Bye-bye Google: Overcoming Google Payment Billing Challenges at Ruangguru
Role
Product Designer
Company/Institution/Clients
Scope
Timeline
August 2021 - January 2022
Overview
Effective by April 2022, Google enforces all subscription-based apps and education apps in Playstore to use Google Play Billing as the sole payment method. Other payment methods such as direct bank transfer from the app is not allowed. The transaction fee for all purchases in Google Play (apps and in-app purchases) is 30% of the price the customer pays.
After discuss with product team and management, to minimize loss from the significant price change, we decide to explore alternative payment methods so that users can still subscribe to Ruangguru products at the intended price. In this exploration, we will implement the Google Play billing method while thoroughly experimenting to find the solution with that has the smallest delta revenue from the existing payment funnel.
Eager to discover the process? Keep scrolling!
Deep Dive Into The Problem
What is Google Play Billing (GPB)?
Google Play Billing (GPB) is a payment system used by the Google Play Store for in-app purchases like digital items, subscriptions, and app functionality or content based platform.
Ruangguru falls into two categories: subscription services and content. In April 2022, Google will implement a new rule where any app that has an in-app purchase system can only use Google Play Billing for payment methods.
What's the challenges with implementing GPB?
There are several challenges that need to be considered if we implement GPB.
30% fee: Google's 30% fee on subscription prices may necessitate price increases, potentially impacting sales.
Exclusive use of GPB: GPB mandates the exclusive use of Google Play Billing, limiting alternative payment methods like direct bank transfers.
Restricted in-app promotion: While external communication about alternative options is allowed, in-app promotion is restricted.
To offer alternative payments, we must follow policy rules, such as:
Informing users about alternative options outside the app (e.g., via email).
No in-app redirection to non-GPB payments unless permitted.
Linking to admin pages is allowed if they don’t lead to prohibited payment methods.
Risk of removal: Non-compliance with GPB policies could result in Ruangguru's removal from Google Play.
To better understand the existing payment flow in the Ruangguru app, I have provided an overview of the flow for more context.
The Goals We Aim to Achieve
In order to maintain Ruangguru's availability on Google Play, we must adopt the new policy from Google Play Billing (GPB). To minimize the loss from the significant price change, we will explore the possibilities of payment methods flow so that users can still subscribe to Ruangguru products at the intended price. To implement this, we have several goals that we want to achieve.
So, we define the goals and objectives of our current initiatives to better align our vision.
Get to Know Our User
Ruangguru caters to a user base ranging from elementary to high school students. Depending on the product, there are generally two user groups involved in purchases:
Various users have different opinions about buying packages on Ruangguru, so when trying out new methods, we should ensure that the payment process is user-friendly for both parents and students.
Exploring Our Approach
Based on the payment policy, after discussing with the team, we will provide 3 approaches to implementing this new payment flow, such as :
Payment flow with Google Play Billing (low risk, low effort)
We will implement Google Play Billing (GPB) as our payment method, but we will provide information to users about the higher price of Google Play fees for in-app purchases and show them how to purchase more cheaply on our website.
Consumable app (medium risk, low effort)
We will implement our app as a consumption-only (reader) app which is that our package subscription cannot be purchased from within the app. So, we will focus our all payment methods on the website and inform users how to purchase on our website.
Independent App Market (high risk, high effort)
To prevent worst-case issues, we are exploring the possibility of developing our own in-app store for the Ruangguru app. This will enable customized payment choices. While we'll maintain the current payment app, our app won't be listed on Playstore/AppStore; users will need to download it separately from our website.
From all strategies above, we will do usability testing and A/B testing to implement.
Beginning Experiment Design Plans
In this phase, we will create a design solution based on the idea described above. We will use medium-fidelity formatting due to the limited time available. This is still feasible as all screens have reusable components, meaning the design process will not require significant effort.
Payment Flow with Google Play Billing
Our goal for applying Google Play billing is to incorporate low-effort tweaks. We plan to feature nudges on certain screens of the payment flow to inform users in a subtle way that they could get a better price for the learning package through our website.
Consumable-App
In the consumable-app implementation, all payments will be processed on the website bayar.ruangguru.com. The purchase page will still display the product catalog, and a detailed product page will be available for each product. To make a purchase, users will be instructed to complete the transaction on the website.
Independent App Market
In case the first two solutions have a major impact on revenue, we have a backup plan that involves not using GPB and being self-reliant outside the Playstore. This concept involves creating our own App Market where users can download the Ruangguru ecosystem app.
Design Validations
Before introducing our design to the general public, we will conduct testing to confirm its effectiveness. In this testing, we have 3 main scenarios ( Payment funnel with GPB, Consumable App and Independent App Market) with the main objective are:
Understand user’s perception towards the new concept of payment flow & methods
Identify whether the new payment flow has provided a good experience for users to buy the learning package
Ensure that the new payment flow meets the needs of Ruangguru Users
We will conduct testing with two user groups:
3 high school students
3 parents with children in elementary school.
