Driving £12,000,000 growth through CRO
TLDR
Context
Bark connects millions of consumers with professionals across 1000+ categories, but customers were dropping off during the project creation flow.
Customer problem
Customers were abandoning our question flow because we asked for information without showing value.
Solution
Set expectation of the process, brought the value sooner, addressed specific pain points around data privacy.
Outcome
Increased the conversion of the project creation flow resulting in + £12,000,000 annualised revenue
The challenge
Bark connects millions of consumers with professionals across 1000+ categories, but customers were dropping off during the project creation flow. We needed to increase the conversion while ensuring the quality of projects does not go down, measured through our health metrics.
Customer problem discovery
We wanted to understand why users were dropping out of the project creation flow - Through 7 moderated interviews and data analysis, we identified that customers were dropping off because:
-50% conversion drop
Expectation mismatch
Customers 'just want to see a list' of professionals but encountered questions instead (due to: priming from the google ad and our messaging)
Undefined amount
Brand unfamiliarity
Low baseline trust as most traffic came from paid search, directing users straight to the questions
-30% conversion drop
Lost motivation (no value)
Customers lose motivation as we're not showing them any value - they expect to see a list but are shown more questions
-25% conversion drop
Trust barriers
Primary fear of getting spammed after sharing contact information
"I hate when companies sell my details. How do I know you won't do the same?"
"I thought I'd see results by now. It feels like I'm doing work for nothing."
Customer pain points mapped
We applied behavioural psychology principles to map the complete user journey, ensuring our design decisions addressed underlying motivations rather than isolated touchpoints.
Problem Prioritisation
+ Prioritised
We focused on the pain points of lost motivation and trust barriers - because they were solvable through product changes within 2-week sprints.
- Deprioritised
Initial expectation setting (required marketing collaboration) and brand unfamiliarity (company-wide initiatives).
This choice meant we could address the majority of the pain points through rapid product iteration.
Solution design
Hypotheses 1
Customer problem
Lost motivation (no value)
Psychology
Labour illusion makes results feel higher quality
Solution
Show the system 'working' with animated progress to increase feeling of quality.
Result
1.6%
Step 1
Step 2
Hypotheses 2
Customer problem
Lost motivation (no value)
Psychology
Showing a preview of value maintains motivation during question flow
Solution
Display a blurred list of professionals in the background to show value is coming
Result
6.6%
Control
With background added
Hypotheses 3
Customer problem
Trust barriers
Psychology
Directly addressing fears builds trust and reduces anxiety
Solution
'We hate spam as much as you do' messaging to explicitly address spam concerns
Result
2.6%
Leading with anti-spam messaging primed users' fears and activated defensive thinking before establishing any value proposition, creating psychological friction that outweighed trust-building benefits.
Hypotheses 4
Customer problem
Trust barriers
Psychology
Explaining the 'why' and providing reassurance increases trust and compliance
Solution
'Your number is safe with us' and an explanation of why phone number is needed
Result
4.7%
Flow comparison
Iteration
Hypotheses 5
Customer problem
Trust barriers
Improvement
Enhanced the blurred backgrounds visual design to make it clearer there was a list of professionals
Result
2.7%
Control
Enhanced background
Outcomes & Key Learnings
Impact
Revenue increase of ~
£12,000,000
Increased customer engagement through the flow leading to increased conversion and double digit revenue growth.
More projects for professionals led to an increase in professional satisfaction
Key learnings
Psychological value matters as much as functional value - showing progress and previewing results maintains motivation
Address customer fears directly with benefits, don't reference the fear
Small changes can have a massive impact