Discovery-led project re-designing subscription experience for new user behaviour patterns.
B2C
E-commerce
Subscription
UX research
Content strategy
As Lyka expands into the mainstream market, how can its dog meal subscription experience attract and convert new audiences?
My design approach: I conducted user research to uncover new audience behaviours and habit patterns, informing a strategic value proposition shift with UX recommendations to drive attraction and conversion of new market users.
Role
UX Researcher
Timeline
2 months
Client
Lyka - dog meals subscription
Responsibilties
User research, survey, user interviews, usability testing, customer journey and empathy maps.
Deliverables
Research report with UX recommendations and a market entry roadmap.
Business objective
Attract and convert new customers as Lyka
enters the mainstream market.
(competing with supermarket kibble brands)
How I created value and impact
+
%
40
growth in user conversion
by aligning subscription model to mainstream user drivers & behaviour patterns to alleviate barriers.
—
%
50
reduced subscription drop off
by aligning subscription flow with customer habits, reducing decision making friction.
Full case study reading time: 7 minutes
Problem space
A new opportunity for Lyka's fresh, minimally-processed dog food subscription to enter mainstream market
Before targeted health and ingredient conscious dog owners.
Now competing with supermarket dog food brands (mostly kibble dominated)
The initial stakeholder conversations also revealed limitations:
Remain a subscription model, will be harder to compete with supermarket availability.
The cost to try, recommendations need to align with affordability.
The research objective
How can we attract and convert new audiences
to Lyka’s fresh, high quality dog meals?
First, understand the new audience
149 dog/s owners were surveyed to understand the purchasing behaviours and habits of customers in the mainstream market
Dog food purchases habits survey
Questions
Responses
149
Settings
Where do you buy your dog food? (Select all that applies)
Coles, Aldi, Woolworths & IGA
Petbarn, Peto
Online pet stores
Vet clinic
I cook for my dog
Why conduct survey method first?
To gather broad insights into audience preferences and behaviours, to help identify what Lyka needs to do for users to switch.
What was asked?
Users were asked 18 questions of where and what dog food they buy, and the factors influencing their choices.
Survey data revealed mainstream user buying behaviour patterns and habits, highlighting Lyka's pain points
Majority of customers
60.8% prefers to buy dry food
Lyka needs to highlight benefits to appeal
to dry food customers.
Lyka's is wet dog food product
73% of customers buy in
bulk on weekly & monthly basis
Lyka needs to match user purchasing habits to attract customers.
Lyka's subscription pricing is daily
78.6% of customers
buy supermarket brands
Lyka needs to position subscription as a more convenient option for supermarket shoppers.
Only 6.7% customers buy subsciptions
Avg monthly spend for dog/s
$100–$200 on dog food & treats
Lyka's needs to educate new users on Lyka's value especially to multi-dog households.
A medium-sized dog on Lyka is $364
What's driving these habits and patterns?
Interviews with customers uncovered the "why" behind these patterns, revealing 3 key drivers influencing purchasing decisions.
Semi-structured of 25 minute interviews were conducted with 5 target users who own dog/s to validate initial findings and to uncover what drives customers to choose dog food and what shapes their buying patterns.
Driver to buy: Dog palette
Why woukd i buy Lyka if I already know what my dog likes?
Driver to buy: Price
“I only buy in bulk when it's on sale"
Why would I buy Lyka if I can buy cheaper?
Driver to buy: Nutritional value
Why would I buy Lyka if I can cook fresh meals?
User interview insights
Landscape review to understand existing conversion patterns
Interestingly, the same key behaviour drivers were reflected in the conversion strategies used by mainstream competitors
Landscape analysis was conducted to understand how competitors use visual cues such as pricing and nutritional value to meet customer expectations and influence decisions. To remain competitive, Lyka needs adopt similar strategies while maintaining brand integrity.
Cost-effective driver
Shoppers are influenced by familiar patterns such as yellow "Sale" which signal value and savings.
To be competitive Lyka needs to incorporate this cue into their subscription pricing.
Supermarkets
|
#1 competitor
|
78% buyers
Nutritional value driver
In-store banners like "High in Protein" help shoppers quickly identify products that meet pet’s dietary needs.
To be competitive Lyka needs to incorporate this cue into their landing messaging.
