Harry’s Starter Set

Context: The Shave Trial Set was Harry’s discounted starter kit for new customers. Purchasing it automatically enrolled users into a monthly subscription.

The Problem: User surveys revealed confusion about what the set included (e.g., how many razors were in it), leading to post-trial drop-off.

Our Solution: Refreshed Trial Set imagery and copy to clearly communicate the full assortment and key features, tying callouts directly to user-valued details. Clarified subscription terms and provided an opt-out option.

The Process: Analyzed survey data and NPS scores to pinpoint pain points: +42.2% abandonment at Starter Set cart checkout and NPS score fell between about +20 and +30

1. Highlighted features users valued most (weighted handle, blade count, shave gel).

2. Tested updated copy and imagery with a small user group, iterated on feedback.

My Role:

  • Wrote all page copy and product microcopy

  • Assisted in running user surveys and analyzing feedback

  • Ideated content solutions based on findings

The Team:

  • UX Writer/Content Designer: Audrey Siaw-Asamoah

  • UX Designer: Monica Han

  • Strategy & Ops: Colin Sullivan

  • Lead UX/UI: Federico de Sanctis

  • Engineering

Impact:

  • Reduced churn from the Starter Set by 40%

  • Boosted subscription retention

  • Established clearer naming conventions across the site

  • Busy descriptor bullet points with hard-to-see icons

  • Gallery flow did not clarify users received one razor handle with refills

  • Gallery flow could include more product details to clarify what set includes

PDP Before

Testing Results

We conducted user testing on our first version. Overall, they were confused by four things:

  • What we called this set. I conducted an informal content audit and found our site referred to this set as both a Trial Set and a Starter Set interchangeably

  • The icons in our description bullets

  • The image microcopy (too small, looked clunky to them)

  • How ordering one Trial Set automatically enrolled them in a monthly subscription - this needs to be clarified or removed

Gallery Flow 1

This was a suggestion my designer and I brought to the team that included microcopy with guiding product details as users’ hovered over images in the gallery flow.

Updated Flow

  • Step 1 of flow, updated homepage

  • Highlight set in red to clarify start of journey to users

  • Conducted content audit on name: saw both Trial Set and Starter Set used synonymously on site

  • Compromised with Marketing and brand on naming convention —> Starter Set on PDP, Shave Trial on homepage to capture new users

  • My designer removed the icons to streamline the description section visually

  • I simplified image microcopy and kept one product shot per photo except the first

Step 2, PDP

  • I added in clear opt-in subscription language prior to checkout  

  • Also communicated value of subscribing so the suggestion is helpful to users and drives business goals (i.e. ‘Never Run Out & Save 5% on every order’)

  • Added in dropdown for frequency to allow for greater user customization

Step 3, Checkout

  • Added in shopify and paypal pay options to extend ways of paying for user

Impact

  • Checkout Conversion Rate (CVR) ↑ +243 bps (+4.8%) week-over-week → more users successfully moved through checkout.

  • Purchase Conversion Rate (CVR) ↑ +465 bps (+21.8%) → significantly more users completed their purchase after the update.

  • Established clearer naming conventions across the site

  • Gathered actionable user data for our Harry’s Plus vs. Harry’s Original subscription flow 

Before - Starter Set is orange, Subscribers are Pink

After - Starter Set is orange

Next

Harry's Plus Flow