Shifting customer mental models

driving Behavior Change in a Business Model Transformation

Context

Transforming How Customers Think About Software Ownership

While at a global software company, one of the top strategic objectives was to evolve from a traditional seat-based licensing model to a modern, usage-based (“Flex”) model.

This transformation aimed to:

  • Provide customers with more flexibility and transparency

  • Enable better product usage data and insights

  • Expose the company’s 200+ product portfolio to a wider base

  • Unlock scalable revenue growth

This shift required not only a change in pricing mechanics but also a fundamental shift in customer perception—from “owning a license” to “paying for what you use.”

My team was tasked with researching how to help customers understand, adopt, and succeed within this new model.

The goal was twofold:

  • Give customers flexibility to pay only for what they use.

  • Enable scalable revenue growth through better data and cross-product visibility.

The challenge: customers’ mental models of ownership, cost, and control didn’t fit this new paradigm. Adoption depended on reframing what “value” meant.

 

Research Goals

  • Identify customer goals, needs, and success factors in the new model

  • Understand mental models of usage, value, and data interpretation

  • Map required support for implementation, forecasting, and decision-making

  • Inform rollout, messaging, and pilot evaluation for global scalability

 

Action

Building Understanding Through Multi-Phase Research

To support the pilot and global rollout, I led a multi-phase research program to identify what customers needed to succeed in this new model.

1. Foundational Research

  • In-depth interviews with pilot customers (admins, controllers, end-users).

  • Contextual inquiry with UK customers to observe real-world dashboard usage.

  • Uncovered fears of “token burn” and confusion around forecasting and costs.

2. Iterative Evaluation

  • Tested new store experiences and reporting dashboards.

  • Assessed comprehension of “usage” metrics and cost forecasting.

  • Collaborated with product, design, and GTM teams to refine content and visuals.

3. Cross-Functional Alignment

  • Co-developed training and messaging for Sales, Support, and Customer Success.

  • Ensured consistent explanations of the model across customer touchpoints.

 

Results

🌎 Global launch success: The “Flex” model launched across Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia.

💰 Revenue growth: Adoption drove hundreds of millions in incremental revenue

📊 Improved comprehension: Reduced customer confusion and support tickets during onboarding

🧭 Product design impact: Informed the redesign of reporting dashboards and pricing flows

🤝 Cross-team alignment: Unified internal messaging across sales, support, and product teams

 

Learning

“Changing customer behavior requires trust, education, and visibility—not just a new UX.”

  • Customers viewed “usage” as risk, not value. The UX had to clarify control and predictability.

  • Forecasting uncertainty drove anxiety; transparent dashboards reduced it.

  • Consistent cross-team communication was essential to adoption.

  • Behavior change is a multi-channel effort—UX, content, and training all play roles.