Hello Lingo — a full-funnel approach to acquisition and retention
Lingo is a continuous glucose monitoring biosensor by Abbott that helps everyday consumers track glucose levels and build healthier habits — bringing health tech that was once clinical into the consumer wellness space.
Project background
Lingo launched in the UK first — a test market that gave us real signal on how everyday consumers responded to a biosensor built not for illness, but for making better health decisions. We learned fast. But the US was a different beast entirely.
Different relationship with health tech. Different purchasing habits. Different expectations. When we brought Lingo to the US as one of the first OTC (Over the counter) biosensors available to everyday consumers, we couldn't transplant the UK experience. We had to both create demand and sustain it, almost from scratch.
Role
Senior Product Designer
Owned
UXR. Strategy. Design
Timeline
Q1-Q3
Team
2 designers
7 Developers
2 Project managers
Learnings from the UK 🇬🇧
Health tech skepticism
Price sensitivity
Lower Abbott brand awareness
Wrong audience
The challenge
Entering the US, we drew from what we'd learned in the UK. But the markets were more different than we anticipated, and the data showed it fast.
Two things were broken:
The consideration
The retention
The opportunity
We needed to meet users where they were, and position Lingo in a way that resonated with their lives and build a path that kept them coming back.
AQUSITION
Getting users through their first purchase
We saw a steady influx of users coming into the website, going to the PDP, but they just never converted. That made us question our acquisition funnel.
THE CORE PROBLEM
Insights revealed from our assesment
The homepage was too generic
It didn't speak to everyday wellness users. Lingo felt clinical and distant, not personal.
The PDP created confusion
Users couldn't understand the plans, what they were ordering, or how often they'd be charged.
Checkout forced unnecessary friction
One-time payment plans were set up as subscriptions on the backend, forcing new users to create an account before buying. We introduced guest checkout to fix that.
Post-purchase experience wasn't guided
After buying, users were left to figure out the next steps on their own, no clear direction on what to expect or how to get started.
THE APPROACH
Mapping the information architecture
We didn't have an existing information architecture, so before redesigning individual pages, we needed a full picture of how users would actually navigate through the site. This was built in close collaboration with my PM, then aligned with the broader product team — PMM, marketing, and brand — to make sure the structure worked across every touchpoint, not just design.
Key things to do:
Set the foundation for the homepage, PDP, and checkout redesigns that followed
Created one source of truth for what the site looked like and how it was structured, replacing scattered, siloed understanding across teams
Gave us a shared system to reference when stakeholders proposed new pages — so we could quickly assess where it fit and whether it made sense at all
THE APPROACH
After couple rounds of testing, speaking directly with users, and rounds of iterations we knew what needed to change, and redesigned every touchpoint from landing page to post-purchase to better optimize the purchase flow.
1
Homepage optimization
Research and user testing showed us that people didn't fully understand what Lingo was, the biosensor, the app, or how they worked together. We redesigned the homepage to clearly show what the product is, who it's for, and the problems it can solve, moving away from generic messaging to something that actually spoke to our user.
Key take aways:
Better brand understanding, users had a clearer sense of who Lingo is and how it could help them.
+0.5% increase in conversion rate, meaningful movement in an industry where margins are tight
2
PDP redesign
Some users were landing directly on the PDP without ever seeing the homepage, so it had to do double duty. We redesigned it to both educate and convert. New users needed enough context to understand what Lingo is and which plan is right for them. And users who had already made a decision needed a clear, frictionless path to purchase
Key take aways:
Introduced 4 new SKUs with clear, scannable plan comparison
Built the PDP to stand alone, enough context to convert without needing the homepage first
Saw an increase in repurchase after first purchase, with more users returning to a subscription plan
3
Checkout optimization
The existing checkout was generic and created an unnecessary barrier, new users purchasing a one-time plan were required to create an account before buying. For someone just wanting to try Lingo, that friction was enough to make them leave. We introduced guest checkout to remove that barrier and let users purchase on their own terms.
Key take aways:
Reduced drop-off at checkout, users could purchase without barriers
Increased conversion by removing friction at the most critical moment in the funnel
Introduced guest checkout for one-time payment SKUs
RETENTION
After working with our data analyst, we noticed a significant drop-off in repurchase conversion, something that was really hurting Lingo as a growing business. So we mapped out the full repurchase flow to identify where the friction was. What we found stopped us in our tracks.
