Users can't tell what they're actually getting until it's too late
Freemium mobile app users cannot easily determine which outcomes and features are available before purchase. Someone downloads an app expecting to complete a task, only to hit a paywall right at the moment it matters most: saving their work, exporting a file, viewing a result they already generated, or simply continuing to use a feature they thought was included.
These paywalls are not framed as a problem for the business. They are a problem for trust. When the free-to-paid boundary is discovered mid-task instead of upfront, users feel misled rather than upsold, and that reaction sticks to the app's subscription model as a whole, not just the one blocked feature.
The goal: surface what's free and what's paywalled before a user ever presses "Get," so the moment of highest intent doesn't double as the moment of highest friction.
Where this stands
This case study currently covers the problem framing only.
More to come, including the proposed solution, how it uses AI to generate the free vs. paid breakdown, and the tradeoffs considered along the way.