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Boost in Generics
The substitute push promotes generic affordable medicines, encouraging users to choose them over branded products.
Zeno Health saw low conversion on generics, with users
choosing branded medicines which reduced our profit margins.
Problem
Introduced motivators and interrupting bottom sheets highlighting generics' lower cost and faster delivery.
Solution
Conversions on generic purchases increased from 8% to 17%
Impacts
5 weeks (Final release in Feb - 2025)
Duration
Ashok Thariyan (Head of Design)
Vineeth Nair (UXD)
Me (UXD)
My team
Product research / User testing / UI and copywriting
My roles
Problem
Zeno Health saw low conversion on generics, with users choosing branded medicines which reduced our profit margins.
Solution and Impact
Introduced motivators highlighting generics' lower cost and faster delivery, increasing conversions from 8% to 17%.
Duration
5 weeks (Final release in Feb - 2025)
My Team
Ashok Thariyan (Head of Design)
Vineeth Nair (UXD)
Me (UXD)
My Role
Product research / User testing / UI and copywriting
Problem of
declining conversions
Context
Zeno Health struggled with low conversion rates, as users of app continued to favor branded / costly medications despite the availability of cost-effective generics. This cut profits since generics had the highest margins for Zeno Health.
Only 8/100 users purchase generic products.
(decreasing by 6% /month).
Branded items mostly gave low margins.
Margins
Branded items were always 1st choice.
Preference
Users were not aware of generic meds.
Awareness
Losing customers due to bad retention.
User Churn
Aim and the expected
success metrics
Intent
While the main aim of the project was to increase conversion rates on generic items significantly, other minor aims of this also included better awareness, smoother flow and creating a sense of trust with the users on Zeno app.
20/100 users need to purchase generic products over branded medicines.
(6% decrease/month, needed to be x% increase/month).
Existing elements and
user's journey
Skimming through existing UX
I analyzed the existing visuals, flow, and click-through data to understand how users were guided toward generics. I noticed that most awareness elements were shown early, while others were either hidden or pushed to low-visibility areas with minimal engagement. Only a few (blue thumbs) were the upfront motivators.
Analyzing the current user journey
As users progressed through the steps to add a generic products, I noted that user's needed to take one extra step, and view one extra screen.
Branded
Generic
Key insight and design direction
While the motivation kept declining to purchase generic product, the count of steps increased. After I showcased this insight to team on day 1, we decided to propose a vision of increasing motivation and possibly reducing steps.
Phase 1.1 -
Targeting user flow
Adding motivators in flow
Analyzing the user's flow, I thought to add a few strategic interventions to guide the user toward generic medicines. To carry the vision of motivating the users, I decided to add motivator UI elements in places of high margin flows.
motivator interventions
interrupter interventions
Possible UI patterns
These motivators, on various flows, were UI elements or added step which could be integrated in different ways on screens. I then worked alongside the second UXD to propose a set of iterations.
Phase 1.2 -
High-fidelity and testing
Comparison table in bottom sheet
The idea was to open a comparison table when user clicked on "add to cart" to add a branded product. The bottom sheet was to interrupt the branded product's choice and to motivate the user to consider generics.
Adding the screen to the flow
The UI appeared as a bottom sheet screen in the flow, (adding a step) nudging users toward generics by highlighting the benefits. The product team had placed the bets on two primary flows: PDP and search listing.
Testing and early metrics
This pattern was directly pushed in the app to test out among the users. The results were a bit inconsistent, lower than predicted, but positive overall.
8% to 12% ↑
8% generic sale rise to
approximately 12% on week 1
8% to 14% ↑
8% generic sale rise to
approximately 14% on week 2
Phase 2.1 -
User feedbacks
Selecting users for feedbacks
After a week, we selected 10 users for feedbacks. These were the users who viewed comparison table for 15+ seconds but didn’t purchase generics.
Upfront user's asks
Users preferred direct savings and benefits over UX/UI. While bottom sheet allowed users to compare, they needed some upfront benefit. While huge discounts weren’t possible, we tried to understand user needs better to offer benefits.
Phase 2.2 -
Initiating Q-comm.
Combining my second project with this one
I was also working on a project to launch 50-minute delivery for high-cost and best-selling medicines. Seeing Q-comm’s potential, I proposed shifting it to generics for better conversions (with sufficient reports to back me up.)
(Note : The long details about the Q-comm project is not included in this case study)
🏆🏆🏆 The big WIN for the product team
The idea of turning generics products to fast delivery gained traction but required system changes. After multiple discussions and CPO support, we secured approval to make 90%+ of 50-min deliveries for generics.
Solution
With most generics now in 50-min delivery, I refined the UI to enhance perceived value. Instead of unsustainable discounts, I played with the visuals, banners, confetti and strategic copywriting to reinforce savings and benefits.
Old
New
Phase 2.3 -
An extra addition
Adding an extra card in search listing
Testing revealed that most users who searched for a medicine, added it to the cart without visiting the PDP. Noticing this, the PM and I took a calculated risk—adding a generic substitute, directly in the search results. The team approved the idea, as it streamlined the flow and also reduced the steps.
Updating the cards
With generics now tagged for 50-min delivery, we added a 'Free delivery' tag as well to reinforce benefits (we already gave free delivery on generics). This finally led to a few UI changes and I decided to update it all.
Final Design
A bottom sheet before adding an item to cart, letting users choose between the high-cost med or a low-cost substitute.
It starts with building trust
A lot of users trusted brands like Pharmeasy and Truemeds. To build trust in Zeno Health, I designed a simple trust ticker animation on the home screen.
Conversion on PDP
Branded PDP nudged users toward generics, while generic PDP highlighted all benefits to drive conversions.
Branded
Generic
Conversion in listing
If a generic substitute is available, display it above the branded item on list view, enabling early adoption in the flow.
Branded
Generic
Learnings & Impact
Since this was my first e-commerce project, I learnt a lot about e-comm ecosystem and user behavior on a few specific pages. Alignments with stakeholders and PM's taught a lot on the role of business in product design.
8% to 17% ↑
Overall conversions increased from
8% to 17% on generics.
24% ↓
Overall decrease in low profit margin products by 24%
28% to 45% ↑
Users adding products from search increased to 45% (highest)
38% to 42% ↑
Users adding products from PDP increased to 42% (2nd highest)
