Day & Week Pass: a mid-funnel subscription alternative
A full case study is available upon request.
Problem
We know through research some of our audience isn’t ready to commit to a subscription now, or ever. Or maybe they’ve previously subscribed, but no longer found the value exchange worth it.
Day and week passes allow these subscription-averse readers to get access to The Post when they need it, without the long-term commitment. We’re asking them to date us—not marry us. And from a business standpoint, we can open up a new revenue stream for previously untapped audiences.
What we did
We embarked on a series of experiments which tested duration (Day, Week) and variant price points for each—pitted against our control paywall experience. We trialed a Week Pass first, then a Day Pass, where the purchaser unlocked timed access to unlimited Washington Post content and all the benefits that come with a Core subscription.
Why it mattered
Allowed us to tap into a new revenue stream
Expanded our funnel of high-value leads we can continue to nurture
Offered value to—and monetize off of—a subscription-averse audience we would otherwise lose
Laid the foundation to easily add other new products to our multi-product ecosystem
My role
As the product design lead, I shaped the experience strategy, content strategy, and requirements framework across product, marketing, engineering, and legal. My work focused on collaborating with our business partners to validate user mental models against initial assumptions, defining a flexible UX/UI framework for future product expansion and experimentation, establishing content guidelines to lay the groundwork for how we speak to our readers through these experiences, and ensuring our product balanced needs of both the business and our readers.
Impact
While these tests generated fewer direct subscription starts, they expanded the paying audience by capturing incremental purchasers outside the traditional subscription funnel.
Despite lower subscription starts, the pass offering increased total paying users by 12%, demonstrating incremental value beyond subscriptions alone.
The highest purchase rates were from terminated subscribers, which suggests that price, not value, was the primary churn driver
Next steps
Continuing to assess long-tail trends, and relationships we form with these purchasers.
Be strategic with where we place this. Introduce passes into cancellation and winback campaigns. Terminated subscribers are signaling willingness to pay—they’re just not ready to recommit.
Design upgrade moments when a pass terminates. “You’ve read X articles. A subscription saves you Y.”
A full case study is available upon request.