CLIENT: VIRGIN MEDIA O2
I have been with VMO2 for almost two years, working within the app team, first on the O2 side, and now on an exciting new NDA project.
It has been an incredible journey so far. I am proud to be part of these impactful initiatives and excited to share a case study on a VMO2 app concept—an innovative, user-friendly platform for managing your O2 mobile and Virgin Media broadband services.
Before defining the specific project goals, we created a research plan to identify gaps and opportunities. This involved understanding what elements were missing or needed to be introduced to improve the product experience.
The insights gathered helped shape a more user-centric solution aligned with business objectives and user expectations.
preparation board for moderated user testing
This board captures early-stage usability testing preparation for a mobile app. Each sticky note represents a targeted research question linked to specific UI components, focusing on discoverability, relevance, interaction intuitiveness, and personalisation. By combining heuristic evaluation prompts with user expectation follow-up questions, the team built a discussion guide to explore how different customer segments engage with billing information, service status updates, entertainment content, and referral incentives. This approach integrates affinity mapping with task-based evaluation planning, ensuring upcoming usability sessions are focused, measurable, and aligned with strategic personalisation goals.
Research Outline
To shape the direction of the unified Virgin Media and O2 experience, we conducted a comprehensive research phase, combining stakeholder input, user insight, competitive review,
and product analysis:
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Understand business goals
forthe unified experience. - Clarify brand values and positioning from both VM and O2.
- Identify constraints (technical, legal, branding).
- Conduct interviews or surveys with customers of both brands.
- Explore user expectations, frustrations, and habits around using mobile vs broadband services.
- Developed key personas: mobile-only users, broadband-only users, and dual customers.
- Benchmark similar apps that merge services (e.g., telcos with bundled services like EE & Three).
- Evaluated common UI patterns, navigation structures, and content strategies.
- Audit the current Virgin Media and O2 apps.
- Look at current usage analytics (most used features,
drop-off points). - Review customer service support queries and complaints to find friction points.
Previous & current VM & O2 apps
Key Insights:
* Unified login & account linking would reduce churn risk.
* Cross-service visibility could increase cross-sell conversion rates.
* Simplified navigation would drive more consistent app engagement.
HiGH FIDelity design
We developed a new, simple, and modern design system approach for the VMO2 app in React Native, focused on flexibility, automation, and personalisation, with every part of the experience fully themeable between brands.
