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My Virgin Media

Telecommunications app 

Leading telecommunications provider Virgin Media Ireland offered a diverse range of services, including high-speed broadband, digital TV, mobile, and home phone. However, their existing app remained underutilised, with many customers finding it confusing and lacking essential features for everyday tasks and foster sustained engagement.

 

With competitors offering seamless and engaging mobile experiences, Virgin Media Ireland was in need to develop a modern, customer-centric mobile solution.

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Nominated for 2024 UX Design Awards, Berlin - Click here to view details.

My role

As a key member of the UX design team, I played a pivotal role in understanding user needs and crafting a user-centred experience for Virgin Media Ireland's new mobile app, addressing critical engagement gaps and aligning with competitive best practices.

 

Collaborating closely with two UI designers and two other UX designers, I leveraged my expertise in conducting in-depth user research through 12 stakeholder interviews, user observations, and competitor analysis, identified user pain points and presented key findings. I also contributed to 2 collaborative client workshops, facilitating discussions and aligning stakeholders on user-centric goals. Led the development of several journeys wireframes, ensuring intuitive navigation and efficient task completion.

Process followed

Within the 6 weeks of discovery, there were several activities conducted, such as

Stakeholder interviews

12 stakeholder interviews. They were from various different roles - 
  • Senior Digital Channel Sales Manager

  • Senior Digital Channel Transformation Manager

  • Product Manager

  • Site Director - Customer Care

  • Senior Manager Base Management and Planning

  • Commercial Director

  • Propositions & CVP Manager

  • Insight Director

  • Director of Customer Experience and Operations

  • Head of Brand and Marketing

  • Project Management Director

  • Director of Connect app (old app)

What we heard

The goal is big and ambitious â€‹

  • the app should be the place where existing customers come for all transctions

  • it should take customers through their entire lifecycle starting from onboarding

  • it is the main channel, a one stop shop

  • it needs to be simple and easy to use and do few things really well ​

Workshops

Then, we conducted 2 workshops, audience & vision 
Audience workshop  

To gain deep insights into the challenges faced by Virgin Media Ireland customers and their needs for a new mobile app, we facilitated a collaborative workshop with 15 key stakeholders representing various departments.

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The workshop aimed to understand stakeholder perspectives on: 

  1. typical customer scenarios across the service lifecycle

  2. distinct customer archetypes with specific needs and pain points

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Key takeaways - The workshop yielded valuable insights, enabling us to identify critical opportunities for the app to address specific customer needs, improve the overall user experience, and differentiate them from competitors.

Vision workshop  

To guide the future direction of Virgin Media Ireland's mobile app experience, we facilitated a focused workshop with key stakeholders. Our aim was to inspire a shared vision for how customers would ideally interact with the product suite in the future, and to identify critical elements that would shape that vision.

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Leveraging the rich insights from the audience workshop on customer archetypes and needs, we presented curated examples of innovative and inspiring products to spark the stakeholders' imagination and stimulate forward-thinking discussions.

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  • Activity 1: Through guided prompts and collaborative brainstorming, we helped stakeholders craft a compelling future vision for how customers would intuitively and seamlessly interact with the entire product suite, considering evolving needs and technological advancements.

  • Activity 2: Building on the future vision, we facilitated a backward-planning session to map out the key milestones and initiatives needed to bring the vision to life. This roadmap provided a clear and actionable path for us to achieve its long-term experience goals.

Customer archetypes

Utilising insights from in-depth stakeholder interviews, comprehensive user research and our findings from the audience workshop, we defined 3 distinct customer archetypes: The Savvy Savers, The Easy Goers and The Sharers. These archetypes represent unique user groups with specific needs and motivations, enabling us to tailor the app experience to resonate with and effectively address each group, ensuring a truly customer-centric approach.

The Savvy Savers.jpg
The Easy Goers.jpg
The Sharers.jpg

Journey map

By understanding the archetypes, we mapped out diverse scenarios within the first 30 days of the customer journey, pinpointing unique challenges and opportunities for each user group. This deep understanding served as a compass for our design decisions, enabling us to craft a personalized and engaging experience that resonates with each archetype's needs and aspirations.

Journey - First 30 days with Virgin Media.png

Design principles

Before jumping on the solutions, we curated guiding principles to help to ensure we create intuitive, engaging, and impactful experiences for our users.

