Custom App Icon

LINE, Yahoo! Japan and PayPay together now reach nearly the entire population of Japan. LYP Premium unifies these services under a single monthly membership, providing users with a more convenient and valuable experience. The membership offers new benefits on the LINE app on top of the perks already available through Yahoo! Japan Premium.

Problem

1. High subscription cancellation rate
Currently, 60% of users cancel their subscription after the Premium free trial, with 49.7% of these cancellations from users aged 15-24.

2. Slowdown in new premium subscriptions
Growth in new subscriptions has slowed since the service launch, highlighting the need for a refreshed promotional strategy.

Project Goal

We decided to introduce a new premium feature to help retain existing subscribers and increase the visibility of the premium service.

Conversion rate

228% increase

Within a week of the launch, the number of new premium membership subscriptions increased to 605 users, a 228% increase from the previous week.

Usage rate per visit

69.4%

69.4% of users who visited the Custom App Icon screen changed their icon design.

Total subscription

35.3%

Of the 34K new subscribers, 12K registered through the custom app icon, representing 35.3% of the total.

1. Premium subscribers' reactions to customization features
The main users of the Font feature, the second most frequently used after Stickers, are 15-24-year-olds, representing 42.7% of subscribers.

2. Positive response to LINE’s customization effects
Over 80% of women across all age groups and men aged 15-19 responded positively to various effects in the Home Tab and Chat Room.

3. Custom app icon features in other services
Offering some free icons with additional paid options shows higher usability and engagement.

Telegram

Discord

Duolingo

To identify potential candidate features for new premium benefits, we conducted an online survey with 3,000 LINE users aged 15 to 59 across three countries: Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Process

1. Define objectives
2. Survey design (Questions, Mood Board, Translation)
3. Distribution
4. Data analysis

Findings

1. The need to change the app icon directly within LINE
Across all three countries, the top priority is enabling users to change the app icon directly within LINE, without requiring an additional app. Streamlining this process is essential.

2. Regular App Icon Updates
The majority responded that they would change the LINE app icon approximately 1–3 times a month.

Based on our research, we decided to make it easy for users to change the app icon directly in the LINE app and to provide new icon designs every month.

1. Premium non-subscribers
LINE users who have already responded positively to LINE's customization effects but have low awareness of the Premium service.

→ Allow users to experience custom icons and discover Premium service benefits.

2. Premium subscribers
15-24 years old users who have a demand for app customization but show a high cancellation rate.

→ Utilize Custom App Icon feature to reduce subscription cancellations.

While working on icon designs, we conducted an online survey with 500 employees at the Japan headquarters to understand Japanese users' design preferences.

Findings

1. Preference for seasonal themes
Users are drawn to seasonal themes that reflect themes such as anniversaries and holidays (e.g., Halloween, Christmas).

2. Automatic icon updates
Users prefer seasonal icons that update automatically rather than requiring manual changes.

3. Icon design preferences by age group
While solid and pastel colors are generally popular, users in their 20s show a preference for more vibrant designs compared to other age groups.

Based on these insights, we've decided to include seasonal icon designs with automatic updates as a key promotional feature.

We introduced the Custom App Icon feature as part of our new premium membership benefits, allowing users to personalize the LINE messenger icon.

Easy access to change the app icon

Based on user research, I made this feature easily accessible by adding an app icon screen in LINE’s settings menu, allowing users to change the icon effortlessly without an additional customization app.

Different screens based on
premium membership status

Promotional Icon

Splash image set with the custom icon

To maximize the impact of the custom app icons, we also provided splash images that match the icon colors. When users changed the icon, the corresponding splash image was displayed to ensure they noticed the change. (This feature is only available on Android)

Over 18 press releases were published within a week following the release.