GoSAKTO Mobile App
Create your own customized prepaid plan that’s perfect for your budget.
Overview
The prepaid market has been one of the toughest retail battlegrounds in the Philippines. For several years, stiff competition from the two biggest carriers has brought the price of products and services down to make it affordable and accessible to the masses.
Role
I was the creative director and UX designer for the project. My main goal was to revamp the GoSAKTO app’s design, making it easier for customers to quickly create customized prepaid plans and start enjoying their benefits, whether calling, texting, browsing the internet, or using their favorite mobile apps.
User Research
Early user research gave us a little insight of some of the behavioral observations and opportunities of improvement for prepaid users:
BEHAVIORAL:
- Satisfied with GoSakto
- Budget conscious
- Does not search for any other promo codes
- Does not proactively experiment with promo combos
POINTS OF IMPROVEMENT:
- Likes the option to see promos based on budget
- Will use if it’s zero-rate and there are exclusive promos
- “Give me something if I subscribe to a certain promo.”
- “Give me more with the same price I am subscribing to.”
- Users cannot distinguish recommended from featured promos
Wireframes and User Flows
Early wireframes were then created and applied to the Create Your Own (CYO) prepaid plan user flow.
Challenges
With the basic user flow and wireframes approved, the next step was to help my team finalize the overall look-and-feel of the app. We had several design meetings with the stakeholders to fleshed out their goals. Some of the challenges identified were:
Mood Boards
We presented the client several mood boards to help us make aesthetic and goal-related choices that would influence our design.
Desirability Study
After selecting which direction the stakeholders wanted to pursue, we had many iterations on the chosen option. There was still a lot of debate on the right look and feel internally within the team so I reached out to research to conduct a desirability study. The goal was to understand how well the new visual designs conveyed the target brand attributes. The method we used was an online survey via Globe Collaborate among Prepaid users (n=408) in July 2016.
Designs Evaluated
Research Results
The results show that Design 1 is significantly preferred over Design 2, although preference among 18-25 years old is almost parity. 7 out of 8 nominated design descriptors were attributed to Design 1 with the exemption of “Simple” which was attributed to Design 2.
Key Takeaways
While the overall winner is Design 1, there seems to be a need to deep dive among the 18-25 years old demographic who are the core targets of Prepaid. Given that this age segment appeared to have no strong preference over the 2 designs, there is a need to know if they are looking for something more that was not delivered by either of the options presented.
Early Iterations
With the data from the desirability study, we were able to tweak the design and came up with a revised layout.
Interactive Prototype
The revised layout was well received by the team and stakeholders. I then created an interactive prototype so that the interaction design can be clearly communicated to the developers.
Usability Study
The next step was to conduct a usability test. We wanted to make sure that users are able to complete key tasks based on these new screens to make confirm we’re delivering an effective product design. We mapped out various task scenarios seen below:
Usability testing revealed several visual design issues that needed to be addressed in subsequent iterations.
Further Iterations
The next iterations based on the usability test results really help the team refine the design. For most of the screens we needed to make it clear for the user where to find key elements that would help them complete their task. That meant we had to design for better affordances and remove clutter. This was most important for the home screen.
Testing out different color and animation options for the home screen.
Final UI Designs
After providing different color options and interaction concepts to the stakeholders, they chose the UI concept that matches Globe primary blue hues with pink as the contrasting color. Gradients were also preferred vs solid colors that resonated more with their 18-25 core demographic. For design elements, we used circles and spheres to mimic Globe’s current brand guidelines.
Learnings
This project really championed user-centered design. It was amazing to have users constantly consulted throughout the build cycle. I know not all projects I will work on will have the budget to involve users early and often but the final product really shines with an app the prepaid users truly love.