Overview
Course Hero is an online learning platform and marketplace where students can access and share course-specific study materials. Most visitors discover Course Hero by searching for course content on Google and landing directly on a study resource. However, fewer than 5% of visotors progressed through the conversion funnel to reach the checkout page and fewer who pay —a clear sign of a leaky funnel. As part of the Growth team, I worked on the sign-up flow A/B experiment aimed at understanding user behavior and identifying opportunities to convert more visitors into paying members.
My role
Partnered closely with Product for test strategy, owned design and research efforts for the A/B test
Collaborators
Cross-functional partnership between Product, Design, Engineering, and Marketing
Timeline
3 months
2020 launch
Impact
Even though there were no statistically significant differences between the test groups, we learned a lot to fuel future explorations. The qualitative research suggested there were larger issues outside the scope of the experiment like pricing and membership structure.
Let’s take a closer look
Problem
Like many consumer-facing products with conversion challenges, we hypothesized that the root of our leaky funnel was a gap between the perceived and actual value of our offering. Our mission was to dig deeper and uncover how first-time visitors perceived our service at the point of sign-up.
Approach
We leveraged design research to gather qualitative insights that would inform and prioritize our A/B testing strategy. The goal was to identify meaningful, incremental improvements to drive higher conversion rates.
Look to people for answers
Unmoderated user testing
We asked a group of 20 people with varying levels of familiarity with Course Hero on Usertesting.com to walk through our website to give us their reactions and thoughts about their general experiences and specifically the sign-up flow.
Key Insights
Strengthen brand awareness
Awareness and understanding of Course Hero as a brand and service were low, even many repeat visitors struggled to recall what Course Hero offered.
Need better motivaiton to explore beyond landing
Many users landed directly on the document details page, quickly finding the content they needed, and then dropping off quickly. They didn’t see a reason to sign up
Make pricing more transparent
The pricing tiers and add-on structure was overly complicated. Many people were confused by what they were buying and often felt the prices were too high for the services they needed.
Build trust
Some users hesitated to commit to a paid membership due to trust concerns. Frequent upsell pop-ups felt intrusive, making it difficult for them to fully grasp the value of Course Hero’s services before encountering the paywall.
Finding direction
Research synthesis
Based on our initial research and within the constraints of working solely on the sign-up flow, we identified some table-stakes improvements to build trust with visitors. Our main hypothesis focused on whether surfacing Course Hero’s core value—course-specific study content—earlier in the journey would increase conversion. We believed that if visitors saw personalized course recommendations before hitting the paywall, they'd be more likely to become members.
Design and test ways to convey course-specific values
Wireframes
UX/UI deisgn
User testing
We explored various storytelling approaches to communicate the potential value of a membership to interested visitors. To validate and refine our concepts, we used UserTesting.com to gather feedback on early prototypes, helping us narrow in on the most promising design direction for A/B testing.
Brand alignment
Visual Design
We collaborated closely with our Marketing and Brand Design partners to refine the language and visual design of the new sign-up experience, ensuring alignment with our shared brand tone and voice—especially on the initial screen, where first impressions matter most.
Solution
While the A/B test results were not statistically significant, qualitative research indicated that the course-specific pathway in Test Group 3 was the strongest performer. It sparked the highest motivation to sign up, suggesting a compelling direction for future iterations.
Test Group 1 - the control
We evenly divided traffic across three test groups. Group 1 acted as the control, featuring the existing sign-up flow that recommends resources based on the school alone, which lacked a clear value proposition and had an outdated look and feel.
Test Group 2 - new messaging + enhanced visual and interaction design
We kept the steps and content in the sign-up flow the same but introduced branded value proposition at the beginning of the funnel. Additionally, we enhanced the brand presence and improved the interaction design for a more engaging experience.
Test Group 3 - Group 2 variables + course-specific recommendations
Group 3 built upon Group 2 by adding course-specific details to the sign-up flow. The hypothesis was that showcasing study content tailored not only to students' schools but also to their specific courses would provide significant value, encouraging them to recognize the long-term benefits of a paid membership.
Product Strategist
Researcher
Designer