Lensa: Modular Promo Paywall
Client
Prisma Labs
Role
Product Designer
Date
2023
Lensa is a mobile app developed by Prisma Labs, specializing in AI-powered photo and video editing. It became widely popular for its AI-generated avatars, allowing users to transform their selfies into stylized digital artwork.
Key Features of Lensa:
• Magic Avatars
• AI Retouching
• Photo & Video Editing
It has subscription-based model, where free users have a limit on saved edits.
Context
Every year, Black Friday creates a massive global sales growth. Lensa saw this as a prime opportunity to drive new subscriptions and increase ARPU.
And each new campaign required a fully custom design, adding unnecessary overhead for designers and developers.
Сhallenge
My Role
• Designed a modular, reusable promo paywall to simplify providing the future promo campaigns.
• Worked closely with the Product Manager to define key business goals, align design decisions with revenue targets.
• Collaborated with iOS & Android developers to validate that the new paywall could be developed quickly.
Team
• Product Designer
• Product Manager
• iOS Engineer
• Android Engineer
• QA
Business Problem
Lensa’s subscription model needed to attract users who wouldn’t normally subscribe at full price. Black Friday was our moment to convert them.
Our current paywall system had two major issues.
Every promo required a custom design, increasing workload.
Previous card-based paywall structures didn’t scale well, especially on Android.
Hypothesis
If we create a flexible promo paywall, we can boost conversions, increase ARPU, and streamline future campaign execution
Process
The tight deadline meant I had to move fast while making sure the design was simple, effective, and easy to implement.
Research & Strategy
• Collaborated with product manager to align expectations and engineers to get feedback about past paywalls.
• Analyzed past paywalls and competitor approaches.
• Defined the key requirements: easy customization, seamless scaling across devices, and alignment with the design system.
Concept & Wireframing
• Sketched multiple layout options, focusing on clarity and hierarchy.
• Tested different content structures (e.g., large title + image vs. card-based approach)
• Shared early wireframes with the team to avoid unnecessary iterations later.
Final Design & Development Prep
• Refined UI based on feedback, ensuring clarity and hierarchy.
• Created a design system-friendly version to speed up development.
• Prepared responsive versions for different screen sizes.
• Prototyped interactions.
Developer Grooming
• Decided on two main customizable elements (icon + background) to keep development simple.
• Shared with the team for early feedback—this helped avoid unnecessary iterations later.
• Added loading states and fallback elements to handle edge cases.
The reusable paywall framework wasn’t just for Black Friday — it became a template for all future Lensa promos, including Christmas and special offers.
But that wasn’t the end, as a consistency issue was uncovered.
In the begin Lensa used Apple-style emojis in .png format. Later, we switched to a free emoji pack from Microsoft with a real 3D style (also in .png).
While working on the Black Friday paywall activation, the team decided to switch to the .svg format. This change helped reduce image sizes and provide better performance and scalability.
To implement this:
• I collaborated with iOS & Android developers to update the IconView component in our Design System, ensuring support for .svg emojis.
• I worked with the photo and video teams to resolve inconsistencies across screens related to their streams.
Key Results
The new promo paywall successfully increased conversion rate by 10%.
+3%
Revenue increased
for iOS
+5%
Revenue increased
for Android
+6,187
New yearly iOS
subscribers
+899
New yearly Android
subscribers
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of designing for reusability, not just one-off launches.
Bu if I were to improve this further, I’d add a double-offer mechanic—showing an additional screen for hesitant users, further boosting conversions.
Early team collaboration prevented misalignment and reduced iteration cycles.
• A scalable solution saves time & resources — this framework is now used for all future promos.
