June 1, 2022

Customer Journey Transformation

Led a group-wide digital experience strategy across 5 regulated markets, defining a six-pillar customer lifecycle framework that delivered a 31% increase in Digital Gross Additions and reduced call centre volumes by 13%.

Task

Defining a group-wide digital experience strategy across 5 regulated markets, balancing design consistency with local compliance at speed.

Strategy

Design Direction, UX Strategy, User Experience Design
Design

UX design
Client

e& Group - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt
Team

3 internal designers + 5 on-ground agency partners
Stakeholders

Product, Engineering, IT, Group Leadership, Local Governments

01 // Project Overview

Defining a group-wide digital experience strategy across 5 markets for e& Etisalat Group

As Head of UX & AI Product Design at e& Etisalat Group, I defined and led the execution of a digital customer experience strategy spanning five markets – Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Egypt. Each market brought distinct regulatory requirements, cultural nuances, and government approval processes, making this one of the most complex UX leadership challenges of my career.

02 // Challenges

The core tension: design consistency at scale, with local compliance at speed.

e& Etisalat’s digital experience was fragmented across five countries. Customers faced inconsistent journeys from acquisition through to retention, with no cohesive group-wide UX strategy to unify them. The business had ambitious 2030 targets, and needed a design approach that could scale locally, iterate rapidly, and navigate government compliance without slowing delivery.

03 // The Strategy

The Strategy

I defined a six-pillar digital customer lifecycle framework, each with clear 2030 targets:

Digital Acquisition

Target:
10–30% online sales
by 2030

Key projects:
eSIM, Product Selection,
Checkout

Digital Engagement

Target:
300% increase in Monthly Active Users by 2030

Key projects:
Loyalty Programme

Digital Onboarding

Target:
80% of smartphone base on app by 2030

Key projects:
Digital KYC, Consent Management, App Tutorials

Digital Transactions

Target:
50% of MAUs transacting by 2030

Key projects:
Payments, Billing

Digital Care

Target:
70–80% of care interactions digital by 2030

Key projects:
Troubleshooting for Fixed Line, Postpaid & Prepaid

Digital Retention

Target:
<30% uninstall rate by 2030

Key projects:
App Churn Models in partnership with CVM

04 // Approach

Every market required a different approach.

We combined on-ground workshops, design thinking, rapid prototyping in Figma, and in-market usability testing — navigating government collaboration and regulatory approval at every step, particularly for Digital KYC where compliance demanded as much diplomacy as design skill.

On-Ground Discovery

Remote research wasn’t an option. We ran in-market workshops across all five countries, embedding ourselves in each market to capture nuances that data alone couldn’t surface.

Each market required its own discovery sprint before design began
Workshops aligned product, engineering, IT and local teams simultaneously

Design thinking & rapid prototyping

Structured discovery sessions brought all stakeholders into alignment before any design work began, keeping iterations tight and feedback loops short.Design thinking sessions run at the start of each pillar to align on goals

Design thinking sessions run at the start of each pillar to align on goals
Rapid iteration cycles reduced the time between brief and validated design

Usability testing

Every major journey was tested in-market with real users — woven throughout the process, not saved for the end.

Audiences ranged from tech-savvy urban users in Saudi Arabia to first-time smartphone users in Afghanistan
Findings fed directly back into design iterations before development handoff.

Government collaboration

Regulatory approval was our most significant blocker, demanding patience and diplomacy as much as design skill.

Every design decision needed legal sign-off before moving to development
Collaboration with regulators shaped the final experience as much as user research did

Customer journeys designed and developed

e& country brands served

05 // Selected Designs

01 Digital KYC

A unified onboarding experience for 3 apps combined into 1 simple onboarding flow for all user types.

New user registration
Existing users (postpaid, prepaid, fixed, tourist lines)
Account linking
Consent Management
Deletion of account

02 Plan Selection

Revamped journeys to incorporate multiple sim types, payment methods and adjacencies.

Physical/E-Sim/Port-in
Postpaid, Prepaid, Tourist, FTTH, 5G
Recharge
Exclusive offers
Cart & Add on’s

03 Login

Multiple Accounts interoperability, seamless post login onboarding experiences.

Account link
Post login onboarding
Help & Troubleshooting
Customer Care

04 Manage Account

See exclusive account rewards, upgrade plan and pay your bills.

Downgrade/Upgrade Plan
TV, Streamling and Gaming
Offers & Rewards
Customer Care
Pay Bills

06 // Impact

Impact & Outcomes

Increase in
Digital Gross Additions

Across the group following Digital KYC implementation

Digital Transacting Users

following Consent Management rollout

Monthly Active Users

Increase across all markets selfcare apps

Decrease in call centre volumes

Through the rollout of the new Troubleshooting flow

07 // Reflection

Reflection

This project reinforced that UX leadership at scale is as much about navigating ambiguity and building trust across cultures and governments as it is about craft. Defining a strategy that worked across five regulated markets, and delivering measurable results against it. It remains the most complex and rewarding challenge of my career to date.

Back

Next Project

Customer Journey Transformation

Task

Strategy

Design

Client

Team

Stakeholders