As a UX designer at Samsung, I created multiple UX features for eSIM implementation on our flagship device, Galaxy S24. For this case study, I will focus on the edge cases of eSIM activation.
I joined the company prior to launching eSIM, so the concept was relatively new. With constant iterations and experimentations, my UX fingerprints are widely across the user flow of eSIM.
*eSIM is a chip-based SIM that is directly embedded into a device at point of manufacture.*
Being a UX Designer representing the Samsung US office, I communicated with cross-functional teams under different time zones on a daily basis. It was crucial for me to analyze the perspectives of my clients and the Korean UX team as a bridge for the 2 parties.
When I joined the company, my team only had one main flow as displayed above. After months of user testing, we noticed users encountering difficulties with the flow when led to uncommon and unexpected scenarios. We referred to these conditions as 'edge cases' which were urgent cases we had to prioritize to fix each time it occured.
My role within eSIM activation was to create new UX flows whenever we encountered edge cases.
Although I acknowledged a big room of opportunity for UX improvement on eSIM, it was challenging to enter such a niche project that wasn't mature yet. eSIM was out of my knowledge and resources were lacking. Here are the actions I took during my first 3 months into the project to cope with the challenges.
eSIM Edge cases fall outside the typical user interactions caused by numerous factors - Privacy concerns, connectivity, environmental, accessibility, etc. I learned that addressing edge cases is important because they can have a significant impact on not only the overall usability and effectiveness of a product and service, but also for inclusivity.
Now let's dive into the case study! Today I will focus on Parked SIMs, aka eSIMs locked by carriers.
Users are unable to activate their eSIM when the phone is locked to a carrier.
Allow users to access a convenient pathway to unlock eSIM with their SIM carrier under another carrier's device, without calling customer service.
I hopped on a customer call once in every 2 weeks. Here are a couple issues that were brought to light when the frequency of occurrence increased.
Our UX team compiled keywords from customer calls onto post-its, and noticed a trend for "call customer service" or "dial customer support center" both from our customers and clients. We figured we had to make iterations to our flow to reduce users from dialing carrier customer support every time they wanted to unlock their eSIM.
In result to hearing feedback from Customer 1 and my Carrier, below are the stages of proposals I requested during client meetings.
The main reason for proposal 1 being denied was for each carrier striving to keep as many customers under their plan. It's understandable from a business perspective because it is possible for carriers to not allow negotiation with their competitor carriers.
Proposal 2 was the direction both myself and the carrier finally agreed on. Carrier's Webview was handed to the Carrier's UX Team, while I designed the rest of the flow, so that after the unlocking is completed, users return back to Samsung's activating flow.
The last frame of the user flow above is the issue that needs to be replaced so that (1) We keep users on our interface (2) account for when multiple eSIMs are found, 1 device carrier eSIM found, or 1 non-device carrier eSIM found.
Above is a sketch I shared first to my internal UX team.
In order for the UX to align with our goal of "keeping users on the Samsung interface", I removed the original call pop-up, and led the flow to an external carrier webview which ultimately led back to our UX flow. It was a win-win for both parties because we keep users on our product interface, while carriers don't receive calls regarding unlocking eSIMs anymore.
Above is the final outcome from the iterations I made. We removed the entire frame that directed users to dial to our Carrier Customer Support, but instead connected a link to the Carrier Webview, which after completion, users are led back to Samsung's interface.
In cases where multiple eSIMs are found, users are displayed with a bubble pop-up notifying them about their locked eSIM. When they click "OK", they will be led to "Choose how to add your eSIM".
Circling back to another common customer issue regarding not being able to find and add new eSIM due to not having access to Wi-Fi network, we achieved a solution by communicating with our engineers. The engineers of the team were in charge of bringing our technical ideas to life, introducing "Bootstrap".
Bootstrap: temporary network connection that only functions during eSIM activation when users do not have access to Wi-Fi
As seen on the fourth frame "Choose how to add your eSIM", there is a small bubble on top that notifies users that Bootstrap is activating. That bubble is temporarily up for 5 seconds, and it will disappear after.
Remember how my client expressed that they wanted less users dialing _Carrier_ customer support? They requested if the temporary bubble popup that indicates "Bootstrap ON" could remain permanently on top along with a countdown timer.
When I asked A. Why permanent? B. Why do we need a timer?
Carriers take was that users feel lost because they don't know what Bootstrap is, and also that it is a temporary bubble. They requested the timer so that users are aware that Bootstrap has a time limit which will navigate users through the flow in a diligent and smooth pace. As a result, they hoped that it would lead to an outcome of reduction in customer support calls.
How might we use visual design to inform users that Bootstrap is activating but temporary?
Option D is a combination of B and C, where we included both the motion of time being reduced along with the timer by seconds. We eliminated it because the circle was taking up too much space from the frame even though it wasn't the dominant feature, which shifted away user focus on eSIM activation.
For the next steps of Usability Testing, Option C and D are not covered because they are more on the experimental side. A and B are more effective for collecting data.
We ran a split test on 3 different variants of when Bootstrap is activated: one that is a temporary bubble, one with a countdown timer on a permanent bubble, and the last one that is not visible. Although we hypothetically assumed that using a countdown timer would boost conversions by increasing a sense of urgency, we surprisingly found a decreased conversion rate by -2.73%.
Urgency was not a factor when it came to conversion rates for Bootstrap during eSIM activation, but instead seemed to play a negative role as it left users feeling pressured and lost under time.
We also noticed some users attempting in going to their emails or social media while using Bootstrap once the activation signs were displayed. My team and I concluded that it would be best to proceed with Variation 2, keeping Bootstrap invisible.
As displayed above, the final solution does not display Bootstrap on the frame. My UX Team was able to use data to notify our channels and carriers that a countdown timer rather pressures users or in some cases mislead users to direct to other activities misusing the purpose of Bootstrap.
Post launch, our analytics team tracked the impact of removing Bootstrap sign and timer on "core metric". The results showed a sizable increase in completion of finding eSIM through Bootstrap.
Conversion Rates
+2.73%
• Your design change doesn't have to be dramatic - My design outcome for Bootstrap came to a verdict of having no design being better than all the trials I've created. At first, my achievements felt useless. But I learned that because I created and tested the trials, I was able to gather significant data on the best design solution.
• Ask many questions, bring a small notebook everywhere - The first three months was my official onboarding phase, which is the golden time for me to ask questions regarding the projects, formulation of the team, culture, etc. I just made sure that once I ask a question, I never ask twice.
• Importance of labeling impacts - PMs set up front end tracking to get the results of new features we implemented. Each time this happened, we would hold a meeting to review the numbers and the impact designs had on our traffic. By doing so, it allowed me to read the UX impact I am bringing for my team.