Transforming Vodafone's Digital Home Internet Experience
Project Overview
The Challenge
Vodafone's home internet journey wasn't growing the conversion of visitors into customers digitally. I led the UX transformation that would finally deliver the One Service Qualifier (1SQ) — a critical address search tool to qualify users for NBN, 4G, and 5G services while I added the goal of increasing conversions through strategic design.
Vodafone's fixed internet experience was losing ground to competitors. Users faced:
Decision paralysis from choosing between NBN, 4G, and 5G without understanding the differences
Misleading pricing that showed existing customer rates to new customers, causing cart shock
High cognitive load from information-heavy plan cards requiring multiple clicks to compare
The business needed a complete journey transformation that would drive online conversions while delivering a seamless user experience.
Discovery & Research
Building Evidence on a Lean Budget
With limited research budget and culture, I developed a multi-method approach to build compelling evidence for change:
1. Lean Canvas Workshop
Created alignment with stakeholders by framing our assessment through a lean canvas that clearly communicated the rationale, approach, and business benefits.
Lean canvas stating the problem, solution, metrics and benefits to the business
2. Secondary Research Synthesis
Reviewed Service Design documents
Analyzed Deloitte findings
Synthesized previous UX workshop outputs
Result: Identified gaps and avoided duplicate efforts
3. Data Deep Dive
Partnered with sales and analytics teams to uncover:
Plans page had the highest bounce rate (40%)
Cart abandonment peaked at 35%
Root cause (assumptions): cognitive overload and pricing confusion
4. Heuristic Evaluation
Led cross-functional audit revealing:
Confusing entry points requiring technical knowledge of internet types upfront
Excessive information density on plan cards
Pricing bait-and-switch between browsing and checkout
UX analysis of the existing home internet funnel
5. Competitive Benchmarking
Analyzed Telstra, Optus, Aussie Broadband, Superloop and others to identify:
Industry best practices
User-friendly patterns (Jakob's Law)
Opportunities for differentiation
Competitive analysis looking at all competitors and comparative companies also selling home internet
Stakeholder Alignment
The Sailboat Workshop
I facilitated a collaborative workshop using the sailboat metaphor to:
Identify winds (strengths): What's propelling us forward
Surface anchors (obstacles): What's holding us back
Define destination (vision): Where we want to be
Outcome: Established shared understanding of pain points and secured executive buy-in for the transformation.
Key Themes Uncovered:
Complex technology choices without education
Inconsistent pricing transparency
Lack of personalized guidance
Missing trust signals
User Research & Validation
Survey Design (50 Participants)
Despite budget constraints, I designed a targeted survey to understand:
Purchase behaviors for home internet
Knowledge gaps about internet technologies
Perceptions of Vodafone as a provider
Key Insights
The research revealed three critical customer priorities:
Trust Over Everything Users want to choose the "best" provider, not just the cheapest
Reliability Over Price Stable connection matters more than lowest cost
Value Clarity Users need to understand exactly what they get for what they pay
These insights became our north star, guiding every design decision.
Design Strategy
From Insights to Opportunities
I translated research findings into actionable opportunity statements:
Reduce friction during product qualification
Simplify comparison with scannable plan cards
Ensure transparent pricing from browsing to checkout
Improve content hierarchy with plain language
The Roadmap: Quick Wins to Transformation
The team and I developed a phased approach balancing immediate impact with long-term vision:
Drop 0: Quick Win
Solution: Homepage banner showcasing industry awards
Psychology: Leverage social proof to influence users seeking the “best” provider
Drop 1: MVP - Unified Product Page
Solution: Combine all technologies into one page with address qualification upfront
Psychology: Reduce decision fatigue by personalising options (new v existing customer)
Drop 2: MVP+ - Plan Card Redesign
Solution: Optimised plan cards with:
Clear pricing for new vs. existing customers
Internet speed, value prominently displayed
Easy to read use cases for all plans to reduce decision fatigue
Drop 3: Future Vision
Recommendation wizard based on household needs
Interactive technology explainers
Contextual support at decision points
Reflections & Learnings
What Worked
Lean research can deliver high-value insights — Our 50-person survey provided directional clarity that unlocked the project
Workshops build alignment — The sailboat exercise created shared language and vision
Phased delivery maintains momentum — Quick wins built trust for bigger changes
What I'd Do Differently
Push for moderated usability testing earlier — Even 5 users would have validated our assumptions
Include customer service team sooner — They had invaluable insights about pain points
Document design decisions more thoroughly — For better knowledge transfer
Key Takeaway
Simplicity, transparency, and user guidance are critical in high-consideration digital journeys. By focusing on these principles and backing every decision with evidence, we had what we needed to begin transforming the Vodafone home internet experience into a competitive advantage.
This project demonstrates my ability to lead complex UX transformations, navigate stakeholder politics, conduct lean research, and deliver measurable business impact through user-centred design.
