Samsung account
Increased Samsung account sign-in rate by ~11% globally by executing solutions based on exhaustive user research.
Company
Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore
Project Category
UXR & Mobile UX
Year
2022-23
Team size
2 Senior designers (IN)
2 Product managers (IN)
2 Product planning (KR)
OKR: Increase Samsung account cumulative sign-in rate to 80% globally by 2023.
Result: Samsung account cumulative sign-in rate increased from ~40% to ~51% by 2023.
Responsibilities
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Conduct user research, semi-structured interviews, survey, & usability testing to develop user insights.
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Map & navigate stakeholders in large organisation to extract Big-data information on Samsung account.
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Define scope of study & establish expectations upfront based on available resources.
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Study Samsung account and it's relation with all existing Samsung apps & services including MDE.
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Visit Samsung Smart Cafes, Multi-brand stores and study influences of human & physical touch-points.
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Coordinate & supervise third-party research agency to identify insights & opportunity areas.
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Perform affinity analysis to rightly conclude large amount of qualitative data & create abridged report.
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Brainstorm ideas using HMW framework, & validate concepts with users & fellow stakeholders.
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Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop & analyse for tech feasibility of final concepts.
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Present concepts & tech slides to Head-Quarter in Suwon and deliver it to relevant point of contact.
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Craft UX guides of selected concepts of Samsung account and update in the server for dev team.
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Monitor Samsung Analytics in collaboration with Product Manager, and plan for next course of action.
Problem statement
Low registration of Samsung account despite evolving ecosystem features.
Samsung has witnessed a stagnant registration rate (sign-in rate) of ~40% for Samsung accounts globally from the year 2020 to 2023, but has been continously innovating multi-device ecosystem features which require Samsung account to be signed in.
CRM pressure on Samsung account due to sudden purge of IMEI number
In the year 2023, India legal team purged IMEI database which was extensively used for CRM activities worth USD 180M $ during that year. The sudden purge of IMEI database increased the pressure on Samsung account for CRM activities.
Approach
Solutions
Launched globally as a software update for One UI
Solving for Prominence
Launched in One UI 5.3 MR update, 2023
Solving for Visibility
Launched in One UI 6 software update (FOTA), 2023
Solving for Reinforcement
Launched in One UI 6 software update (FOTA)
Solving for Recall
Launched in One UI 5.3 MR update, 2023
Solving for Recall
Launched in One UI 5.3 MR update, 2023
Solving for In-widget presence
Launched in One UI 6 software update (FOTA)
2023 device data landscape
A-series Samsung Galaxy Phones are significantly highest in terms of sales volume
Samsung account registration rate is uneven across different devices. A-series phones are the most selling devices with 584M sales volume in the year 2023, but with a low registration rate, thus making it the suitable device to conduct the study.
Most users sign-in to Samsung account due to nudges pushed by Samsung apps & services
Approximately 50% of A-series users sign-in to Samsung account to use Samsung account based Apps & services like Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, One-drive cloud services, Samsung Health, Find My Mobile etc. which mandates account registration.
Nearly 30% of A-series users sign-in to Samsung account during the OOBE (Out of box experience) set-up wizard.
The rest 20% of Samsung account sign-in is done by the Samsung Account touchpoint present in the Settings App.
Approach
Samsung data analytics had given three different sign-in touchpoints which is taken further for deeper analysis. This analysis is done by conducting usability testing, device testing (eating own dog shoe), competitor analysis, and exhaustive one-one interviews to fathom the depth of user's motivation & frustration associated to Samsung apps & services, thereby indicating pulse check for Samsung account.
Focus areas
Understanding Samsung account's presence in out of box experience
Based on usability findings, it is evident that Samsung account set-up wizard is placed towards the end of the OOBE (Out of box experience) when the user is exhausted. As the OOBE is Android centric, Samsung OneUI do not have legal rights to alter the positions.
SIGN-IN JOURNEY
RETAIL TOUCHPOINT STUDY
COMPETITION ANALYSIS
Set-up wizard usability & competition analysis
Repetitive wait times, multiple clicks & text input, and longer texts to read makes OOBE exhausting
Ironically, OOBE is the first thing an excited customer deals with while unboxing the new phone. Based on usability study, it is found that users tend to skip steps wherever possible to avoid decision fatigue.
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Registration complexities
Sign-in with Google has the most traction.
Compared to "Create account" journey, "Sign-in with Google" journey has significant traction because it requires just one tap.
Registration complexities
Numerous steps like the "2-step verification" with extreme attention span makes the registration journey unbearable for the user.
Based on usability study, it found that all sign-up journeys are longer, thus explaining the significant drop-outs with "Create account" option. However "Sign in with Google" is used for both Sign-in & Sign-up with highest traction due to lesser clicks.
Retail touchpoint study
90% of customers purchase from stores, but Store executives focus on hardware features, and visuals of Samsung account OR apps & services are also absent.
