Improving Activation Rates in the Philippines
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OVERVIEW
We are initiating an 8-week plan to address a critical activation rate issue with our Philippines (PH) region, with the ambitious goal to increase the activation rate from 3% to 10%.
Our current PH activation rate is significantly underperforming compared to our internal standards, presenting both a challenge and a substantial growth opportunity.
MY ROLE
Product Designer | BUYANDSHIP
I led the end-to-end UX and UI design, from defining the problem to delivering the final visual artifact.
THE TEAM
1 Designer, with guidance from a Lead designer, 1 Researcher, 1 Product Manager, 2 Marketers, 1 Data Analyst and 6+ Engineers.
Why Philippines?
Buy&Ship is a platform which provides international shipping and forwarding services, allowing users to shop from overseas online stores and have their purchases delivered to their doorstep.
PH only has a 3% activation rate, from sign-up to first order. This represents an 80% underperformance compared to the market baseline, as the internal activation rate is 20%.
This is a challenge and a substantial growth opportunity
- Improve activation rates will significantly increase customer base and revenue.
- Learnings and strategies can be applied to optimize other regions
- Enhanced understanding of user needs will inform future product development
PROBLEM
SOLUTIONS
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Communication Challenge
While our company offered significant advantages over the Philippines' market leader - including competitive pricing, expanded shopping coverage, complimentary consolidation, and real-time customer support - we faced a key communication challenge.
Our value proposition and service reliability weren't effectively conveyed on our website, creating potential barriers for new customers unfamiliar with our process.
Solution Focus
- How might we better articulate our competitive advantages?
- What steps could make our service process more transparent and approachable for first-time users?
- How can we build trust and confidence through clearer value communication?
Breakdown of the Problem
🏚️ Prime homepage real estate focused on temporary promotions and blog posts
New visitors lacked immediate understanding of our core service benefits. Missed opportunity to build trust and differentiate from competitors at first glance.
💰 Complex pricing information presented without clear structure or hierarchy
Limited CTA placement reduced conversion opportunities. Key pricing benefits and comparisons weren't effectively highlighted
🤔 Suboptimal User Onboarding
Absence of guided tutorials or product tours for new users. Missed opportunities to build user confidence during initial exploration.
🖥️ Dated user interface
The Pricing page and the welcome pages of app followed dated UI paradigms from an old tech stack, with critical usability issues.
RESEARCH INSIGHT
Understanding how, what and when people use Buy&Ship
We received more than 200 surveys, and speaking to 6 users on their shopping habits was super insightful and helped us make key decisions for our experiences. Here are a few main takeaways.
Journey map, persona and reports
😊 What we did well?
Users' feedback on order services in mobile apps and websites is positive, as the order flow is easy and helps them buy overseas products at low prices.
😒 What needs improvement?
It’s not easy to discover and understand our value from the Web or an App. This makes it difficult for them to make decisions.
1. Too deep path to discover information
“As a user, it’s hard to find the order or payment details such as order process.”
2. Similar services cause confusion for new user
“As a user, I have to think about the difference between forwarding and proxy shopping.”
3. Unclear of the company value proposition display
“As Buy&Ship, it hard to see the value of cheaper than other competitors from the pricing page as our unique selling point”
Define Our Hypothesis
We established various types of assumptions to determine our needs and identify the most suitable approach. After considering the market, scalability, and technical costs comprehensively, we decided on the following hypothesis:
- Redesign the homepage and price page to establish the reliability and advantages of our platform
- Redesign the onboarding flow and add the product tour of both the website and mobile app to help users complete the first order by themselves.
- Redesign the welcome and get started page for the app
Agenda and storyboard review
Design Solutions
After receiving feedback from the storyboarding session, I created high-fidelity wireframes and conducted design critiques. I sought stakeholder input to confirm the design and collaborated closely with the engineering team to ensure the design solutions were implemented effectively.
The mockup was successfully delivered on time!
01
Onboaring flow
USER SCENARIO
After successfully signing up, users will be prompted to verify their phone number to complete the onboarding process. However, this verification step does not help user understand the service and its processes.
SOLUTION
The research indicates that the user aims to utilize forwarding or proxy shopping services and has decided to sign up.
We clarify with stakeholders that phone verification is not required on our services.
The new page has 3 options to help user quickly find the services that best meet their journey. User is able to select their preferred option and then navigate to the guide page, where content will be displayed based on their selection.
02
Pricing page
USER SCENARIO
Over 50% of users believe that the lower price is the primary reason motivating their choice of platform.
Over 33% of users believe that the comprehensive protection of shipping is the primary reason attracting them.
SOLUTION
For pricing page, we emphasize the popular prices that are most important to users. I have reorganized the page layout to enhance overall browsing experience.
Additionally, we've included a comparison section with competitors to help users better understand our advantages. We have also compiled more information into a FAQ section, enabling users to find answers more quickly.
03
App - Welcome page & Get started page
Create new illustration that aligns with the updated branding guidelines and incorporate animation into the design.
04
Web - Home page
USER SCENARIO
Prime homepage real estate focused on temporary promotions and blog posts. New visitors lacked immediate understanding of our core service benefits.
SOLUTION
We have improved the homepage layout before login to help new users better understand our services. We also conducted A/B testing to validate this solution.
After login, user will also see the promotions and blog posts.
Impact and Next Step
A/B Testing
In December 2024, we successfully launched the new version of Scope 1 in the Philippines and conducted A/B testing. Half of the registered users will experience the new registration and onboarding process, and we will continue to monitor any changes in the data.
Next Step
Based on the results, we will make necessary adjustments and roll out the new version across all regions. While I cannot provide specific numbers at this time, the new onboarding process has positively impacted activation and growth rates.
A/B testing results 🥳 (updated on 18 Feb 2025)
Uplift on homepage sign up rate
4%
Uplift on activation rate
30.7%
Uplift on pricing page
--%
Project Takeaways
The limited time is the biggest challenge of this project. As the design owner, I need to bring the design to multiple stakeholders within a limited time and come up with a smooth design solution.
This project is the first one to follow the new workflow. The team and I are collaborating to improve the delivery process. For instance, conduct a more extensive design review and invite the development team to participate for more comprehensive feedback.
Design critique can identify and solve problems
During the design review, I will collect valuable feedback and issues related to development or operations that I have overlooked, which will be very helpful for my designs.
