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Roku Balance

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01. Overview

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Company & Team | Roku Pay Team

My Role | Lead UX Researcher

Cross-functional Partners | Roku Pay Product Managers, UX Designers, UX Writer, Monetization Strategy Manager, Consumer Lifecycle Marketing Manager, Data Analyst

Timeframe | July - Aug 2023

Skills | Interview, Usability Testing, Qualitative Analysis

Tool | Dscout

 

Introduction to Roku Balance

Roku Balance is an exciting upcoming feature being developed by the Roku Pay team, which has the potential to significantly impact Roku as a company. This feature enables customers to receive and store money in their Roku accounts, which they can then use to pay for Roku subscriptions and content through Roku Pay, the company's payment platform.

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Objectives of Roku Balance

The goal of Roku Balance is to encourage users to change their current behaviors and engage in new activities that generate higher Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). This will be achieved through various incentives, such as using Roku Pay to pay for subscriptions and subscribing to premium channels on the Roku Channel.

The initial step in this plan involves introducing non-conditional balances. Roku will identify a group of users who are active on the platform but have not yet adopted Roku Pay. These users will be sent a $5 incentive to encourage them to start using Roku Pay.

Objectives of the Pre-launch Research

Before launching the balance campaign to real Roku users, it is crucial for the team to gauge how users perceive the concept of incentives, balances, and the $5 amount (whether it is enticing enough for them to make a purchase). Additionally, the team needs to understand how and if users interact with the $5 incentive.

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My Role

As the sole researcher for Roku Pay, I designed and conducted a study that involves interviews and usability tests to gain insights into users' perceptions, attitudes, and preferences, also identified usability issues and bugs in the redemption flow.

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Impact of My Research

The insights I gathered have played a pivotal role in shaping the execution of the balance campaign. These findings have empowered our team to make well-informed decisions regarding the campaign's specifics. Moreover, they have instilled a sense of confidence in our ability to provide a rough estimate of the campaign's potential outcomes. Following a smoke test in August 2023, the balance campaign was expanded to encompass more than 30 million Roku users, and it has yielded highly promising results.

02. Workflow

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Credit Email

Credit Added

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Web Checkout

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On Device Checkout

03. Research Questions

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The research questions encompass the following:

  • How do consumers perceive and feel about the $5 Roku credit?

  • What does the consumer journey for redeeming the $5 credit entail?

  • What obstacles and significant challenges do consumers encounter when trying to redeem and utilize the $5 Roku credit?

  • What inquiries do consumers raise after interacting with the redemption process/interface? Additionally, what questions remain unanswered, necessitating further clarification?

  • What usability problems exist within the user experience, and how can they be resolved?

04. Study Design

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4-Step Study Setup

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I screened Dscout participants to identify those who meet our criteria, including being Roku users, owning a Roku account, remembering the email linked to their Roku account, and having the ability to log in to their email etc.

The selected 8 participants uploaded a Roku account screenshot and TV screen photo displaying their email. The researcher verify eligibility by cross-referencing the email addresses for the interview stage.

The marketing team sent credit emails to the 8 participants. Participants were told not to open the email but to take a screenshot of the subject/preview and share it with the researcher for verification.

Conducted 8 sessions. Session structure:

  • Intro/Background

  • Walk through credit redemption live flow

  • Reflection/evaluation

05. Selected Insights | Credits Redemption Journey

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What factors might lead consumers to abandon the credit redemption process?

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What questions do consumers have? & What questions are NOT answered?

Please note that the questions highlighted in red have not been adequately addressed in the flow.

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06. Selected Insights | Perceptions, Engagement, and Key Issues in the Redemption Flow

Consumers' Perceptions of Credits

  • Users generally value receiving credits from Roku, but their opinions on the $5 credits are varied. There's consensus that $5 is inadequate and they expect $10 instead.

  • Examples of rewards that users prefer include larger incentives, a free movie, 1-month free trial for a selected service, discount on a selected service for a few months.

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Recommendations

  • Provide a higher amount to prompt engagement.

  • Highlight offers that match the credit amount e.g., subscribe for less than $5, movie rental for less than $5.

  • Effectively convey the credit's value, as users might interpret it as an incentive for extra spending rather than a reward.

Consumers' Engagement of Credits

  • Most express willingness to claim the credits, even if they find $5 to be insufficient.

  • The majority would use credits later when in the mood for exploring and streaming.

  • Most prefer starting subscriptions on their TV over the web.

  • Users expect reminders about credits to prompt usage, preferably on device.

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Recommendations

  • Explore ideas for optimizing credit redemption at a later time e.g., offer email and on-device reminders to prompt users to spend the credits.

Key Issues in the Redemption Flow

Although the overall redemption experience is satisfying and easy, issues below cause significant challenges:

  • Recommended content/apps in the experience is not engaging.

  • Unclear whether credits can be used on device.

  • Pricing is not readily visible while browsing services/content.

  • Unclear what apps accept Roku Pay and credits.

  • Misleading “See all apps” on the credit added screen.

  • Unclear how to apply credits after adding an app on web.

  • Unclear how to rent or buy movies.

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Recommendations​

  • Enable tailored recommendations.

  • Clearly communicate that the credits can be used on both web and devices.

  • Consider adding “Subscribe for less than $5” to the credit added screen.

  • Provide clear information on apps accepting Roku Pay.

  • Replace "See all apps" with PS and Roku Pay-compatible apps.

  • Offer clear guidance on how to rent or purchase movies on Roku.

07. Recap on My Research Impact

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The insights I collected have significantly influenced the implementation of the balance campaign. These findings have provided our team with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions concerning the campaign's details. For example, we conducted an A/B test to compare the performance of both $5 and $10 credits. Additionally, the product team has taken action to address the usability issues I identified in my research. Furthermore, we've initiated discussions about introducing alternative forms of incentives rather than unconditional credits, with a focus on this development for Q1 2024.

Thanks for reading!

Due to the constraints of NDA, I'm unable to share further details on my website. I would be delighted to have a more in-depth conversation through yvonneli426@gmail.com.

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