Retail outlets celebrate only hardware innovations & latest features and does not emphasis on Samsung account OR account based apps & services. Account benefits are missing in easels, standees, packaging, and in the sales pitch of store executives. Shockingly, 80% of these customers go through OOBE (Out of box experience) with the help of store-executives.
Store executives rush to complete OOBE to meet daily sales target.
Although, multi-brand stores are closeby, offer comparison between brands, and quicker in processing, store executives lack basic knowledge of Samsung account based apps & services. Moreover, they hurry up in OOBE to meet the daily sales limit.
Key insights
Understanding Samsung account's presence in out of box experience
Sign-in journey
Post-OOBE
In-use visibility
Registration journey of Samsung account has significant drop out rates with a complex 2-step verification process.
Absence of Samsung account nudges after OOBE if user decides to skip registration.
On-device sign-in touchpoints of Samsung account and its benefits are not visible upfront. In a nutshell, Samsung account's presence is not felt while using the phone.
Retail outlets
Enquiry touchpoints like easels, standees, store executives in the retail outlets does not speak about Samsung account's benefits.
Study settings apps and other device touchpoints for visibility
It is evident from the device study that Samsung account's sign-in touchpoints during usage of the phone are not visible to the user. While most of the touchpoints are buried deep into In-app settings, some are dull, uninformative and unclear.
DEVICE STUDY
Mere 20% customers sign-in from Settings App which is the 5th most launched Samsung app.
It is observed that most users visiting Settings App ignore the Samsung account touchpoint at the top, and scrolls below to check for other items in the list.
Samsung account sign-in touch-points are dull, textual, and uninformative.
Not only in Settings app, but also the Samsung account app itself, benefits are informed textually which unlikely for a user to absorb given the time spend on this page. Visual cues becomes an important step to hook users and enhance better information retrieval.
Final designs of Samsung account touchpoint in Settings App, as launched in Oct, 2023 as part of One UI 6 update.
GUI & UI designs were finalised by Samsung UX Team Suwon Korea as per the recommendations of Samsung Research Bangalore.
Sign-in state
Highlighted user name & profile picture in sign-in state
Empty state
Coloured icon & coloured meta-description of account values in the Empty state
Final designs of Samsung account landing page, as launched in Mar, 2023 as part of One UI 5.3 update.
GUI & UI designs were finalised by Samsung Research Bangalore in collaboration with Samsung UX Team Suwon Korea.
Before
Decision fatigue due to presence of multiple buttons, highlighted Next button.
After (One UI 5.3)
Sign-in with Google highlighted and Create account button subdued, Next button in progressive disclosure.
Final designs of Samsung account OOBE page with "Remind me later" button, as launched in Mar, 2023 as part of One UI 5.3 update.
GUI & UI designs were finalised by Samsung Research Bangalore in collaboration with Samsung UX Team Suwon Korea.
Before
Skip button allowed users to skip and not reserve the right to nudge users later
After (One UI 5.3)
Skip button is replaced with Remind me later button to reserve the right to nudge users later
Final designs of Sticky notifications nudged to users post-OOBE and post software update (whichever is earlier). Launched in Mar, 2023 as part of One UI 5.3 update.
GUI & UI designs were finalised by Samsung Research Bangalore in collaboration with Samsung UX Team Suwon Korea.
Final designs of OneDrive touchpoint in Gallery menu items launched in Oct, 2023 as part of One UI 6 update.
GUI & UI designs were finalised by Samsung UX Team Suwon Korea as per the recommnedations provided by Samsung Research Bangalore.
Before
Absence of account value in the most launched App
After
Upfront touchpoint to sync Gallery with OneDrive, thus communicating benefits to the user
Default state
Synced state
Redesign of widgets to communicate Samsung account benefits upfront in the Home screens.
Widgets were under-utilised in terms of communicating user value. As the widgets are positioned in the Home screens of the device, they play a crucial role in displaying information. Recommendations were made to improve widget designs.
Final widget designs
As recommended by Samsung Research Bangalore, final widget designs was launched in Oct, 2023 as part of One UI 6 in collaboration between Samsung research UX team, Suwon, Korea and Microsoft
Other recommendations for In-App settings
Despite having Samsung account benefits in the In-app settings for Samsung Internet, Gallery, and Samsung Notes, the touchpoints are buried & dull.
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Key insights
Study settings apps and other device touchpoints for visibility
Dull touchpoints
Unclear benefits
No reminder
Samsung account sign-in touchpoints are not optimised for visibility.
Benefits of Samsung account are either absent OR buried in the In-app settings
Absence of contextual nudge or sticky notifications to remind user to sign-in.
Value, experience & awareness are the key aspects for any product to become successful. Till now, the project discusses about the later two, but not value. Value drive intent, and our customer's intent is not strong.
Insight
Understand user value of Samsung account based apps & services
Based on usability findings, it is evident that Samsung account set-up wizard is placed towards the end of the OOBE (Out of box experience) when the user is exhausted. As the OOBE is Android centric, Samsung OneUI do not have legal rights to alter the positions.
