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Stillwave — Wellness / subscription app project preview

Case Study

Stillwave

Wellness / subscription app · UK & Nordics

+31%

Plan clarity score

-27%

Support themes (billing)

-18%

Time-to-first-session

8

Markets shipped

The Challenge

Paywalls conflicted with the calm brand voice, plan comparison required too much reading, and localised price presentation confused trialists.

Full write-up

Calm paywalls for a wellness subscription

Stillwave needed paywalls that matched a mindfulness brand — clearer plans, less cognitive load, and localised pricing presentation without tricks.

Wellness products lose trust the moment paywalls feel aggressive or obscure. Users tolerate friction less here than in utility categories because the brand promises calm.

Comprehension over cleverness

We tested hierarchy variants until moderated sessions showed users could articulate what they were buying, when billing occurred, and how trials ended — without legal-sized footnotes.

Billing explainers as components

Illustrated explainers reused compact patterns for renewals, trials, and upgrades. Copy stayed aligned with regulatory tone requirements while preserving readable rhythm.

Localisation depth

Currency and cadence presentation shipped as a kit so translators worked inside constrained layouts instead of breaking strings across breakpoints.

Support-theme reduction

Indexed comprehension scores and billing-related support themes improved together — a sanity check that UX changes reached real operations, not only dashboards.

Timeline & outcomes

LiveMar 2024 – Jan 2026

Engagement timeline

  1. Phase 1

    Paywall research & comprehension tests

    Mar – Jun 2024

  2. Phase 2

    Ship primary paywall revamp

    Jul – Dec 2024

  3. Phase 3

    Localisation & retention experiments

    Jan 2025 – Jan 2026

Indexed outcome curve (baseline = early sprint, 100 = latest measurement)
Indexed performance trend

Values are normalised indices for communication only — not revenue or confidential KPIs.

Before / after index — key UX and delivery signals

Comprehension index

Baseline
54
Outcome
88

Billing-related friction (inverse)

Baseline
48
Outcome
82

Localisation readiness

Baseline
41
Outcome
90

What We Built

  • Three paywall variants with comprehension-tested hierarchy
  • Illustrated billing explainers aligned to regulatory tone
  • Localisation kit for currency, cadence, and trial copy
  • Experiment backlog prioritised by support-theme reduction

Tools Used

SwiftUIKotlinFigmaLaunchDarklyIterable

Related case studies

Trust beats tricks — we optimised comprehension and calm cues before touching pricing mechanics.

Engagement charter · Design ethics

Timeline

Mar 2024 – Jan 2026

Investment

£9,000 – £16,000

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