Optus ScamWise
An app feature for customers to learn about, identify and report scams following the Optus data breach.
What is it?
My contribution
Uncover user needs through research from start to finish (qual and quant),
Turned findings into 3 features through ideation,
Creating user flow, high-fi UI for engineers to build.
Company
Optus
Role
Product designer
Time frame
Sept - Nov 2023
A bold plan
In just 3 months, we have to understand customers' perception of scam, design a new feature, and launch it in the Optus app. It's a fast and ambitious plan, but our goal was to launch before Christmas so we can drive feature adoption and help rebuild public trust in Optus following the 2022 cyberattack incident.
What we've learnt
We didn’t have much insight into how customers dealt with scams, so we had to start from scratch. I spoke to 15 customers individually in 4 days, to understand their frustrations, and what they expected from Optus, along with a concept testing. With the synthesised insights, I sent out 572 surveys to quantify how many people are experiencing similar problems. This helped us to decide which issues to tackle first.
From insight to ideas
Once we learnt that customers didn’t feel protected, in control, and were coping by taking a blanket approach, our team knew our solution had to restore confidence.
So I gathered product and engineering, turned our insights into HMW statements, and rapidly brainstormed. After sketching, joting down ideas in Figjam, and dot-voting, we narrowed down to 3 realistic and high-impact feature as the core of ScamWise.
Scam dashboard
Report a scam
Scam education & content
Give user control
We wanted customers to feel in control—from spotting scams to feeling safe, so I mapped out that journey, imagining each step and where they might get stuck. I brought this to a "new product forum" to share with product managers for buy-in, together with my low-fi wireframes to show the concept in the App.
Once we got the thumbs up and the ideas took shape, I explored patterns for each feature, e.g. for "Scam Report" I explored cards, carousels and accordions.
Ready for handover
As the new App UI kit was coming together, I started using its components in my designs. Along the way, I noticed we needed some customised components, such as a "number block" to show how many scams were blocked and customised icons. I designed and customised them, sharing with the UI kit team so i could contribute to adding new design components.
Almost done… then not
We tested the feature with real users, and everything seemed on track—flows worked, and customers felt more in control. But a technical limitation meant the scam report to hotline 7226 wasn’t ready.
As a team, we quickly discussed and pivoted to a simple form where users could copy and paste scam details . I jumped straight into high-fidelity design, then ran a second round of usability testing with 10 users in a single day to ensure it worked smoothly.
Before
After pivot
Launched within 3 months
After three intense months, ScamWise went live in the My Optus App, just before Christmas! Customers could now see how Optus is blocking SMS and call scams for them, report scams and be aware of the latest scams.
Since launched we've achieved:
1 million views
47% usage among those who clicked
My learnings 💚
Testimonials