USER INTERVIEWS
Never heard of Samsung account
How customers perceive Samsung account.
While a few customers find Samsung account valuable, majority consider it to be redundant. In fact, some customers are not aware of it, and a lot of them consciously choose to skip sign-in as they can easily get away with it.
Budget loyal NOT brand loyal
Who are these customers?
Samsung A-series user persona is diverse, however majority users fall in the age category of 18-25 years old young students, professionals or business owners.
Samsung account comes with a price
Brand loyalty & Tech literacy goes high with device price.
Users of expensive devices are likely to have better knowledge of Samsung apps & services and not just hardware, and these users are significantly small in population compared of budget phone users.
Celebrating hardware
Hardware has always been on top of mind of Samsung users.
Users are highly influenced by the hardware capabilities like camera, battery, storage, display, water resistance, look & feel, grip etc. They prefer third party apps because they are used by friends and family members.
What Samsung offers
What users need
Global features not tailored to Indian values
Samsung account based apps & services are not meant for the daily needs of A-series users.
For everyday needs, Indian A-series users depend on multiple Third-party apps because they are omni present in a social circle due to its nature of being agnostic of OS & OEMs.
What Samsung offers
What users need
Customers do not see Samsung account's relevance after they switch to other brands, unlike Google account.
Most Samsung account based apps & services are confined to OneUI OS and Galaxy devices, as a result of which users cannot envisage a long term relationship beyond device lifecycle as these apps & services becomes irrelevant after switching to a different Android make.
Samsung apps & services are considered bloatware by most of the customers.
While some Samsung account based apps & services are designed as a delighter service, many are designed for tech savvy users who like to keep themselves updated with latest innovation. But none of these apps provide real user value without which daily life becomes unimaginable.
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Samsung account is under-utilised compared to Apple ID being tied with multiple apps & services
Based on competition analysis, it is observed that Samsung account does not reserve the right to support multiple apps compared to that of Apple ID.
Also, unlike Apple ID, it does not have SSO, rather inconsistent sign in experience.
Based on competition analysis, it is observed that Samsung apps and services have different sign-in procedures without SSO. While OneDrive require Microsoft account, Samsung Members, & Samsung Finance+ need a One-time password (OTP), thus breaking the consistency.
Samsung account is not mandatory
Lack of sense of mandate unlike Google
Due to strict legal Android policies, Samsung account does not reserve the right to mandate registration for any fundamental actions taken by the users.
Inconsistent signing experience
Dispersed across various enablers
Unlike Google, Samsung apps & services have various enablers due to the open platform philosophy and partnerships, leading to a chaotic sign-in experience.
One Google account
Users can access multiple Google apps & services relevant to their daily needs
Dispersed accounts
While some core apps can be accessed with Samsung account, some need Microsoft account, and others need just a phone number OTP
Key insights
Understand user value of Samsung account based apps & services
Hardware's good
Google's good
Apps not relevant
Underutilization
Users are highly influenced by the hardware capabilities but prefer third party apps.
Users are highly influenced by the hardware capabilities but prefer third party apps.
Users are highly influenced by the hardware capabilities but prefer third party apps.
Users are highly influenced by the hardware capabilities but prefer third party apps.
Recommendation
Individual Samsung Apps & Services need to enhance their value offerings in order to be relevant in the lives of Samsung customers.
Key results
Samsung Analytics witnessed a gradual increase in registration, click through rates and retention in a span of 8 months from the date of consecutive maintenance releases.
SAMSUNG ANALYTICS
~11% increase in Global registration of Samsung account
By improving Samsung account touchpoint's visibility & presence during In-use experience of the device, Samsung Analytics witnessed an increase in registration by ~11%.
~5.3% increase in CRM revenue
A promising result of ~11% increase in CRM database due to more and more users signing into Samsung account (both old devices & newly purchased included), which led to a positive result in revenue generation of USD 55M $ with an increasing rate of ~5.3%.
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~13% increase in CTR of Sign in with Google
Click through rate of 78% is witnessed in Samsung Analytics for the "Sign in with Google" button in the newly designed Samsung account page.
On-going discussions with Retail & Business Development team
Work in progress discussions with Retail & Business Development team to accept recommendations of improvising Training Manual and improve cloud storage experience and take actions of them.
Appendix
Based on usability findings, it is evident that Samsung account set-up wizard is placed towards the end of the OOBE (Out of box experience) when the user is exhausted. As the OOBE is Android centric, Samsung OneUI do not have legal rights to alter the positions.
Preparation of research
Samsung analytics data is utilised to decide onto the Geography, Customer age group, Device type, Customer gender, etc. before delving deeper to crafting the discussion guide.
Preliminary persona
For the exploratory study, preliminary idea of persona is considered, based on preliminary user study
User journey mapping
Identifying the areas where users come across touchpoints to sign-in into Samsung account.
Preliminary framework to identify painpoints
Awareness, Experience & Value are the major areas where painpoint lies.
Other concepts in pitch presentations
List of other ideas with potential to drive value in the users life are shown below.
