For the Discovery Phase, I conducted a Cognitive Walkthrough of the entire end-to-end app experience to identify UX issues. Contextual Inquiry with real users was also carried out to understand their pain points.

The cognitive walkthrough yielded 132 heuristic anomalies. Full detailed report can be found here.

Contextual Inquiries were conducted among 17 users belonging to both Biological Sexes in Dhaka City from Socio-Economic Classes (SEC) A, B and C aged between 18 to 24 years

The Contextual Inquiry revealed some additional pain points-

After preparing a High Fidelity Prototype, an evaluative field research was conducted in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet cities with 14 real users

• Language switching allowed even before login
• Introduced Dark Mode and shifted away from bright red color for reduced eye strain
• Text buttons replaced with Rectangular buttons for better Perceivability
• Revised UX Copywriting to make the experiences Understandable

• 8+ MN Monthly Active Users (up from 5.5 MN)
• Improvement in Play Store Rating within one week
• Play Store Rating increased from 4.1 to 4.5
• Highest User Satisfaction in Bangladeshi Telco Industry
• 6x increase in Usage Session Times
• Social Media Buzz regarding the redesign with users both praising and criticizing the design choices

What I learned

Unreliability of Research with Low Sample Size
In our evaluative research, respondents reacted positively to the bold design decisions such as the new primary color or reorganization of the balance dashboard. However, after commercial release, grievances regarding low brand affordance and too much clutter started to arise

Opt for User-Friendly Terms over Brand Jargons
“POP” was a hip, trendy name for a personalized plan builder but users failed to grasp the concept of what it was. Renaming it to something as simple as My Pack yielded better results

Understand your users
Addressing the young users’ unmet needs of a Dark Mode and feeling valued led to a dramatic improvement in Play Store and App Store Ratings

Account for Variations in Display Color Accuracy
Throughout this project, I struggled with ensuring a consistent aesthetic across device types. The primary color appeared more bluish in some displays while more pinkish in others. In fact, the office laptop I was using had an inaccurate display which contributed to these discrepancies. Later, we procured MacBooks to ensure accurate color outputs while designing.

Challenges/Trade-Offs

Accessibility vs Brand Affordance
Airtel is a globally renowned brand known for its bright red color. Dropping the red and white aesthetic for a more soothing and less stimulating color caused strong negative reactions among loyal users

Playfulness vs Minimalism
Incorporation of elements such as illustrations and witty copies to make the UI more vibrant and energetic often led to interfaces that were not minimal

Crunch and Scope Creep
It became an incredibly daunting task as the sole UX/UI Designer to deliver the revamped designs for such a complex app in less than 4 weeks

What would I do differently now?

• Negotiate regarding deadline or scope of work to prevent crunch or rushed delivery of designs
• Follow Accessibility Guidelines such as WCAG much more closely
• Reduce visual clutter and unnecessary UI elements such as dividers or irrelevant copies or icons
• Conduct UX Research with larger sample sizes and/or have a Beta phase before final release

Thanks for Reading

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