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Ancestry Commerce
Preserve my family tree
Retain users by meeting them with the right offer—at the right moment
Project
Preserve my tree
Timeline
Feb - March 22
Lead Designer
Role
Concept
Many Ancestry users spend hours building their family trees, only to lose access to their saved records after canceling their subscription—causing frustration and leaving them cut off from their family history data
"I may not need all the features, but I want to hold onto what I’ve built."
Business Problem
30%
Users would pay to keep their tree records
48%
Canceled users returned to view their tree.
The existing cancel flow fails to capture revenue from high-value users who might have been retained
User Problem
Users must either pay for full access or abandon their emotional investment—there's no middle ground.
How might we retain light-engagement users by offering emotional continuity at the moment of cancellation ?
Helped reduce churn and unlock new revenue by offering peace-of-mind preservation to lapsed and at-risk users.
I was the lead designers on a cross-functional team of 2 engineers,1 PMs, and 1 content strategist.
Offer a lower tier option in the cancellation flow to retain customers
1
My Account Page (Mid-Funnel)
Displayed early when users navigated to manage their subscription.
Designed to gently intercept intent to cancel and offer a low-friction alternative.
2
Cancel Confirmation Page
(End of Funnel)
Appeared just before final cancellation, as an inline save option.
Framed as a last chance to retain access without pressure to stay fully subscribed.
3
Post-cancel follow-up page
Shown immediately after cancellation was confirmed.
Reframed the decision and invited users to preserve what they’d built.
Preserve my tree created a new revenue stream by turning cancellations into moments of retention, without disrupting the core subscription model.
Increase the annual recurring revenue by 3.75 million
6.8% cancellation reducion in the same day
60,000+ active PMT members in less than 7 months
------ PRIMARY RESEARCH
Participants who had engaged with the cancel flow
1
Family historians
Age : 45+
Engagement : High (100+ tree nodes, frequent record saves)
Motivation : Legacy, accuracy, storytelling
Tenure : Long
" I’ve spent years building this but I can't pay anymore nor do I want to lose the data"
2
Active Hobbyists
Age : 35–50
Engagement : Medium engagement, logs in occasionally
Motivation : Sharing with relatives, maintaining access for others
Tenure : 6 months to 2 years
"I have exhausted the research tools and would like to pause for sometime"
3
Curious Researcher
Age : 25–40
Engagement : Sporadic engagement. New user, smaller tree (5-30 nodes)
Motivation : Exploring ancestry, testing the product
Tenure : Less than 6 months
"I was trying things out and I did find few family records. Can I retain access to my work without a full subscription ?"
Turning pain points into design opportunities
Research Insight
Offer an option rather than locking users in
Users want flexibility - they are not always leaving forever, just stepping back
People don't want to lose/ high emotional attachment to the work they have done
Design Requirements
An alternative option at the moment of cancellation
A lower tier vs losing a user
Messaging focused on preservation
------ USER FLOWS
Mid-Funnel Modal
Option to preserve my tree as a gentle downgrade option in the cancel modal.
Inline Downgrade Offer
A gentle, well-timed offer at the moment users are about to leave.
------ A/B TESTING
Testing the Offer in Real Flows
Control
No Preserve my tree offer
Metric
Take Rate
Young Professional (2-5 years)
Winback Rate (Returns to a full subscription)
Cannibalization
(Losing revenue when users downgrade from a higher to a lower-priced plan
Variant A
$3/month offer to keep access
$3/month
13.3%
$2.83 M
3.7%
Moderate
$5/month
9.8%
$3.75M
4.1%
Low (2% reupgraded later)
Variant B
$5/month offer to keep access
Why $5 Win
$3 more clickable
32% more revenue
No downside to $5
$5 offer hit the sweet spot — valuable, sustainable, and user-validated.
Next Steps:
-
Expand PMT to more surfaces
Bring the offer to re-engagement emails, DNA flows, and mobile cancel flows. -
Introduce dynamic personalization
Tailor messaging based on tree size, tenure, or saved records to increase relevance. -
Test flexible duration or one-time “preserve” unlocks
For users unwilling to subscribe monthly, explore a single-payment “keep access” option. -
Track long-term outcomes
Monitor whether PMT users re-upgrade, share more, or stay active in passive ways.
Learnings:
-
Emotional value drives retention more than features
Users wanted to protect their discoveries, not maintain full access to tools. -
Designing for exit is just as important as designing for entry
The cancellation moment is emotionally loaded and deserves thoughtful UX, not just a last-minute save. -
Retention doesn't always mean full subscription
PMT proved that users could remain connected — and monetized — even without active engagement. -
Timing and tone matter
Placement mid-funnel and soft, empathetic messaging reduced churn and preserved trust.
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