Hopsy
Hopsy os a beer subscription service that delivers rotating, 2-liter bottles of craft beer straight to customers’ doors, offering a taproom-quality experience at home when paired with its standalone draft beer machine.
The primary goal of this project was to improve the subscription management experience, making it easier for customers to modify or cancel their plans without relying on customer support.
Lead Product Designer: research and design
Marketing, engineering, customer support, and leadership
On-site
3 months
Customers faced significant challenges managing their subscriptions due to a lack of transparency about plan details, customization options, and cancellation policies.
Many were unaware they had enrolled in a subscription, didn’t realize they could skip or adjust orders, and found the service too expensive or misaligned with their preferences.
These frustrations led to high cancellation rates and an overwhelming demand on customer support, highlighting the need for a more intuitive and self-service subscription management experience.
The primary users of the subscription service are craft beer enthusiasts who value convenience and the experience of enjoying fresh, taproom-quality beer at home.
Key internal stakeholders included the customer support team, who were overwhelmed with manual subscription changes and cancellations.
We successfully introduced a self-service cancellation flow that gave customers greater flexibility and control while reducing customer support inquiries. By allowing users to modify their subscription, skip deliveries, customize their beer selection, or change their plan before canceling, 60% of customers chose to adjust their order rather than cancel, with only 30% proceeding with cancellation. This solution improved the overall user experience and helped retain a significant portion of customers who would have otherwise canceled.
Deep dive into the project 👇🏻
Due to time constraints and limited resources, I was unable to conduct direct customer interviews. Instead, I collaborated with the customer support team to understand common pain points reported by customers, gaining insights into why users struggled with modifying or canceling their subscriptions. These constraints shaped our approach, requiring us to rely on internal data rather than direct user research.
To understand industry best practices for self-service cancellations, I analyzed food and beverage subscription services. This helped identify key features and strategies to improve transparency, flexibility, and customer retention.
Based on customer support insights and competitive analysis, I prioritized features that would enhance the subscription experience while balancing effort and impact. Key improvements focused on better onboarding, enhanced customization, and a more flexible account management system.
We implemented features that required low effort but had a high impact, such as offering more flexibility and customization within the account page and cancellation flow, such as giving customers the ability to skip or change their delivery, customize their beer selection, and modify their subscription plan.
I analyzed the existing account settings page to identify usability issues and determine the best way to structure the content. The layout was reorganized to improve the visibility of subscription plan settings and the cancellation flow, aiming to create a more intuitive navigation experience.
Mapping out the user flow helped identify key decision points where users might reconsider canceling. By introducing alternative options such as pausing, modifying, or downgrading their subscription earlier in the flow, the goal was to reduce churn while maintaining a clear and accessible cancellation path. This approach ensured users were fully informed of their options before making a final decision, balancing transparency with retention efforts.
Using insights from research, I developed high-fidelity wireframes to visualize the improved cancellation experience, prioritizing mobile-first usability. The goal was to align on the proposed changes and secure leadership and stakeholder approval before moving into final designs.
Once the wireframes were reviewed and refined, I built out the final designs for both mobile and desktop. The new cancellation flow highlighted flexible plan options and customization features upfront, giving customers a clearer understanding of their choices before canceling. Additionally, a feedback form was added to capture insights on why users were leaving, informing future improvements.
After launching the self-service cancellation flow, we saw immediate improvements in customer retention. Within the first few weeks 60% of customers modified their subscription by either adjusting their delivery date or the number of mini-kegs in their order. Only 30% of customers proceeded with canceling their subscriptions. This confirmed that providing alternative options within the flow was effective in encouraging users to stay subscribed in some capacity.
Although the self-service cancellation reduced the need for direct customer support interactions, the team still had to manually complete the final processing step. However, by streamlining the process, we significantly improved response times and reduced the overall support backlog.
Our research showed that customers were still concerned about beer selection and delivery. The next step would be to explore ways to give customers more control over their beer choices and address major delivery issues to improve reliability.
A larger initiative would focus on refining the offer page and onboarding experience. Ensuring that customers fully understand the subscription model from the start could help set clearer expectations and reduce unexpected cancellations.
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