First steps to monetize your app (2/2): Designing a paywall
This article is the second and final part of the first steps to monetize your app. For it to make sense, it is highly recommended that you read the first part, regarding paywalls, here.
After choosing a paywall, what are the design principles to follow when implementing it?
The first question we are faced with when it comes to displaying our paywall is where to display it. A consensus here is that anything regarding a paywall or a paid feature should be clear about its content — in other words, don’t try to trick the user!
That said, a common and straightforward way to signal features that are paid or part of a paid subscription is to put a simple label nearby those paid features — for example, a symbol such as a crown or a dollar sign followed by a “pro” or “premium” text. This label can already be considered as a in app notification, and should not be shown to users who already bought the feature, since there’s no point in advertising it for someone who already bought it.
After tapping or clicking on this feature, the paywall itself should be shown. Paywalls types differ mainly in the amount of features they should display. So if you have only one subscription plan or if the purchase is relative to a specific consumable, a modal overlay is enough — that is, a smaller screen that still displays part of the background, ideally blurred, and that can be easily dismissed.
But, if you have more than one subscription plan or if there are many details relating to the purchase, you should stick with a landing page, which is an actual page or navigation screen with all the information and benefits needed to convince the user.
Moreover, be it a modal overlay or a landing page, some guidelines are recommended when building a paywall: (1) a clear headline that states it as a paywall, (2) the features and benefits that are included, (3) a call to action button and (4) the price of the purchase. If any policies are applicable to the purchase, they should be shown in the paywall too.
With that in mind, here is a first hi-fi screen designed as Baby Steps’ paywall:
Notice that it clearly has the four paywall characteristics mentioned above: clear headline, features and benefits, call to action and price, while keeping the app’s branding, which uses a soft color palette and a more rounded font.
That’s it for this pair of articles. With those two articles, you should be able to define and design a pretty reasonable and functional paywall for your app!