These different types of users will provide different perspectives on the experience of purchasing Ruangguru products
Testing Insight
Once we completed the testing process, we came across a few intriguing insights that would be essential to refine each solution.
Payment flow with GPB
Consumable App
Independent App Market
So, what's next?
After considering the trade-off from the user testing (UT) and the risks involved from the design, engineering, business, and product sides, we will proceed with iterating on the payment flow solution with GPB and consumable apps.
Here’s why :
The flow used is not too different from the existing payment process, making it easier for users to adopt
Lower design and engineering costs with the lowest risk
This solution will be A/B tested to determine which one to use in facing the official implementation decision of Google Play Billing.
Refining the Design After Usability Testing
Payment flow with GPB
To offer a better payment experience to our users, we have decided to use GPB as our payment method. However, we also want to provide transparency regarding the higher prices caused by Google Play fees for in-app purchases. To achieve this, we plan to inform users about the price differences and show them how to purchase our products at a more affordable price on our website.
Here's design approach that we've iterated:
Here are some key approaches that we can take to improve the payment flow and achieve our goals:
Making it clear to users that they can save 30% on their purchase by buying directly from our website rather than using the mobile app
We give information in front of the page so user can recognize our new payment system
We have added a nudge on the homepage that informs users about our new payment flow when they land on our app, so they can quickly and easily access the information.
We provide users with a step-by-step tutorial on how to purchase on our website to ensure that the process is easy to understand.
We offer a customer service funnel for users who are still confused about the payment process. If they contact our customer service, we will guide them through the steps to purchase via our website.
We have improved the nudge feature to inform users about the lower prices on our website on multiple screens. This will make it easier for them to notice and understand the benefits of purchasing through our website.
We also have made improvements by adding a note in the draft invoice to inform users about the markup price of 30% as a Google billing fee.
Consumable App
To simplify our app and avoid any complications, we will make it a consumption-only (reader) app. This means that our package subscription cannot be purchased from within the app. Instead, we will focus on directing users to our website for all payment transactions. We will provide clear instructions on how to purchase on our website so that users can easily access our subscription packages without any issues.
Here's design approach that we've iterated:
Our consumable approach is similar to the GPB flow, but with a key difference: users can’t purchase directly in the app. Instead, we guide them to complete the purchase on our website.
Implementations
After going through various design iterations, we decided to conduct A/B testing to ensure the effectiveness of our new payment flow solutions. A/B testing was conducted on three different variants, which were :
the current payment flow
payment flow with GPB
consumable app.
We will also make sure that the current payment flow has a more significant portion in the A/B test with a ratio of 3:1. This is to avoid any potential negative impact on revenue that may arise from implementing entirely new payment flows. We want to make sure that our new payment flow solutions will bring about positive changes and enhance our user's payment experiences.
Result & Impact
A payment flow using Google Play Billing is more likely to generate a higher revenue than a consumable app, 95% of users who received the GPB variant opting to make payments via the website*🚀.
Based on these results, we have decided to implement the in-app payment funnel using GPB after Google's policy comes into effect in April 2022.
To optimize payments via our website, we directed the promotion and purchase of our packages to our website during the New Academic Year 2022 campaign. For instance, we highlighted our offerings on several touchpoints such as Ruangguru Landing Pages and more marketing stuff.
*Side note: The exact numbers are omitted and rounded due to NDA*
Conclusion
This was one of the most challenging projects I worked on when I first joined Ruangguru. It was critical for the company's revenue, and we needed to investigate all possible solutions. The project had a lot of uncertainty because the GPB policy was still negotiable before being officially determined. As long as the GPB policy debate was ongoing, the design solutions we provided had to take into account the best- to worst-case scenarios. The design process became more challenging because we had not found a direct case similar to what we experienced.
What i learn doing this project
Fast Track Decisions: Creating quick-win designs with multiple options for rapid validation and feedback.
Iterate with Feedback: Gather user and stakeholder input to refine and mature design solutions.This approach ensures solutions meet both business goals and user needs.
Data-Driven Decisions: A/B testing provides quantitative data to analyze design performance.Therefore, we can make quick decisions to release the full product to the mass market.
I am grateful to all the teams who have worked tirelessly to make this project a success, and appreciate their dedication and hard work.
Helmi Ismail as Product Designer that paired with me, Ulfa as Product Copywriter, Dimy Ferdiana as Design Lead, Fikri Ramadhan as Product Researcher, Sarah Febrianti Rizal as Project Manager, and any other teams that I cannot mention one by on
