Turning a paywall into
a reason to upgrade
Lack of restrictions in the free version reduces motivation to upgrade to a paid plan
Understanding the Task
Problem
Free-tier Start users actively use the product but don’t convert to paid subscriptions. The reason is a lack of motivation to upgrade to a plan with extended functionality (Business). The free version covers the basic needs of most clients
Task
Increase conversion to paid plan purchase without harm to the user experience. Find a minimal but tangible limitation in functionality without blocking critical use cases. The product must also remain fair and transparent to users
Solution (focal hypothesis)
If we gently limit the number of documents sent in the free version (e.g., to 5 per month), this will motivate users to upgrade to a paid plan, increasing conversion by +10%
Success Criteria
Conversion to purchase
of paid plan
+8%
CR payment
Number of created
and sent documents
+16%
NSM
Result
+6%
Conversion to upgrade
to paid plan
+24%
Users started “saving” their sends, engaging more with drafts
What worked
A simple mechanism with high perceived value: people began to feel that the product is worth paying for
The limitation turned out to be non-critical,
but sufficiently motivating
Clear communication of the limit helped avoid negative reactions
What didn’t work
Registration via Digital Signature
During the test we temporarily disabled registration via digital signature to focus
on the document creation and sending funnel. This led
to a sharp increase in support requests — for some users, digital signature was the primary way to log in and verify identity
Scenarios
Work Process
Immersion
Understanding the task
Kick-offs
Artifact collection
Business strategy
Metrics
Discovery
Identifying user needs
Market analysis
Goals and success criteria
Research planning
Hypotheses
In-depth interviews
Flow analysis
Prioritization
Validating hypotheses
Prototypes
User-Flow
Lo-Fi Wireframe
Tests
Usability testing
Completion rate
Pathway
Completion time
A/B
Comparison of two objects
Development
Preparing layouts
Corner cases
Design review
Retro
Key Insights
To assess document flow volume in the SMB segment, we conducted comprehensive research
#1 Method
+12
Surveys of companies from our loyal base (retail, logistics, services)
Also a data slice on product usage over the last 3 months
#2 Insight
8-10
Documents sent on average by one company in the product
#3 Insight
+35%
Users exceed 5 sends already in the second week of the month.
Main document types: acts, contracts, powers of attorney, letters to government agencies
Conclusion
The current usage volume shows that the 5-document limit affects a significant part of the active audience, but does not block the basic needs of less active users.
This makes the limitation sensitive, but not critical
Hypotheses
Focal Hypothesis
If we gently limit the number of documents sent in the free version (e.g., to 5 per month) via a progress bar that nudges active users to upgrade to the Business plan without causing churn
#1 Hypothesis
If we add a widget calculating potential savings when upgrading
to a paid plan (e.g., «You would have already saved 6 hours and 15,000₸ on the Business plan»), this will reinforce perceived value
#2 Hypothesis
If we add a temporary 7-day trial access to the Business plan
after reaching the limit, users will get a “taste”
of the extended functionality, which will increase conversion
#3 Hypothesis
If at every successful action on the Start plan (sending, signing, uploading) we highlight unavailable Business features, this will create interest and a FOMO effect
Initial Mind-map
Visualization of the client’s emotional state
when implementing the limit indicator
Registration
Verification
possible
possible
Communicating the logic
Communicating the logic
5 docs
All good
4
All good
3
Pay attention
2
Pay close attention
Propose solution
Show a modal
The paid plan has unlimited sends and costs 4,166 ₸ per month
User problems may soon arise, so it’s worth proposing a solution
1
Anxiety
User problems may soon arise, so it’s worth proposing a solution
0
Anxiety
Purchased
Ignore / decline
Progress bar removed
Push
By promotions
By period
User problems may soon arise, so it’s worth proposing a solution
Permanent display of the limit for transparency
Progress bar
Competitive analysis
Result
+6%
Conversion to upgrade
to paid plan
+24%
Users started “saving” their sends, engaging more with drafts
What worked
A simple mechanism with high perceived value: people began to feel that the product is worth paying for
The limitation turned out to be non-critical,
but sufficiently motivating
Clear communication of the limit helped avoid negative reactions
What didn’t work
Registration via Digital Signature
During the test we temporarily disabled registration via digital signature to focus
on the document creation and sending funnel. This led
to a sharp increase in support requests — for some users, digital signature was the primary way to log in and verify identity