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Once upon a time...

Storytel launched a new product, ‘year in review’, in 2020, to mixed effect. I was tasked with reviewing the previous year’s offering, brainstorming fresh ideas, and iterating improvements based on research. I focused on implementing ideas to increase social sharing and, in turn, raise brand awareness. 

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Armed with feedback from the previous year’s iteration to help shape the approach, I took stock of some immediate improvements to consider from the outset: 

 

  • Edge cases for translations

  • Sentence structure 

  • The necessity of simplicity (30+ languages) 

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Plotting the story

I began by analysing the previous year's offering and I worked out the rough storyline, with the required cards, informed by research as well as keeping in mind my considerations around language, simplicity, and of course, user feedback from the previous year.

 

  • 2020 had no direct access from the app. Introduction of banner in the app to increase user click through. 
     

  • Content organisation to remove superfluous information.
     

  • Added some screens on important information to create a ‘reveal’. Goes against UX principles in some ways… 
     

  • Worked on CRM content (newsletters) to make the copy consistent between product and eCRM. Vital – coherence across areas creates a seamless user experience and increased metrics, as we’ll see… 

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The plot twist

The team performed a series of user tests with participants in different countries. Feedback was incorporated into another round of amends based around some key findings: 

 

  • We discovered that users weren’t inclined to share, as the momentum was lost towards the end of the presentation.
     

  • What content users wanted to share also varied massively. Some things we read are better left unshared….
     

  • Added a sharing mechanism throughout the experience to allow users to share relevant content. 

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You're speaking my language...

Now we had plotted the story, we still needed to ensure that the product was efficiently translated into 20+ languages. Since I had proposed amending the design to account for different language structures, it was more around process and effective use of keys for an efficient build. ​

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  • Set up a ‘source of truth’ document, to collate feedback on the designs and see if things were acceptable in all languages.
     

  • Ran a feedback workshop with the different markets to discuss and raise any issues, prior to build.
     

  • Copy was then tied to keys to be translated, for easier amends later, and more efficient build. 

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The end

The story was all wrapped up! We had achieved significant improvements, with more users using and crucially sharing their 'Year of Stories'. We had also set a framework for future versions as well as a solid plan for localisation too. 

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  • 74% conversion compared to 2020 (9%). High adoption was likely due to the ease of accessing within the app (introduction of the banner). 

 

  • 50% of users who received CRM communication viewed the product (meeting the goal), illustrating the important of consistent copy across the entire experience.
     

  • 74% who received communication opened ‘Year of stories’ compared to control group (23%).
     

  • Created a structure and process for translation as well as testing for the next year’s iteration!

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