50%
of users blocked from repurchasing due to backend constraint
25%
of eligible users actually repurchased
12%
of total customers were repurchasers — the real gap
ADUIT
After mapping the full repurchase flow end to end, we identified the friction points that were quietly killing return purchases — and confirmed what the data had been telling us all along.
Key take aways:
TAKE AWAY#1
Mapping the end-to-end repurchase journey revealed just how broken it was. From the moment a user decided to buy again to actually completing the purchase, they had to navigate through 20 clicks across the app and website. Every step was an opportunity to drop off — and many did.
TAKE AWAY #2
Users weren't prompted to repurchase until it was too late
By the time the CTA appeared, the sensor had already expired, leaving users with gaps in their glucose data and no clear nudge to come back. For a product built on continuous tracking, that timing gap was costing us both data continuity and retention.
TAKE AWAY #3
A 5-step auth wall stood between intent and purchase
In the initial version, I included a calendar icon button that provided users with a comprehensive calendar overview. After conducting tests, it became clear that users didn't find it particularly useful because they could easily access all the necessary information from the agenda page. To simplify the user experience and eliminate any unnecessary confusion, I decided to completely remove the button.
TAKE AWAY #3
Order confirmation was showing the wrong information at the wrong time
After purchasing, users were met with an order confirmation that populated incorrect dates and statuses that hadn't happened yet — making it feel like the system was broken. Instead of building confidence post-purchase, it created doubt. We redesigned the confirmation to surface accurate, progressive status updates so users always knew exactly where their order was.
TAKE AWAY#4
repurchase path was hidden in plain sight
Starting from the app, a user had to navigate to You → Progress → Profile → Current Plan, which didn't even surface a repurchase option. From there, they'd find a "See plan details" link that kicked off the Auth0 flow. Once through auth, they landed on an Account Management page that assumed an active plan, a confusing destination for someone whose plan had just expired. Clicking "Update Plan" bounced them back to the PDP, where they'd finally start the purchase flow. And after completing it, the confirmation email spoke to first-time buyers, not returning users who already knew the product.
LINGO USERS
From CS tickets to Trustpilot reviews, users were telling us the same thing,repurchasing was confusing, frustrating, and broken. The volume of feedback made it impossible to ignore.
"
I'm trying to order another Lingo monitor but it's not clear how to do so.
CS ticket. US user
"
Won't ship sensors in time for replacement, switched to Stelo since they ship when you order
Trsutpilot. US
"
I cannot purchase the 4 week plan despite being logged in.
CS ticket. US user
"
I'm trying to order another Lingo monitor but it's not clear how to do so.
CS ticket. US user
"
I'm coming to the end of my month on Lingo. I would like to buy another, but can't find how to do it. Please could someone point me in the right direction?
CS ticket. UK user
"
Move from two week trial to subscription is not automated
CS ticket. UK user
"
How do I get a new sensor? When does my next sensor arrive?
CS ticket. US user
"
I was unable to purchase a subscription after the trial of 2 weeks.
CS ticket. US user
"
I want a 2 week plan. Please help me, it's not clear how to order on your website.
CS ticket. US user
"
I attempted to reorder online following the instructions but was unable to do so.
CS ticket. US user
"
I'm trying to order another Lingo monitor but it's not clear how to do so.
CS ticket. US user
A sample of feedback that shaped our repurchase funnel
COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
Understanding our competitors
Before making any design decisions, we looked outward. We analyzed similar products in the CGM/wellness space to understand how they were handling repurchase, what their flows looked like, where they were making it easy, and where we had an opportunity to close the gap
Nutrisense
Nutrisense is a direct competitor in the CGM wellness space. Auditing their repurchase flow revealed just how streamlined it could be, only 5 steps to complete a repurchase compared to our 20. That gap made it clear how much friction we had introduced unnecessarily.
Strava
Stelo is an indirect competitor operating in a similar wellness space. Their repurchase flow was equally simple — clean, fast, and intuitive. Seeing both competitors handle repurchase so efficiently reinforced that our flow needed a significant ove
THE FIX
Solving the repurchase flow
THE TRADE OFF
The intermediary state
Direct auth passing between web and app was the right long-term fix, but engineering estimated it would take another quarter to build, and retention couldn't wait that long. Instead of blocking on that fix, I proposed routing users to the PDP directly, letting them repurchase without needing the auth handoff at all. It wasn't the ideal experience, but it meant we could start recovering lost conversions immediately rather than leaving a quarter of retention on the table.
RESULTS
35% repurchase recovery
+0.5% conversion lift
6 steps to repurchase
Reduced checkout drop-off
