Ancestry
StoryScout
Ancestry’s mission is to empower journeys of personal discovery to enrich
lives by providing access to over 40 billions of rich historical records and DNA matching services.
StoryScout is a brand new feature aimed to funnel new users to family history by leveraging an AI model
to generate prewritten stories about their families.
lives by providing access to over 40 billions of rich historical records and DNA matching services.
StoryScout is a brand new feature aimed to funnel new users to family history by leveraging an AI model
to generate prewritten stories about their families.
Project Overview
Our Goal
StoryScout aims to turn historical data into human stories, making family history accessible, engaging, and compelling enough to convert first-time explorers into lifelong subscribers.
Current Problems
1. Building a family tree is time-consuming
Ancestry’s core experience revolves around building a family tree, using user-provided data to search
millions of records and suggest historical record hints, photos, and other family trees.
However, creating a family tree requires recalling information and manually entering details into
Ancestry’s platform. This can lead to users quickly hitting roadblocks.
millions of records and suggest historical record hints, photos, and other family trees.
However, creating a family tree requires recalling information and manually entering details into
Ancestry’s platform. This can lead to users quickly hitting roadblocks.
2. Searching for records is complex
Lack of guidance leaves users feeling discouraged and uninformed about conducting a record search.
Remembering the necessary information for the record search. Remembering the necessary
information for the form is mentally draining and reduces motivation to complete the task.
Remembering the necessary information for the record search. Remembering the necessary
information for the form is mentally draining and reduces motivation to complete the task.
User Research
“I'm curious about my family but I don't know where and how to start.”
Through qualitative and quantitative data, we targetted users who are curious about their family history, but
unwilling or unable to invest the time and energy into research.
Their key qualities are:
• Interested in family stories, who they come from, and history
• Not researchers, but interested in historical documents
• Younger (25-54), more mobile-centric and tackle things in short sessions
unwilling or unable to invest the time and energy into research.
Their key qualities are:
• Interested in family stories, who they come from, and history
• Not researchers, but interested in historical documents
• Younger (25-54), more mobile-centric and tackle things in short sessions
Solution
Combining Historical Records with Narrative
With the input of a users' grandparents info, we were able to generate stories about
their family. This was aimed to explain the meaning of historical records and meaningfully
connect through storytelling.
their family. This was aimed to explain the meaning of historical records and meaningfully
connect through storytelling.
Solution
Landing Page to Market Ancestry via StoryScout
I reduced the number of tasks a shop should complete on their own to 2 main areas – Shop account information and setting up necessary shop tools.
Outcome
Impact
After 3 years of the release of StoryScout we achieved these metrics:
• +1.5% increase in family history subscriptions
• +5.6% increase in paid subscriptions with DNA Story/StoryScout integration
• 100+ stories created to help users make meaningful discoveries
• 16% shared a story with friends or family
• +1.5% increase in family history subscriptions
• +5.6% increase in paid subscriptions with DNA Story/StoryScout integration
• 100+ stories created to help users make meaningful discoveries
• 16% shared a story with friends or family
Learnings
Reflection
Research showed that StoryScout’s early excitement can fade when users encounter record inaccuracies or unclear image attribution. This revealed an opportunity to strengthen trust through improved data handling and clearer messaging—critical factors in supporting ongoing engagement and conversion.
