We need your feedback: How do we make 90-day plans easier to understand?

[Brooke_C]

Hey Community,

When we announced that we would be closing down our Public Lab, we also committed to collecting your feedback and ideas in more actionable ways. Below is one example of how we plan to do just that.

Some feedback we’ve been regularly hearing is that new customers are having a difficult time understanding our 90-day plans. I recently witnessed this confusion firsthand, when a family member joined Public Mobile. She asked questions like: What is a 90-day plan? And, if I get a 90-day plan, how does the payment work? Do I pay every 30 days for a 90 day period or do I pay for the full 90 days upfront? Being the only carrier in Canada who provides 90-day plans, it is not surprising that this is the response, and we recognize that offering a plan for this length of time is unfamiliar for most. That is why, from now until April 20th, we want to work with you to see how we can make it easier for everyone to understand.

Today, we communicate the 90-day total within the plan calculators on our plans page, activation portal and Self-Serve. The total is displayed as follows:

We are looking to update this view in order to address the confusion some customers are experiencing when they purchase a 90-day plan.

Here’s how it will work

Below, you will you find several design and copy ideas that we’ve come up with. There are 4 versions, so please make sure to pay close attention to which variant you like.

1. Vote below on the option you like the most by clicking on the ‘Bravo’ icon
2. If you don’t like any of the proposed options, or have a different idea, create your own design and post it as a reply to this thread. Here are a couple of pointers when doing so:
   • Be sure to take the lens of someone who has never heard of Public Mobile before and is hearing about our 90-day plans for the first time
   • Get support for your option from the Community by sharing why you think your design and copy would be easier for others to understand

After April 20th, we will review the submissions, with particular focus on the most Bravo’d options. While we will be closely looking at the designs which have the most Bravo’s, we will also take into consideration other factors, such as how design elements impact timelines, when making the selection. We may also find that a combination of the options is best, and decide to pull them together for the ultimate customer-friendly design. From there, we will make the big reveal!

We are looking forward to seeing all the creative ideas, and hearing your thoughts!

-Public Mobile Community Team

[Korth]

I think Option 2 and Option 4 have the best and clearest wording:

"$X up front for the full 90 days."

"Your total today for your 90 day plan is $X."

And I think it should be paired with this equally clear wording like:

"That works out to $X every 30 days."

I don't particularly like the use of "that's $X / 30 days" or "90 day subtotal" - they reek of corpspeak accounting, lol.  And I think "That's about $X / mo" on Option 4 is asking for trouble, 30 days and one month are similar enough but I expect there will always be people who get confused or accusatory about the minor difference.

But to be honest, I think this is only a cosmetic detail - which is good, it's always good to have a refined, simple, elegant, professional look to things.  While I think the Self-Serve needs more substantive details - as in real readable plaintext sentences/paragraphs which clearly and explicitly inform the customer of important stuff ... stuff which (given the recurring surprise/frustration of customers) is apparently not being properly communicated or understood ... like:

- It's a fully prepaid service, no refunds or transfers from account balance

- Unused or remaining talk/text/data allocations are lost (without any refund/credit) when the plan is changed mid-cycle

And ... I think Self-Serve is the first place customers go when they're frustrated by problems with their billing or service, so it's the smartest place to put a big fat "Click here for support" button which passes the customer's message (along with automatically appended or prompted for the customer's account/ID details) to the PM support staff AND reports some kind of "Ticket #" or "Queue #" to the customer so they can be confident the problem is actually receiving attention.  Leaning on the Community forum is kinda weak, and leaning on Simonbot is kinda ineffective.

[MEU_21]

For those of us who understand 90-day plans, it almost doesn't matter which option you pick.

What PM needs to do is better marketing with a dedicated webpage and BIG BOLD the 90 DAY webpage with "YOUR 90-DAY CARRIER" and tag lines like "You''ll get these plans for the next 90 days for $XYZ!" and "Keep extending this plan again for the next 90 days for the same $XYZ!" (unless you are on the fall promo... and then we'll throw you under the next bus).

No one reads fine print and especially when the fine print is excessive. Everyone just gets turned off.

[ShawnC13]

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@tzliu wrote:

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I joined PM last year (FM promo) and I was very much confused. The itemized billing was not helping either and created even further confusion.   

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LOL yes that billing is a totally different topic (trainwreck)

[sheytoon]

Completely agree with @Luddite!

Change 30/90 day plans to 1/3 month instead, and also remove all mention of price per month on the 90 day/3-month plans. If people can't divide by 3 they have bigger problems to worry about 🙂

[tzliu]

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@Brooke_C wrote:

OPTION 2

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Like Option 2 best, but with $35/30 days removed. 

Better version should be 

Your "90-days" plan costs $105 and due in full at signing. ("90 days" is changable according to the plan selected)

The sign up and upfront payment due should remove any ambiguities.  If a person is signing  up for a 90-days plan then there should not be any mentioning of about 30 days.  Very few are paying 90 days for their wireless services.  Most are customized to paying monthly for their services.  The mere mentioning of the 30 days just creates undesireable confusions.

I joined PM last year (FM promo) and I was very much confused. The itemized billing was not helping either and created even further confusion.   

