The 80% Drop-Off
Global YO offers eSIM data plans in 120+ countries, but 80% of users who downloaded the app never completed a purchase. With a $10B market opportunity and less than 2% market share, we needed to find and fix five critical friction points.
65-person survey to quantify pain points, 10 in-depth interviews to understand "why," and affinity mapping that identified 7 core problems across 3 journey phases.
Guest Mode: Removing the Login Wall
The biggest single drop-off was the forced login. 35% of users abandoned when asked to create an account before they'd even seen a plan. The solution: let users browse everything (plans, pricing, country coverage) without signing up. Signup happens only at checkout, after they've found value.
Blurred Figma screens available upon request
The founder initially resisted guest mode: he wanted user tracking from day one. I proposed a compromise: instrument every guest interaction, then backfill browsing history to their account at checkout signup. This gave attribution without friction. A 2-week A/B test sealed it: the guest cohort had 35% higher plan selection and 25% higher checkout starts.
3-Tab Navigation: Finding the Right Plan
Users couldn't find global plans: they'd search under countries, under regions, and give up. This caused 20% drop-off. The solution was a simple segmented control: Local, Regional, Global.
Transparent Checkout & YOYO$ Iteration
The YOYO rewards slider was the checkout killer. Users didn't understand: "Am I sliding dollars or points? How much am I actually redeeming?" This caused 20% checkout abandonment.
User intent isn't always best captured by user choice. Sometimes we need to show users value first, then let them opt out. The PM initially resisted default-on ("What if they want to save their YOYO?") but competitor data showing 80% usage with default-on discounts won the argument.
Device-Aware Installation
10% of paid users failed to activate their eSIM. The old flow threw a wall of text at users with generic instructions across all devices. The new flow is visual-first, device-aware, and progressive.
The iOS tech lead flagged that device-specific instructions would triple dev time (7 weeks total). I re-prioritized: ship iOS-specific first (60% of users are iPhones), use generic for Android in V1, then add device-specific flows in V2 based on iOS performance data. This compromise shipped on time and immediately improved activation for the majority.
Post-Purchase: The Data Gauge
Once activated, users need to monitor their remaining data. I chose an arc gauge over a full circle or progress bar for a specific reason.