NYT Redesign
NYT Redesign
NYT Redesign
Overview
Client: The New York Times
My Role: UX/UI Design Lead
Project Type: Conversion Optimization + UX Strategy + Testing
Overview
At The New York Times, I led the design efforts for the Conversion team within the Growth mission, owning the end-to-end redesign of the core subscription journey. Our team operated in a highly visible, fast-paced environment focused on iterative testing and data-informed design. We aimed to improve conversion by delivering a smoother, more emotionally resonant purchase experience across mobile and desktop.
My contribution
Product strategy
User research
Product design
The team
1 × product manager
1 × product designer
3 × engineers
Year
2021
Overview
Client: The New York Times
My Role: UX/UI Design Lead
Project Type: Conversion Optimization + UX Strategy + Testing
Overview
At The New York Times, I led the design efforts for the Conversion team within the Growth mission, owning the end-to-end redesign of the core subscription journey. Our team operated in a highly visible, fast-paced environment focused on iterative testing and data-informed design. We aimed to improve conversion by delivering a smoother, more emotionally resonant purchase experience across mobile and desktop.
My contribution
Product strategy
User research
Product design
The team
1 × product manager
1 × product designer
3 × engineers
Year
2021
Overview
Client: The New York Times
My Role: UX/UI Design Lead
Project Type: Conversion Optimization + UX Strategy + Testing
Overview
At The New York Times, I led the design efforts for the Conversion team within the Growth mission, owning the end-to-end redesign of the core subscription journey. Our team operated in a highly visible, fast-paced environment focused on iterative testing and data-informed design. We aimed to improve conversion by delivering a smoother, more emotionally resonant purchase experience across mobile and desktop.
My contribution
Product strategy
User research
Product design
The team
1 × product manager
1 × product designer
3 × engineers
Year
2021
Process
The Challenge
The legacy purchase journey was clunky, inconsistent, and full of friction. The landing page offered too many subscription options and overloaded users with legal language, leading to decision fatigue and low emotional engagement. Internally, we also faced skepticism about making major changes to such a high-stakes, revenue-driving flow—especially with legal complexity and multiple stakeholders involved.
My Role
Led UX strategy and design execution for core subscription flows
Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, Audience Insights, and Quantitative Research
Mentored designers and interns, and facilitated testing, envisioning sessions, and stakeholder workshops
Helped define and refine hypotheses through user research and experimentation
Presented work and results to executive stakeholders
Key initiatives
1. Unifying the Purchase Journey
We identified major disconnects between the landing page and checkout experience—both visually and structurally. I proposed a more continuous, emotionally resonant flow that aligned better with NYT’s brand and user expectations.
2. Prioritizing Decision Simplicity
To combat cognitive overload, we tested deprioritizing multiple subscription tiers and instead emphasized a single “default” subscription, surfacing add-ons later in the flow.
3. Phased Rollout & MVP Strategy
To mitigate risk, we launched the redesign in two iterative phases:
Phase 1: Visual and copy consistency, improved hierarchy, and restructured layout
Phase 2: Simplified product offering, upsell strategy, and updated confirmation page
4. Multimodal Research & Testing Strategy
1:1 moderated interviews
Competitive/Comparative audits
Stakeholder workshops
Intercept surveys
Multivariate testing
Key insight: users felt like they were “buying insurance, not journalism.” That guided tone, hierarchy, and layout decisions.
Process
The Challenge
The legacy purchase journey was clunky, inconsistent, and full of friction. The landing page offered too many subscription options and overloaded users with legal language, leading to decision fatigue and low emotional engagement. Internally, we also faced skepticism about making major changes to such a high-stakes, revenue-driving flow—especially with legal complexity and multiple stakeholders involved.