Pet stores
|
#2 competitor
|
61% buyers
Digging deeper into what customers said vs did, revealed they were
unaware of the impact of kibble vs. Lyka's fresh high quality meals, a clear opportunity to educate the new market.
Empathy mapping uncovered that even health-conscious customers were mixing fresh food with kibble without realising kibble is highly processed. This behaviour insight reinforced the value of Lyka’s product, which removes the need for processed kibble altogether by offering a wholefood option that’s tailored to each dog.
Empathy mapping user interview insights
Identifying Lyka's opportunities in the new market
Usability testing confirmed awareness gaps, 4/5 customers wouldn’t buy into Lyka's subscription and uncovered Lyka's key barriers to staying competitive
5 participants were user tested on Lyka's subscription offering on the landing page to onboarding sign-up, to find out how users engage with Lyka's product offerings, subscription model & likelihood of purchasing. Testing was focused on the mobile interface, as data metrics indicated most users (85.6%) access Lyka via mobile.
Awareness
3/5 see Lyka for wealthy
Cavoodle owners
Interest
Lack of endorsement credibility
Sign up
CTA doesn't allow
multiple dog breeds
Select meals
Customer
chooses meals
View prices
4/5 prices did not
meet expectations
+1
0
-1
-2
Opportunity: Improve subscription suitability, brand credibility, and onboarding accessibility to better support and convert first-time mainstream users to Lyka.
Solution: align subscription with mainstream user patterns and behaviours
Before: premium & niche
After: trusted & inclusive
To stay competitive, Lyka needs to re-position their subscription model to align with mainstream user drivers and patterns to alleviate customer barriers, in order to better support awareness and adoption of Lyka's fresh, high-quality offering.
Problem
Users are overwhelmed by daily price, they are used to thinking in weekly/monthly spending habits & mistake total weekly cost.
Solution
Improve Lyka’s suitability and convenience by aligning pricing with weekly/monthly habits to reduce cognitive load for easier decision-making.
Before
After
Users are overwhelmed
by daily costs
"Save" aligns with mainstream user preference for sales
Users mistake as monthly cost
Problem
'Gently cooked' benefits appeal to niche users but are unclear to the mainstream, and without clear vet backing, credibility suffers.
Solution
Boost credibility & trust by highlighting 'vet formulated' USP with vet endorsements to strengthen competitive advantage.
Before
After
"Gently cooked" benefits may
be unclear to users.
Vet logos boost credibility and amplify the 'vet formulated' message.
'Vet formulated' gets lost, reducing credibility.
Problem
Lyka’s CTA targets single-dog homes and aligns with breeds tied to affluent lifestyles, reinforcing premium positioning.
Solution
Broaden Lyka’s accessibility by updating the CTA & replacing ‘Cavoodle’ with a mainstream breed to shift from exclusive to inclusive.
Before
After
Cavoodle' implies exclusivity & aligns with affluent lifestyles
'Add' button improves CTA usability for
multi-dog users.
CTA only supports single dog owners
Placeholder text uses a common mainstream dog breed.
Problem
The landing page isn't positioned for mainstream users unaware of the differences between kibble and Lyka's fresh meals.
Solution
Educate unaware customers on Lyka's benefits over kibble by positioning content that highlights why Lyka is better for their dog.
Before
After
Positioned for customers aware of kibble impacts
Educates users who are unaware of kibble impacts on why Lyka is better for their dog.
Long paragraphs increase cognitive load and reduce readability
Outcomes
Initial small-group testing revealed that 3/5 customers would consider Lyka's offering but pricing is still a key barrier.
These results show a 40% increase in customer engagement and conversion and 50% decrease in subscription drop off, emphasizing the strengthened value perception of Lyka’s product. However, they also reveal the challenge of introducing a premium product to a price-sensitive market.
Next steps
This research is currently guiding Lyka’s market expansion and shaping it's future digital subscription experience
Lyka brought me in to offer a fresh perspective beyond their internal UX team. My research uncovered key barriers including pricing, expert credibility, and multi dog accessibility that were limiting mainstream engagement. I delivered a detailed report with recommendations and a market entry roadmap. While Lyka is still expanding, these insights are shaping their website and informing ongoing updates and strategy.
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