Designing Ligi's first premium subscription experience
Ligi is a fitness app with working prototype but no revenue generation. I designed the subscription flow from scratch, including paywall, plan selection, and payment designs to get them App Store approved and converting users to premium users.
IMPACT
CONTEXT
Designing Ligi's subscription from zero
Ligi is a fitness app which allows users to browse, follow, and track workouts. When I joined, premium plans were not available. There were no subscription options, paywall, or payment system. The app tested and functioned well but had no way to generate revenue. As the sole designer, I built the entire subscription experience from scratch.
PROBLEM
To convert new users into premium subscribers
Ligi had no existing subscribers, no social proof, and no brand recognition. Asking a new user to pay in that environment is a high-trust ask. So, the new flow had to build confidence in seconds for a skeptical user to be able to confidently pay on a brand new app.
INSIGHTS FROM RESEARCH
What makes users pay in a brand new app?
I explored user sentiment and common UI patterns through competitive analysis, netnography, and user interviews.
Clear goal > Flexibility
Top apps funnel users toward one clear goal that helps in conversion.
Apple payment = Trust
User don't trust app with their card details. Using a legit service earns trust.
Celebrate commitment
Subscription is a personal investment and they celebrate this act for user retention.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
As ligi was a new app with no subscribers and no social proof. The flow had to earn trust through clarity, familiarity, and the right emotional cues at every step.
USER JOURNEY
How users convert from free plan to premium plan
I designed the user flow after 3+ edits, to make it easy to
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Exploring different paywall and locked screen layouts
I went through 6 iteration phases for each screen, to land on the final designs. I selected the 3 varied ones from the process to show the visual evolution clearly.
Paywall screen iterations
Locked plan screen iterations
FINAL DELIVERY
Ligi premium - Full subscription experience
A multi-step flow that takes users from the initial upsell prompt to a completed payment, built on Apple's native payment UI to keep the experience familiar and trustworthy.
Two main to access premium - locked plan and settings
Users discover premium either through a locked plan or directly through settings. Both paths lead to the same frictionless checkout experience.
DESIGN STATES
Designing beyond the happy path
Payment flows break or change in ways users don't expect. Every state, loading moment, and edge case was designed to maintain trust and give users a clear next step.
OUTCOMES & LEARNINGS
Being a Solo designer taught me…
Transparency builds trust
Designing for a brand new app taught me that each element needs to build trust, from the paywall copy to the payment method choice.
Scoping = design decisions
Working solo meant I had to ruthlessly prioritize. Choosing what to design and what not to design was as important as the design itself.
Learned to make harder calls
Working directly with a founding team meant high accountability and real business consequences. This taught me how to approach design decisions.