbes’ broader digital strategy.
What's The Problem?
What's The Problem?
The subscription flow was fragmented and confusing. Users were forced to jump between multiple disconnected screens for sign-in, account creation, and checkout. This lack of cohesion caused frustration, eroded trust, and led to incomplete transactions.
Fragmented User Journey
High Drop-Off Rates
Inconsistent Experience
Backend Limitations
Solution
Solution
Over several months, we launched a fully custom, end-to-end subscription flow - redesigning sign in, account creation, and checkout to optimize UX and drive higher conversion. The new experience removed unnecessary steps, strengthened trust signals, and created a smoother, more cohesive path to membership.
Over several months, we launched a fully custom, end-to-end subscription flow - redesigning sign in, account creation, and checkout to optimize UX and drive higher conversion. The new experience removed unnecessary steps, strengthened trust signals, and created a smoother, more cohesive path to membership.
Unified End-To-End Flow
Cohesive UX Redesign
Streamlined Steps + Trust Signals
Flexible, In-House System
Why Is It Important?
Why Is It Important?
Subscriptions are a key revenue driver for Forbes. Every user who drops off mid-flow represents a missed opportunity for conversion and long-term engagement. A poor experience here not only impacts revenue but also damages user perception of the brand.
Subscriptions are a key revenue driver for Forbes. Every user who drops off mid-flow represents a missed opportunity for conversion and long-term engagement. A poor experience here not only impacts revenue but also damages user perception of the brand.
What Data Supports It?
What Data Supports It?
Analytics revealed a high drop-off rate between paywall and checkout, with 67% of users failing to complete the process.
Qualitative feedback highlighted user confusion and distrust in the process.
On the backend, our reliance on a rigid third-party system made it difficult to test, optimize, or respond quickly to user needs, preventing iterative improvements and slowing growth.
Deliverables
Deliverables
Deliverables
Customer Journey
Ideation Workshops
Brainstorming
Feature Prioritization
Competitive Analysis
Stakeholder Management
Iterative Product Design
Visual Design
User Testing
Impact
82%
Increase in conversion rate to paid memberships
111%
Increase in completion rates after user enters purchase flow
45%
Increase in new account registrations
The Process
Our previous subscription flow - spanning sign in, account creation, and checkout was constrained by a rigid third-party system. Users encountered a fragmented, modal-based experience with unclear steps and little purchase context.
We brought the entire journey in-house to improve usability, better communicate value, and empower the business with greater flexibility.
The redesign followed a 4-phase process that balanced stakeholder goals, UX best practices, and user testing insights to create a smoother, more trustworthy experience.
Discovery
We began by conducting workshops with key stakeholders to define business goals and identify performance targets for the new flow. Understanding priorities, such as increasing conversion and upselling flexibility, helped inform the direction of the redesign.
Investigate
Through interviews with internal staff and end users we analyzed user feedback and we pinpointed the major pain points in the existing flow. Competitive analysis across leading eCommerce and publisher checkouts provided valuable benchmarks for UX standards.
Ideate
We explored various flow structures that emphasized simplification, user empowerment, and clear navigation. The focus was on creating a seamless experience by improving contextual information and reducing unnecessary steps.
We explored various flow structures that emphasized simplification,
user empowerment, and clear navigation. The focus was on creating a
seamless experience by improving contextual information and reducing unnecessary steps.
Refine
Tested variations through A/B testing and moderated sessions. Refined copy, layout, and logic based on real-time feedback and user hesitation points. Final design improved clarity, increased benefit communication, and enabled better future testing.
Discovery
During the discovery phase, we conducted 3 stakeholder workshops and 4 internal alignment sessions to gather business requirements and define success metrics. We synthesized input from our Growth, Product and Engineering departments, aligning on primary goals, enhancing upsell visibility, and offering greater checkout flexibility. Early workshops also surfaced key considerations for technical constraints and future scalability, helping to ensure that our redesign would be both user-centric and business-aligned.
1
Brainstorming & Workshops
2
Quantitative Insights
Quantitative insights helped us uncover key patterns in user behavior at scale, highlighting major drop-off points, conversion bottlenecks, and opportunities for optimization based on real usage data.