My Role
Led UX strategy and design execution for core subscription flows
Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, Audience Insights, and Quantitative Research
Mentored designers and interns, and facilitated testing, envisioning sessions, and stakeholder workshops
Helped define and refine hypotheses through user research and experimentation
Presented work and results to executive stakeholders
Key initiatives
1. Unifying the Purchase Journey
We identified major disconnects between the landing page and checkout experience—both visually and structurally. I proposed a more continuous, emotionally resonant flow that aligned better with NYT’s brand and user expectations.
2. Prioritizing Decision Simplicity
To combat cognitive overload, we tested deprioritizing multiple subscription tiers and instead emphasized a single “default” subscription, surfacing add-ons later in the flow.
3. Phased Rollout & MVP Strategy
To mitigate risk, we launched the redesign in two iterative phases:
Phase 1: Visual and copy consistency, improved hierarchy, and restructured layout
Phase 2: Simplified product offering, upsell strategy, and updated confirmation page
4. Multimodal Research & Testing Strategy
1:1 moderated interviews
Competitive/Comparative audits
Stakeholder workshops
Intercept surveys
Multivariate testing
Key insight: users felt like they were “buying insurance, not journalism.” That guided tone, hierarchy, and layout decisions.
Process
The Challenge
The legacy purchase journey was clunky, inconsistent, and full of friction. The landing page offered too many subscription options and overloaded users with legal language, leading to decision fatigue and low emotional engagement. Internally, we also faced skepticism about making major changes to such a high-stakes, revenue-driving flow—especially with legal complexity and multiple stakeholders involved.
My Role
Led UX strategy and design execution for core subscription flows
Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, Audience Insights, and Quantitative Research
Mentored designers and interns, and facilitated testing, envisioning sessions, and stakeholder workshops
Helped define and refine hypotheses through user research and experimentation
Presented work and results to executive stakeholders
Key initiatives
1. Unifying the Purchase Journey
We identified major disconnects between the landing page and checkout experience—both visually and structurally. I proposed a more continuous, emotionally resonant flow that aligned better with NYT’s brand and user expectations.
2. Prioritizing Decision Simplicity
To combat cognitive overload, we tested deprioritizing multiple subscription tiers and instead emphasized a single “default” subscription, surfacing add-ons later in the flow.
3. Phased Rollout & MVP Strategy
To mitigate risk, we launched the redesign in two iterative phases:
Phase 1: Visual and copy consistency, improved hierarchy, and restructured layout
Phase 2: Simplified product offering, upsell strategy, and updated confirmation page
4. Multimodal Research & Testing Strategy
1:1 moderated interviews
Competitive/Comparative audits
Stakeholder workshops
Intercept surveys
Multivariate testing
Key insight: users felt like they were “buying insurance, not journalism.” That guided tone, hierarchy, and layout decisions.
Outcome
Improved conversion rates in both desktop and mobile flows (specific metrics under NDA)
Reduced drop-off at key decision points
Established a repeatable design + test model for future experiments
Increased stakeholder trust through transparent research sharing and measurable iteration
What we learned
Designing high-visibility, high-impact flows requires stakeholder fluency, research rigor, and emotional intelligence. By taking an iterative approach and grounding decisions in user behavior, we built a system that worked better for both users and the business.
Outcome
Improved conversion rates in both desktop and mobile flows (specific metrics under NDA)
Reduced drop-off at key decision points
Established a repeatable design + test model for future experiments
Increased stakeholder trust through transparent research sharing and measurable iteration
What we learned
Designing high-visibility, high-impact flows requires stakeholder fluency, research rigor, and emotional intelligence. By taking an iterative approach and grounding decisions in user behavior, we built a system that worked better for both users and the business.
Outcome
Improved conversion rates in both desktop and mobile flows (specific metrics under NDA)
Reduced drop-off at key decision points
Established a repeatable design + test model for future experiments
Increased stakeholder trust through transparent research sharing and measurable iteration
What we learned
Designing high-visibility, high-impact flows requires stakeholder fluency, research rigor, and emotional intelligence. By taking an iterative approach and grounding decisions in user behavior, we built a system that worked better for both users and the business.