Pango! Where I was the only UX writer reporting to the VP of Design. Pango was acquired by Aura last year.  These specific examples are from the Hotspot Shield Android app.

This was an update to the Android settings page. We were seeing a low amount of usage of the features on the page, and a low click-through rate on the settings page in general.​​​​​​​

Here’s the original flow. The settings that were added were "Internet Kill Switch", which would shut off internet traffic if the VPN disconnected, "VPN protocol" which was a set of instructions that decides how to communicate data with the VPN servers (for example certain protocols can be faster, others are easily blocked so what you’re using really matters), and "Trusted WiFi networks" which was WiFi networks the user would automatically connect to.

But the first thing I worked on was the existing settings that were currently called “Auto-connect VPN” “Start on boot” and “Turn VPN off while sleep” which were rather confusing to our users.

...to validate our existing hypotheses. Tests were 10 people each, for a total of 20 users. The copy I wrote can be found here.​​​​​​​

There wasn’t any structure to the existing page, so I worked with the designer on creating some content hierarchy for it. Specifically, we added a “General settings” section (which now housed the “Auto-connect VPN”, “Start on boot” and “Turn off VPN while sleep” features), added an “Auto-connect” section that only appeared when the users have identified that they want selected apps to boot the VPN automatically connect as soon as they opened the app. Trusted WiFi networks, VPN protocol and Internet Kill Switch were all new.

I’d raised concerns with the team that “General settings” was too confusing and didn’t specify what the user could expect when they clicked on this feature. I was also concerned that VPN protocol was unclear to the average user.

On the third image, I’d changed all the feature names to align with each other, and I moved “Connect on startup” to the top. I also aligned all the subheadings to align with one another to reduce user confusion. I made the settings more action-oriented. (The line below Network settings was also changed to say “Auto-connect”). We added “New” flags to help users quickly grasp what had been added. We also discussed how to better segment out all the options available and created categories called “VPN settings”, “Tools”, “Application settings” and “Network settings”.

“I know what’s behind each tab and what I’m getting into’

“This one will just open it when you open the app instead of you manually having to start it”

“Auto-connect, without clicking on it, I think it’s apps you want to automatically turn the VPN on for? I guess?”

“I’m assuming those are the networks you trust being on.”

“VPN protocol … I’m not entirely sure what that means.”

“Okay VPN protocol is what you want it to do and at what times” 

“It tells me exactly what I need to know”

“I’ve had VPNs that wouldn’t turn on automatically in the past… so I think that’s really convenient.”

“VPN protocol… not sure what that would mean.”

“I’m not sure… I would have to go into them and see. Internet Kill switch is pretty straight forward”

“I wouldn’t know what VPN protocol is unless I touch it”

“Oh it [VPN protocol] is a rule for the VPN”

“I think a gear icon makes more sense next to general settings. Oh, because it’s connecting and disconnecting. Well, still, it’s good to stick to what were used to”

“Well I know what a kill switch does…”

“VPN protocol is the way things are encrypted”

“Auto-Connect… maybe, auto connects the VPN when you open those specific apps”

“General settings… I’m not too sure what would be in that to be honest….it’s not named the best…I’d call it connection settings”

“Data saver and notifications are self-explanatory”

“General settings probably means when controls VPN behavior, particularly when you’re using a hotspot”

“I was thinking it auto-connects to a specific device but now I’m thinking….(she got it right after reading “3 apps”

“I could use more information but this is probably fine also”

“Maybe it’s which server it will connect to, or which country” (He’s talking about General Settings)

“In terms of VPN protocol… I only know IPSec and even then I barely know how that works”

“I’m not sure what Hydra specifically does”

“Disconnect on sleep…would want that to stay off”

“Whatever’s recommended I usually go with it”

“VPN protocol … that’s the type of connection that’s recommended”

“I don’t know what this Hydra protocol is, I’ve never heard of it”

“One of the applications have been disconnected from this VPN…. It takes a few seconds or minutes to reinstall, 3 applications have been through that process”

“It’s general settings but I cannot tell you one…”

“Does it disconnect when you close the app?”

Here’s where we landed based off research. We changed the section headers, we changed general settings to something more clear and we further polished the auto-connect language.

We changed “General Settings” to “Connection center” and changed the subhead to better clarify what the section represented. People thought under general settings that it was how they turn the VPN on and off (like, there was a button within that would manually turn on the VPN — this lived on the home screen of the app). 

We pivoted to connection center because all the options within had to do with how the VPN automatically connects. In hindsight the subhead for connection center should have said “auto connects” for further clarity. We changed the language under VPN protocol to highlight that the user was using the optimal protocol (which was our proprietary technology, Hydra) instead of just saying the name “Hydra” which confused them further as it was a term they were unfamiliar with.