Be proactive

Build trust with customers by showing we know and understand them
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Use data to anticipate needs​

Create relevant experiences, beyond expectation​
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Make it easy

Put customers at the heart

Make experiences personalised

Reduce the effort required by customers​

Be transparent

Be open and honest in communications​

Share information in a timely manner

Keep it simple with easy to understand language​

Be maverick

Be bold and do things differently​

Surprise and create moments of joy in the boring everyday​

Solution highlights

Empowering customers with self-service: Our vision was to transform the 'My Virgin Media' app into a one-stop platform, giving customers the power to effortlessly resolve any issue they might encounter throughout their journey. Fueled by key findings from extensive user research and discovery, we identified the need for features like Order Tracking, Install Guides, Manage Connected Devices & Parental Control, seamlessly integrated within the app to empower self-service. 

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Furthermore, understanding the crucial role of core functionalities like Bills & Support, we strategically optimized them to ensure a smooth and efficient user experience, complementing the new features seamlessly. By embodying this user-centric vision, the 'My Virgin Media' app transformed into a powerful self-service tool, empowering customers and reducing support burden, creating a win-win scenario for both.

Empowering self-installation

Manuals can be complex and confusing to understand and aren't accessibility compatible. To empower our users, we prioritized Install Guides, a cornerstone of our vision.

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Key Insight:

  • Research revealed customer pain points around self-installation: unclear instructions, missing steps, and difficulty finding relevant information

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The Install Guides Solution:

  • Step-by-step, visual guides: Clear, concise instructions accompanied by videos, making every step easy to follow

  • Personalized experience: Guides tailored to specific devices and user needs, ensuring relevant and actionable information

  • Accessibility first: Designed for all users, regardless of technical expertise or accessibility needs

  • Seamless integration: Easily accessible within the app, eliminating the need for searching or external documents

Home - Pre install.png
Install lights guide.png
Home - self install.png
Install help sheet.png
Install step1.png
Install Phone.png

The Impact:

  • Increased self-installation rates: Customers felt empowered to tackle installations with confidence

  • Reduced support calls: Clear instructions led to fewer troubleshooting issues

  • Improved customer satisfaction: A smoother experience contributed to positive brand perception

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By putting users in control, we created a win-win: a more convenient experience for them and a more efficient operation for Virgin Media.

Clarifying your bills

We understand the confusion that can arise with cryptic bills, so we transformed the Bills section to bring clarity and control to customer finances.

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Key Focus Areas:

  • Simplified Breakdown: Each section of the bill is clearly explained, breaking down charges and fees into understandable terms

  • Direct Debit Convenience: We emphasize the benefits of Direct Debit, simplifying bill payments and ensuring you never miss a due date

  • Transparency is Key: Every charge is itemized and easily accessible, empowering customers to understand their bill in detail

  • Clear Visibility on Home Page: Access your latest bill summary and due date right from the app's home page, ensuring immediate awareness and easy management

 

While we couldn't achieve a single bill for broadband and mobile products due to technical limitations, we've ensured:

  • Seamless Navigation: Easily switch between bills within the app, maintaining a smooth and unified experience

  • Consistent Presentation: Both bills adhere to the same clear and concise format, minimizing confusion and maximizing clarity

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The result: A transparent and user-friendly bill experience that puts you in control. No more surprises, just clear information and convenient management.

Support at your fingertips

We aimed to revolutionize the support experience by bringing it seamlessly into the app, making it mobile-first, personalized, and effortlessly accessible. 

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Insight: We knew Virgin Media offered extensive online support, but navigating a website on a mobile device can be frustrating. Customers often struggled to find relevant information quickly, wasting time and energy and often ended up calling the customer support.

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Solution: We envisioned a seamless mobile support experience. Here's how we brought it to life:

  • Mobile-First Restructuring: We mapped and meticulously restructured the existing support information architecture, optimizing it for the smaller screen and intuitive navigation

  • Personalized Assistance: By leveraging user data, we tailored the support experience to each user. Providing support articles and resources related to the products purchased and eliminating irrelevant information

  • Intuitive Search: A powerful search bar lets you find anything instantly, saving precious time and eliminating the need to browse through endless categories

VMI Support IA - Existing.png
VMI App Support IA.png
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Impact:

  • Effortless Problem-Solving: Users can now find answers and troubleshoot issues on-the-go, with information readily available at their fingertips

  • Reduced Frustration: No more sifting through irrelevant content! Personalized support cuts to the chase, saving time and minimizing frustration

  • Increased Self-Sufficiency: By empowering users with readily accessible information, we reduce reliance on contacting support channels, leading to a smoother and more independent experience
     

The app's transformed support section empowers users, fosters self-reliance, and ensures a frustration-free journey, all wrapped in a user-friendly mobile experience.

Final product

Experience the intuitive flow: a sneak peek at the final design.

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