Ancestry Growth
ROLE
Product designer
TIMELINE
June 2022 - July 2023
TEAM
2 Designer,
1 Product Manager
4 Engineers
Work
PROBLEM
Users loved the hints - but didn’t subscribe
New Person Hint (NPH) refers to the feature on Ancestry that surfaces suggestions like “potential mother” or “potential father” based on available data (e.g., Member Trees, Birth ,Marriage and Death records).

These are the moments of magic for new users exploring their family tree. Until this test, these hints were freely accessible.
What are new person hint?
New person hints are generated using available data, including member trees and historical records like birth, marriage, and death records, to help users identify and add new relatives on their family tree
GOAL
Opportunity Solution Tree
Paywalls that turn engagement into conversions
RESEARCH
We targeted new registrants as they have higher intent to conversion
They have strong purchase intent with 9% conversion rate and also they were in the discovery phase
Largest
​
-
Over 12 months on Ancestry
-
Built a detailed tree
-
2% Conversion
Most at Risk
-
1-12 months on Ancestry
-
Built a detailed tree
-
3% Conversion
Most Important
-
New user
-
Building a tree
-
9% Conversion
Rising Engagement, Low Conversion
Despite the positive engagement, only 3.5% of registrants convert to a free trial or hard offer
Engagement is increasing
% of users starting a tree increasing from 24% last year to 52% this year
Registrants didn't convert
% of users hitting a paywall remain as low as 16%
DESIGN JOURNEY
Current onboarding journey
I found out that the upsell can appear 2-6 days into the user journey whenever they stumbled upon an artifact
Start a family tree
Discover a New Person Hint
Continue tree building
Paywall
Hypothesis
Only 16% of users were reaching a paywall, limiting our ability to convert freemium users.
Placing a new person hint behind a paywall would nudge more freemium users to start a free trial or purchase a subscription
-
New Person hints were early in the user journey
-
Every new user starts by building a family tree
-
Discovering a person on the tree is their first magical moment
=> This would be the ideal point to introduce a paywall and drive conversion.
New User Journey
I found out that the upsell can appear 2-6 days into the user journey whenever they stumbled upon an artifact
Start a family tree
Discover a New Person Hint
Continue tree building
Paywall
SOLUTION
Growth experiment
Created treatments and A/B tested them out during the onboarding journey
Interstitial page upsell
Non intrusive upsell
Control
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
New Person Hint
PROTOTYPE
Control
Treatment 1
Treatment 2
RESULT
A/B test experiment winner was variant 2
Interstitial upsell - Treatment 1
This approach paused the flow to present a focused, distraction-free upsell. By isolating the value proposition and visuals, it created a moment of decision—helping users clearly understand what they’d get with a free trial.
Non intrusive upsell - Treatment 2
This version used a bottom sheet pattern embedded in the existing flow. It was designed to feel more contextual and less disruptive, aiming to surface the offer naturally as part of the user’s experience.
REFLECTION
What I learned....
Lead with value to build trust
Giving users 2 free hints before the paywall helped them experience Ancestry’s core value early
User experience and business goals can align
A well-timed, value-first paywall boosted engagement without hurting trust.
Paywalls don’t need a price tag
Subtly gating a free trial created focus and increased perceived value without friction
Role