 

I received feedback from stakeholders as well. As a result, I altered language in the ‘connect on startup” to use the word “device” to further clarify what we were referring to. I received some feedback from the designer and PM that the sections needed more clarity. So, we dropped the usage of the term “settings” everywhere as we wanted the user to understand these as categories within the settings umbrella rather than disjointed separate settings. 

We also moved “general” to the “application settings” slot and dropped the use of “applications” here as we were referring to 3rd-party applications as “applications” and we didn’t want to cause more confusion as to what “applications” we were referring to. As you can see, we did a lot of work around clarity for the user, as opposed to moving the needle for the business (though we did that too!).

This project, referred to as “Time Wall”, was a new addition to the Android platform.

Free users are given a certain amount of time on the Hotspot Shield VPN app to start. After X amount of time is up, they can then earn more time in the app by watching an ad. If users choose not to watch ads, they can either exit the Hotspot Shield or upgrade to the Premium service to continue using the product.

Now I’m going to talk to you about how the sausage is made and why we chose these solutions based off user testing (and show you the copy I suggested to the team).

Etsy

My manager told me the voice we wanted brand-wise for Hotspot Shield was like a car ad: sleek, fast, and powerful.

Which can be found here. Please note this document is close to final text, and doesn't reflect the full process the text underwent (which can be found below).

I usually come up with multiple versions of each piece of text that I have to deliver, anywhere from 2 to 3 alternates for long pieces of text/longer projects, to 8 to 10 final suggestions for a product name. This doesn’t include regular ‘ol brainstorming.

UserTesting​​​​​​​

I’ll be testing these pages, which was where the most important copy lived. These pages told users that the time limit existed, that they can add more time by watching an ad or going premium, and they had run out of time. These pop up at pivotal moments in the flow.  Tests were 5 people each for a total of 15 users. In UsertTesting, we explained that they were using a VPN to get to this screen. We asked screening questions to get users who showed intent to download a VPN. We tested plain text on a white background with no interface.

Here’s how we presented the text. We wanted to solicit user’s opinions on copy, sans influence from design.

Part 1
Title:
Watch an ad to get 15 minutes in the app 

Subtitle:
You’ll be able to add more time by watching more ads. Don’t worry, we’ll never sell your info to 3rd parties.

Button: 
WATCH VIDEO

Title:

Get even more time

Subtitle:

You can watch as many videos as you like to stack up free time in the app.

Button 1: 

WATCH VIDEO

Button 2:  

SUBSCRIBE TO PREMIUM

Title:

Your time has run out

Subtitle: 

Watch an ad to add more time, or subscribe to Premium for unlimited time. Remember: we never sell your data to 3rd parties.

Button 1: 

WATCH A VIDEO

Button 2:

SUBSCRIBE TO PREMIUM

“I can only use the app by watching ads. If I don’t watch ads I won’t be able to use the app, it sounds like.”

Don’t worry will never sell your info to third parties doesn’t feel relevant because you’re just watching an ad. (Summarized feedback)

“Usually I don’t click on this stuff because it kinda sketches me out a little bit.”

“Button: Watch Ad” (a suggestion)

“I don’t see anything backing up the third party claim. I don’t know if this is the beginning or….”

“15 minutes that’s not worth it”

“You might lose 15 minutes just watching the ad itself”

“I don’t think anyone is gonna download a VPN to watch ads”

“15 minutes is just too short”

“I genuinely have no clue”

“It’s very bland”

“I’m genuinely really confused” 

“It’s a video platform, a media platform”

“If you subscribe you have unlimited access to videos”

 “Stack up time, is that time spent in the app?”

“What am I supposed to do with the time?”

“Watch this ad for more free time”

“I don’t have to worry that my data is being sold”

“Seems reasonable. Makes sense to me.”

“I think it’s pretty straight forward”

“I have no problem with that”

“Pretty self explanatory. Similar to [ads on Youtube].”

“It’s pretty succinct”

I combined my results from UserTesting with what I'd already checked to make sure all this text fit in the existing designs using Sketch. I also double checked this text’s readability using the Hemingway editor. After this, we kicked into multiple rounds of feedback with stakeholders. 

Title:

Watch an ad to enjoy x minutes

Subtitle:

Support the free version of Hotspot Shield by watching ads. To enjoy unlimited time in the app, subscribe to Premium. Regardless of your status, we’ll never sell your data to third parties.

Button: 

WATCH AD

Title:

Get even more time in Hotspot Shield

Subtitle:

Watch more ads to get more total time in our app. To make it permanent, subscribe to Premium instead. Remember: we never sell your data to third parties.

Button 1:  WATCH AD

Button 2: SUBSCRIBE TO PREMIUM

Title:

Your time has run out

Subtitle: Watch an ad to add more time, or subscribe to Premium for unlimited time. 

Button 1: WATCH AD

Button 2: SUBSCRIBE TO PREMIUM