MasterClass · Growth

Conversion upat every step.

I designed and tested changes across MasterClass's acquisition funnel, from the homepage hero to checkout. Five of six lifted membership conversion.

MasterClass homepage on a laptop with a 'What brings you to MasterClass today?' question built into the hero

How it moved the business

What I shipped

  • Category page templateOutcome-led pages that sell the membership, rolled out to every category.
  • Quiz in the homepage heroThe onboarding quiz's first question, right on the homepage.
  • Browse menuA new way to explore classes, validated with interactive prototypes.
  • CheckoutA winning checkout after several losing rounds.
  • Innovation lab prototypesMC Kids and MC Accelerator: full prototypes of two new products, tested with real users.

What I changed at MasterClass

  • Reframed discovery from browsing content to aspiring to an outcome
  • Designed whole surfaces first, then tested against that plan, so tests stayed fast and pages stayed coherent
  • Users ranked sections by perceived value in low-fi prototypes before we built anything

Membership conversion lift from A/B tests on each surface. Lifts are per test and aren't additive; the biggest were each worth millions a year in sales. A sixth test, on the quiz results page, came back flat. MasterClass won a 2023 Webby Award for education websites while I was on the team.

The problem

Curious, not convinced.

Category pages drew heavy traffic but converted poorly. We assumed people couldn't find classes. An audit and user research showed they could; they just weren't sure the membership was worth it.

The key decision

Inspire, or help them evaluate?

Option A

Inspire

Lead with motivation and aspiration, like our paid ads.

Option B

Evaluate

Lead with the catalog and plainly what's included.

Option C · Chosen

Sell the outcome

Aspirational framing, backed by credentials and clear membership value.

Why

When users ranked sections by value, instructor credentials, related classes and what's included rose to the top. So topics became outcomes ("Poetry" became "Become a poetic wordsmith"), top instructors led with their credentials, and the membership's value was spelled out.

One template now serves every category. It lifted membership conversion 10% and LTV 7%, at 60k+ visitors per variant.

Also shipped

The work, up close.

MasterClass Writing category page on desktop and mobile, leading with instructors and a sign-up prompt
The new category template: outcome-led topics, instructors with credentials, membership value up front.+10% conversion, +7% LTV
A grid of homepage hero explorations testing different layouts and quiz treatments
Hero directions behind the homepage test.+5% conversion
MasterClass Browse menu open over the homepage, listing categories, subcategories and instructors
A new Browse menu, validated in user testing.+10% conversion
Redesigned MasterClass checkout on tablet and phone
The winning checkout, after several losing rounds.+12% conversion

More from the project

A few more screens.

MasterClass mobile screens: category page, plan selection, class page and a session
01On mobile: category, plans, class page and sessions.
A full MasterClass class marketing page
02A class page designed as a whole, so smaller experiments fit a larger plan.
MasterClass Sessions screens: customize your session and follow along step by step
03Sessions: customizing a class and following along.
Grid of MasterClass thumbnail explorations for classes, lessons, sessions, playlists and articles
04A thumbnail art system to tell five content types apart: class, lesson, session, playlist and article.
MC Kids landing page prototype
05MC Kids: a full prototype of a new product, tested with real users.
Accelerator mobile landing page prototype for a leadership course
06MC Accelerator: a full prototype of another new product, tested with real users.
How-to page template from content outline to wireframe
07A how-to page template, from content outline to low-fidelity mockup.

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