I made membership optional
+35% · new buyer conversion
Membership was mandatory. I made it optional. Conversion rose 35%. Revenue rose 10% too.
The problem
Outschool required membership to buy a class. The theory was that membership added value. The data suggested it mostly added friction.
Undoing it meant reversing a decision the company had already committed to. That is a harder problem than any UX change.
What I did
Shifted the model from mandatory membership to optional. Reintroduced a la carte purchasing across web and mobile. Built clearer measurement around monetization so the bet could be judged honestly.
The tradeoff was real: short-term revenue predictability against long-term growth. I made the case and owned it.
What moved
New buyer conversion rose 35% year over year. Total payments rose 10%.
The lift confirmed the bet. Membership had been net friction, not net value.