Mike Tsai UX Design
Web OS Platform
Smart Feature Phone
Project Background
Almost half of the world's population are still offline, and most of them live in developing countries.
KaiOS, a light, web-based operating system, aims to bring the good of smartphones to affordable feature phones in 2G to 4G migration and connect the unconnected.
Up until today, feature phone still dominates over 50% mobile phone markets in most emerging markets.
And nearly 38% of the world's population has never used the internet, 96% live in developing countries.
United Nations 2020
Mission 0 to 1
Lead a multidisciplinary UX team to create the entire OS design from ground 0.
My Role
As a UX Director, I set design strategy, design process, roadmap, design standard, individual responsibilities, and project management to ensure high quality and effective design production. I am also responsible for cross-team, multi-sites communication and external partner communication for any UX matter.
In addition, I expect myself to build up a trustful and professional reputation for my team by shaping a team culture that fits us along the way.
My Team
There are 10 UX designers on my team with multi-skills such as interaction design, visual design, prototyping, animation, strategy planning, research, design thinking methods, ...etc.
Let's Get Started
Step by Step / First Thing First
I set 3 phases for the UX implementation plan and each one has its action chunks. It's critical to come up with the overall plan first, so the team has a good idea of what needed to be done in general sequence, especially for such a huge scale project.
This is also an important process to build up UX team's charisma and culture.
STAGE 1
Design Principles
target users / product / OS platform
Design Exploration
navigation model / system behavior / UI components / major screens layout / keypad behavior, etc.
Everyone on the design team should participate in this process. It is critical to from the one design value as the foundation of the OS UX.
Challenge for me is to make a close internal and cross team work to meet the schedule.
Me and my team craft the design brick by brick, from design guidelines to navigation model, from components, system behavior, app design to end product.
At this stage, I set up meetings with engineering teams for feasibility evaluation and establish a good relationship enhance collaboration quality and project efficiency.
Navigation Model
where to go / how to come back
STAGE 2
System Components
building blocks
System UI & Behavior
interface & navigation
Prototype
Check Box
Date Picker
I set prototyping and video demo a standard design process from the beginning, because it's an effective step for communication and evaluation.
Design Style & Guidelines
interface & navigation
Open Source Design Guide
STAGE 3
Preloaded Apps / Services / Portal Sites
I managed the UX team to produced over 20 preloaded apps and key features in 4 months and also make sure all stakeholders are aligned so we can seamlessly finish the development in time.
They include communication apps, media apps, utility apps, web browser ...etc.
Having world's popular internet apps on board is critical to make a successful product.
To ensure their app experience quality on KaiOS platform, we not only share knowledge but also pro-actively provide design reference for our partner. This collaborative way saves a lot of production time and results in securing deadline without compromising any user experience design.
Store
Store app & app submission portal
Store is an app wonderland for users to explore. How might we provide a delightful app discovering experience in a small screen ?
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Handy Search feature
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Inviting layout to encourage exploration
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Clear category
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Screenshots for preview
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YMAL (you may also like) suggestion
App Submission Portal
We created App Submission Portal for individual developers and 3rd party companies to get onboard and enrich the Store content for users to explore.
App Submission Portal Journey
Cards
increasing user engagement
Cards is an innovative design to enrich the on-boarding experience for diverse services. It brings exciting vibe on the home screen, where all user journeys start.
Cards Push Portal
Each card and its content pages are customizable through push portal service. It is flexible, expandable and the best is, it can be remotely updated.
VIBE
Data Service Subscription
Vibe is a collaborative product made possible by KaiOS, carriers, service provider and FinTech companies. It aims to create an eco system to increase 4G adoption and digital service usage.
