Translayte: Growth Through Accessibility

Design Consultant · Product Growth
2023 – 2024 · England, United Kingdom (Remote)

The Challenge

Translayte connects clients with professional translators for certified work, including legal documents, technical manuals, and business contracts. The service was strong, but the business model had a barrier: every transaction required upfront commitment. People who were uncertain about needing certified translation had no low-risk way to explore the platform.

I was brought in to identify growth opportunities and design interventions that would expand the user base without diluting trust. The core question: how do you introduce a freemium layer to a professional service without cheapening the product or cannibalizing revenue?

The Core Insight

People don’t arrive looking for “certified translation.”

They arrive mid-task — uploading a document, checking meaning, validating content. If they aren’t ready to commit immediately, they leave.

Translayte’s product assumed certainty. Growth required access before commitment.

Finding the Entry Point

Most people don't start their day thinking, "I need a certified translation." The need surfaces mid-process, like applying for a visa, preparing legal filings, and setting up international operations. By the time they find Translayte, they're comparing pricing or turnaround times, not exploring whether they need the service at all.

That creates a narrow conversion window. If someone isn't ready to commit immediately, they leave.

Research showed competitors like DeepL, Reverso, and SmartCAT used freemium models to reduce this barrier to free machine translation with paid professional tiers. Translayte lacked this entry point. The platform assumed you already knew you needed professional translation and were ready to pay for it.

The opportunity: create a lead magnet that lets people upload documents, get instant machine translation, and then present the option to upgrade to human-edited, certified work.

Designing the Experience

The concept: users upload files (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), receive automated translation up to 2,500 words, and see the gap between machine output and certified quality. Registration was required at upload, lightweight (name/email or social login), but necessary to track behavior and enable follow-up.

This required coordination across teams. The product team built the upload, processing, and download flows. Marketing adjusted messaging to highlight the free option without making the platform seem less professional, emphasizing "instant translation" as an entry point while keeping certified services as the core value proposition.

The flow:

Upload → Register → Automated translation → Present upgrade options
Returning users skip registration and access their translation history with easy reordering

The design challenge was making this feel helpful, not manipulative. The free translation had to be genuinely useful, even uncertified. We delivered downloadable results with clear labeling: "This is machine-generated. For legal, business, or official use, you'll need professional review and certification."

Then we presented three tiers—Standard, Professional, and Specialist—with pricing and clear use cases.

Freemium translation flow

Clarifying the Tiers

User research revealed confusion around tier selection. The existing pricing page listed "Expert translator" versus "Specialist translator" distinctions that weren't obvious.

I reframed them by use case instead of credentials:

Standard: Internal documents, e-commerce listings, support content—accuracy without legal certification.

Professional: Business contracts, technical documentation, website localization—contexts where errors have consequences but don't require domain expertise.

Specialist: Legal filings, medical records, marketing materials—documents where mistakes create liability or terminology requires specialized knowledge.

Each tier specified what was included: proofreading, desktop publishing options, and turnaround time. This transparency helped users self-select without contacting support.

Various upgrade tiers

Measuring Impact

We tracked conversion and retention metrics:

Upsell Conversion Rate: Percentage of free users upgrading to paid services
Average Order Value (AOV): Whether freemium users eventually spent more
Repeat Purchase Rate: Free-trial users returning for additional translations
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Long-term value of freemium-acquired users

One unexpected outcome: the free tool improved retention among existing customers. People who had used Translayte for certified work returned for quick informal translations, keeping the platform top-of-mind and often leading to additional paid projects.

We also saw users move between tiers as needs evolved—starting with Standard, then upgrading to Professional or Specialist over time.

Translation history

What Made It Work

Value without conditions. The free translation had to be genuinely useful for informal purposes. That honesty built trust, making the upsell more effective.

Use-case framing. Instead of guessing credentials, users matched their document type to the appropriate tier.

Natural progression. The upgrade prompt appeared after delivery, when users had the translation in hand and could evaluate whether they needed additional quality.

This project reinforced that growth design isn't about tricks; it's about removing friction and making value visible. The freemium layer didn't change Translayte's core service; it changed who could access it. Growth through accessibility, not gimmicks.

Results: During this period, Translayte expanded its user base through the freemium model, improved conversion rates across service tiers, and increased repeat purchase rates among both new and existing customers.