Build-up of the global Vodafone UX and product organisation during the birth phase of the mobile internet.
Context
In 2003, Vodafone had just launched the world’s first global mobile content portal (Vodafone live!) and faced the question of how to maintain a consistent user experience across thirty markets, multiple device classes, and hundreds of partners. The role required someone able to build a global design and UX function from the product side.
Contribution
Build-up of the global Vodafone UX and product organisation from two to more than 120 staff across three locations (London, Düsseldorf, Tokyo), with an annual budget of around 100 million euros. Development of the global design language for Vodafone’s web and mobile services. Leading the design of Vodafone live! and Vodafone 360 in more than 30 markets.
Scope extending well beyond pure software touchpoints (web, portal): centralised product design both of the application layer — including the then-dominant Symbian Series 60 platform — and of the devices themselves. In that era, mobile phones were customised by the network operators for their brands, in industrial design and interface. Group-wide responsibility for industrial design, hardware UX, software stack, and portal — the entire product experience in one hand.
The role extended beyond UX into product and strategy initiatives with a reporting line to the Group Executive Board — including the implementation of Vodafone’s cloud-based service strategy. The position was therefore less a pure design role and more a product and platform function at group level.
The five years at Vodafone form the core of the mobile chapter. Three product strands are documented as separate pages:
- Vodafone live! — the global content portal
- Vodafone 360 — social, cloud, and app ecosystem with a dedicated hardware line
- Vodafone live! Vision — concept and vision work for product strategy