[sdt1]

Here's a proposed option to offer even more detail/clarity for new/existing customers. If it has to be narrowed down to one of the four options presented, however, I added my bravo for option #4:

[ShawnC13]

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@srlawren wrote:

@Brooke_C if listing the cost per 30 days to the right, then don't say "about".  In this example, it's precisely $35 per 30 days.  If you're showing the cost per month to the right (which I prefer, since it's easier to compare to offerings at other providers), then either use the "about" $35/month or even better, show the exact monthly cost using the <90 day price> / 90 days * 365 days / 12 months calculation, or in the example:  $105 / 90 * 365 / 12 you would say "equivalent to $35.49 per month"

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It is a Friday night how are you coming up with this lol.  You didn't work hard enough at work this week!!!

I still find it easy to understand the 90 day pricing.  That is what drew me to PM.  That and now what I pay for 90 days is less then a month at my old provider *cough* Rogers*cough*

[srlawren]

@Brooke_C if listing the cost per 30 days to the right, then don't say "about".  In this example, it's precisely $35 per 30 days.  If you're showing the cost per month to the right (which I prefer, since it's easier to compare to offerings at other providers), then either use the "about" $35/month or even better, show the exact monthly cost using the <90 day price> / 90 days * 365 days / 12 months calculation, or in the example:  $105 / 90 * 365 / 12 you would say "equivalent to $35.49 per month"

[smp99]

Option 3 but the text on the right should read something like

That averages out to about $35 per month when you prepay for the 90 day plan

[makkahn28]

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@Brooke_C wrote:

OPTION 3

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This is MORE in line with Concise info. I'd pick this one.

Just sugestion:  Fonts could be Bigger, and Plus Applicable Taxes More readily readable, to cover all corners

[imm1304]

I would prefer Option 2, as it appears to communicate the message best to me.  

[crreature]

I like option 2 for clarity, but I'd move the $35/30 days text to the right side as well. It reads weirdly having it on the left.

[NDesai]

I like Option 2 as its got more and important detail than others.

[PBForMe]

No, currently it shows you the total for 90 days

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@koimr1 wrote:
I respectfully disagree. 🙂 Isn't what you've written already the current scenario and causing confusion?

It's also not a monthly price - it's 30 days which only four months actually have.

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No, currently it features the 90 day price with zero mention of the monthly price. The entire point of my post was that it should feature the monthly price predominantly as that's the relevant point of comparison to other plans, that's what people are expecting.

I know it's not monthly but I want to know what the monthly price works out to upfront, that's the number I can compare to other plans from other companies, that's the number that should appear predominantly because that's the number consumers are expecting to see. 

That's just my opinion based on the interactions I've had with those I've recommended PM to. 

[koimr1]

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@PBForMe wrote:

Personally I would focus on the monthly price and put the 3 month total in the subscript, whereas PM always does the opposite and focuses on the 3 month total for some reason which tends to throw people for a loop. 

The monthly price is what people really care about, and it should be the focus not the 90 day total IMO. 

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I respectfully disagree. 🙂 Isn't what you've written already the current scenario and causing confusion?

It's also not a monthly price - it's 30 days which only four months actually have.

[Acekiller]

option 3 and 4 are both good

[PBForMe]

It's not monthly Kav but people want to know what the monthly price is to compare it to other plans, so PM should feature that price up front. The 90 day total is only relevant at checkout really. 

Furthermore not making it every x month(s) but every 90 days is another source of confusion. 

[kav2001c]

@ShawnC13 no

I think it IS possible someone wants to choose 2 options (heck just above someone said 3 or 4)

Let them bravo the choice they feel is best

Either way, choose 3 or be wrong 

@PBForMe but its not monthly (unless Public plans to change it) it is really 30 / 90 days regardless of days in each month

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

Now if you could add a voting poll so that people can only vote once and not bravo multiple posts.

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[PBForMe]

Personally I would focus on the monthly price and put the 3 month total in the subscript, whereas PM always does the opposite and focuses on the 3 month total for some reason which tends to throw people for a loop. 

The monthly price is what people really care about, and it should be the focus not the 90 day total IMO. 

[Luddite]

Some more basic suggestions:

a) stop advertising $xxx for 30 thirty days*  (* when purchasing 90 day plan)

b) move to 1 month and 3 month plans

a) is the most critical source of the confusion. IMHO Let people figure out for themselves the 30 day cost.

[ShawnC13]

@Brooke_C, thanks for bringing this to the community in this format!!  I think the voting is a great idea and will allow for the community to have a voice.  I think this direction with presenting your ideas you are working on and putting out to us is better then the Public Lab.  it is nice to get new ideas in but if they aren't an issue you would work on there is no point for that.

Now if you could add a voting poll so that people can only vote once and not bravo multiple posts.

[koimr1]

I like #3 personally, even better would be if the left text said, "Your 90-day subtotal, due now and every 90 days" just so it's super-clear. And even bigger text so it stands out more from the right-side text (which is what everyone seems to fixate on).

[Wonder_why]

Option 3 or 4 look good 

[kav2001c]

I like #3 the best

It is odd how other prepay carriers can have 60 or 365 day expiry dates and everyone "gets it" but the 90 day plans cause so much confusion

[Brooke_C]

OPTION 4 

[Brooke_C]

OPTION 3

[Brooke_C]

OPTION 2

[Brooke_C]

OPTION 1