Context
During printer setup, most customers are introduced to Instant Ink, and many sign up right away. However, we noticed some groups declined the offer at this stage. Once they skipped the offer, re-engaging them later became far more challenging.
Our data showed that when customers started the trial, they often remained with the service for the long haul. We began exploring ways to reintroduce the trial option after a customer skips the original offer.
Challenge
How can more users start the trial after initially declining the offer?
Role
Designed and refined Figma flows for all user paths, fixing layout issues, streamlining prepaid and promo code handling, addressing skipped steps, and ensuring compliance to reduce friction and improve conversion.
Tools
Figma, Miro
Timeframe
Total Project: Jan - April 2025
Design: 3 weeks
Research
Conducting a lab study with one of the participants.
After launching the pilot, the team needed to understand customer behavior at the end of the trial. The research team set out to learn why some customers enrolled while others didn’t. They conducted lab studies, 10+ online diary studies and 7 follow-up interviews to uncover key motivations and barriers.
Questions
What is the level of awareness across setup/trial?
What’s the user’s reaction when the printer stops working after end of trial?
“I didn’t buy the printer for Instant Ink as I didn’t know about it then. I only found out about it when I opened the box.”
”While setting up the printer, I came across the Instant Ink program. Being curious, I signed up for the trial just to see how it works, and was surprised to receive a set of ink cartridges some days later”
”I seldom refer to the app unless I have to troubleshoot”
Takeaways
Instant Ink is not considered a key influencer at point of purchase
Customers found Instant Ink an attractive concept, yet they were confused with the trial mechanics
Email notifications were referred to more frequently than app notifications
Team Workshop
Our cross-functional teams came together for a strategy workshop to align on the end-of-trial experience. The goal was to ensure everyone had a shared understanding of the challenge and to establish a unified direction moving forward. During the session, we defined clear, measurable goals and identified potential constraints across the customer journey—especially at key decision points. This collaborative effort helped surface insights from different perspectives and laid the groundwork for a more cohesive and effective end-of-trial experience.
Generating Ideas
What screens and notifications should be shown?
Is the message clear and empathetic enough?
What copy copy changes could reduce user frustration?
Design Objectives
Present Instant Ink as a key printer feature
Include Terms and Conditions on account creation
Make shipping and billing information optional
Enable app notifications
Show relevant messages about usage and awareness
Prototype
This demo showcases the first-time user flow for printer setup, highlighting how key interactions and experience design address our core objectives.
User Testing
We launched the pilot in 10 selected stores in the US, with 2,500+ units sold.
Testing Learnings
Removing the credit card requirement at setup reduced friction in the onboarding experience
Offering a good-out experience increased user trust and satisfaction
Delivering a streamlined onboarding flow helped reduce decision fatigue
Iterations
The app view shows optional shipping and billing for the toner subscription.
Support the experience for other scenarios, including full enrollment, trial-only sign-up, and trial decline
Expand the pilot to include laser printers
Work closely with cross-functional teams to expand design solutions across other user touchpoints.
Designed responsive experiences across desktop, mobile, and web platforms
Improvements
Value Proposition: Based on user research, I updated the value proposition to highlight the most compelling benefits: the promotional offer, no credit card required at setup, and the ability to cancel at any time.
Shipping Page: I added a visual of the kit to set clear expectations and made shipping and billing fields optional, giving users more control over their information.
Plan modal: This modal appears only if a customer chooses to explore other plans. To simplify decision-making, a default plan based on the user’s printer model is now shown.
Results
90% percent of customers who purchased these printers proceeded with the trial
25% of those customers provided their shipping and billing information during printer setup
There was a 40% increase in the adoption rate compared to the previous 20%