34% Dropoff
After presented with the account creation step of checkout.
22% Dropoff
After presented with the payment form.
After presented with the payment form.
After presented with the payment form.
Research
During the research phase, we conducted unmoderated usability testing, a thorough evaluation of the existing user journey, and a competitive analysis to ground our redesign in user needs and market context. These insights helped us identify friction points, benchmark best practices, and prioritize improvements to drive a more seamless and effective checkout experience.
3
Benchmarking
We conducted competitive research across industry leaders like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Athletic among others. This helped us identify best practices in subscription flows, pricing presentation, and trust-building elements.
Key Findings:
Passwordless Checkout
Offering checkout without requiring a password makes the experience faster and more user-friendly, especially for returning customers.
Single Page Checkout & Account Creation
A streamlined, single-page flow that integrates account creation reducing friction.
A streamlined, single-page flow that integrates account creation reducing friction.
A streamlined, single-page flow that integrates account creation reducing friction.
Price Transparency
Displaying all costs upfront, including taxes, fees, and discounts including renewal pricing, builds trust.
Magic Link Sign Ins
Using magic links simplifies login, reduces cognitive load, and enhancing the overall user experience.
4
Existing Product Analysis
5
Major Findings
Frustration with Sign-In Prompt
Users feel unsupported when asked to sign in mid-checkout, often unsure why it's required or how it affects their progress.
Difficulty Changing Plans
Once in the payment flow, users struggle to modify their plan, creating frustration and limiting flexibility.
Once in the payment flow, users struggle to modify their plan, creating frustration and limiting flexibility.
Once in the payment flow, users struggle to modify their plan, creating frustration and limiting flexibility.
Inconsistent Visual Design
The UI does not align with Forbes’ branding or design system, weakening user trust and diminishing perceived credibility.
Lack of Plan Benefit Clarity
Users look for clear, concise details about what each plan offers to feel confident in their subscription choice.
Users look for clear, concise details about what each plan offers to feel confident in their subscription choice.
Users look for clear, concise details about what each plan offers to feel confident in their subscription choice.
6
Stakeholder Alignment
Following an extensive research phase, we synthesized and presented insights to stakeholders, integrated their requests where appropriate, and partnered with the development team to evaluate technical feasibility. This collaboration enabled us to prioritize features and establish a phased development plan that balanced user needs, business goals, and technical considerations.
Feature Set
We organized our solutions into distinct feature sets aligned with key user challenges, focusing on creating complete end-to-end flows while highlighting each feature.
7
A Seamless, Single-Page Checkout for a Faster, More Unified Membership Experience.
7
A Seamless, Single-Page Checkout for a Faster, More Unified Membership Experience.
8
Action-Driven Prompts for Seamless Engagement - Sign In & Account Creation
Learnings
In reimagining core user flows like sign in, account creation, and checkout, this project reinforced the value of cross-functional collaboration, iterative design, and keeping both user experience and business impact at the forefront. By balancing strategic input with real user feedback, we created scalable, future-ready solutions that can adapt with the business and continue delivering value.
Design for Systems, Not Just Screens
This project wasn’t just about individual flows. It was about creating a consistent, end-to-end user journey. Working across sign in, account creation, and checkout emphasized the importance of cohesive design systems and how micro-interactions contribute to a seamless experience.
Prioritize with Purpose
Through research and workshops, we learned to distinguish between high-impact features and nice-to-haves. This helped align cross-team efforts and allowed us to focus on what mattered most to users - clarity, ease, and trust, while still meeting business goals.
Iterate Early, Test Often
Regular testing helped us validate assumptions quickly and adjust before investing too much in the wrong direction. From mobile layout tweaks to trust messaging, real feedback shaped many of our final decisions and led to stronger outcomes.
Collaborate Closely to Ship Confidently
Working within an ambitious timeline meant tight coordination with product and engineering was essential. Early alignment on scope, feasibility, and technical constraints helped us prioritize smartly, avoid rework, and ensure that what we designed could be built efficiently, without compromising on user experience.
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