Oivan - myAIS App - Design-Led Digital Transformation for Thailand's Leading Telecom Operator

myAIS App – Design-Led Digital Transformation for Thailand’s Leading Telecom Operator

In 2022, Oivan partnered with AIS, Thailand’s largest telecom operator with over 45 million customers, to completely redesign their flagship myAIS mobile application. With competition increasing, the company needed a bold design transformation to differentiate their digital offering and strengthen customer relationships.

Case Study Highlights

Client

AIS

Year(s)

2022

Service

Digital Service Design, Web and Mobile App Development

Introduction

In 2022, Oivan partnered with AIS, Thailand’s largest telecom operator with over 45 million customers and a commanding 49% market share, to completely redesign their flagship myAIS mobile application. The ambitious goal: increase app adoption from 22% to 80% within 18 months while defending market leadership against a major competitor merger.

Challenge

AIS faced a critical juncture when their two main rivals announced a merger, threatening their market leadership. The myAIS app, despite serving millions of users, had only achieved 22% adoption among AIS customers. The company needed a bold design transformation to differentiate their digital offering and strengthen customer relationships:

Driving Adoption at Scale

Transforming an underperforming app serving 45 million potential users
Increasing adoption from 22% to 80% in just 18 months
Creating compelling reasons for users to engage with the app daily

Competitive Differentiation

Standing out in a consolidating market with aggressive competitors
Differentiating through design excellence and user experience
Creating emotional connections beyond basic telecom services

Complex User Needs

Serving diverse user segments from tech-savvy youth to older demographics
Balancing telecom services with lifestyle features and retail partnerships
Simplifying complex account management and service interactions

Design System at Scale

Creating consistency across a large, complex application
Enabling multiple business teams to design and develop features independently
Ensuring scalability for future growth and feature additions

Solution

Oivan’s Design Director led a multicultural design team combining:

On-the-ground presence in Bangkok – Deep understanding of Thai market, culture, and user behaviors
International design expertise – World-class UX/UI practices and innovation
Close client collaboration – Daily partnership with AIS business stakeholders and product teams

Strategic Design Thinking

We began with a comprehensive Future Vision Workshop to align stakeholders and set the strategic direction:

Understanding the telecom landscape and competitive dynamics
Identifying user pain points and opportunities through research
Defining success metrics and design principles
Creating a shared vision for the transformed experience

User-Centered Research & Validation

Our design process was grounded in continuous user research:

Research Activities:
- User interviews and behavioral analysis
- Data and analytics review to understand current usage patterns
- Stakeholder interviews with product owners and business teams
- Competitive benchmarking of leading telecom and lifestyle apps
Validation Approach:
- Co-creation workshops with stakeholders
- Rapid prototyping and iterative design
- Real user testing before development
- Sharing assumptions and design rationale with client teams throughout

Key Design Deliverables

1. Reimagined User Experience

Strategic Feature Placement:

- Prominent scan feature at bottom navigation – Streamlining the process of claiming retail discounts and incentivizing daily app usage
- Widget-based architecture – Giving users quick access to vital information at a glance, designed to cultivate stronger bonds between users and the app

Enhanced Core Experiences:

- Simplified account management and service controls
- Intuitive navigation optimized for frequent tasks
- Personalized content and recommendations
- Seamless integration of telecom services with lifestyle features

Design Innovation:

- Bold move to prioritize retail and lifestyle features alongside core telecom services
- Widget strategy for user retention – providing valuable information at a glance
- Micro-interactions and motion design enhancing usability and delight

2. Visual Design Language

Modern Brand Expression:

- Contemporary visual identity reflecting AIS’s market leadership
- Color system balancing brand recognition with usability
- Typography optimized for Thai language readability
- Custom iconography for telecom and lifestyle concepts
- Photography and illustration guidelines

Interface Design:

- Pixel-perfect UI designs for iOS and Android
- Responsive layouts adapting to all screen sizes
- Accessibility considerations for diverse user base
- Consistent visual hierarchy and information architecture

3. Comprehensive Design System

Oivan developed a complete Design System to ensure consistency, scalability, and enable multiple teams to work efficiently:

Design System Components:

- Complete UI Kit with documentation and specifications
- Component Library – Buttons, forms, cards, navigation, widgets, and 50+ reusable components
- Design Principles – Clear guidelines for decision-making
- Pattern Library – Common UI patterns for consistent experiences
- Icon System – Custom icon library for telecom and lifestyle features
- Typography & Color Systems – Scales and usage guidelines
- Spacing & Layout – Grid systems and layout patterns

Implementation & Governance:

- Figma libraries – Single source of truth for designers
- Storybook integration – Linking design to code for developers
- Documentation – How-to-use guidelines for any designer in any business team
- Design System coverage map – Ensuring nothing is left behind

Benefits:

- Consistency – Unified experience across all features and platforms
- Efficiency – Multiple teams can design and develop simultaneously
- Scalability – Easy to extend with new features and business initiatives
- Quality – Reduced errors and improved collaboration

Widgetization Strategy

A core innovation was the widget-based retention strategy:

- Designed widgets to give users valuable information at a glance
- Strategic placement of widgets for different user needs and contexts
- Personalization capabilities for relevant content
- Performance optimization for quick loading and smooth interactions

Outcome

While specific post-launch metrics are confidential, the redesigned myAIS app was positioned to dramatically increase adoption toward the 80% target through:

Compelling new features driving daily engagement
Simplified user experience reducing friction
Widget strategy providing ongoing value
Retail integration creating new reasons to use the app

Design Excellence Recognition

Successfully validated with real users during testing
Enthusiastic reception from both business teams and users
Set a new benchmark for telecom app design in Thailand

Organizational Impact

Beyond the app itself, Oivan helped transform AIS’s approach to design:

Established design as a strategic differentiator
Created scalable design system enabling multiple teams
Built design capabilities through knowledge transfer and collaboration
Demonstrated ROI of investing in world-class design

FAQ

Q1: How can Oivan help your organization with a system redesign?

Service Design & Strategy:

Strategic design workshops and future visioning
User research and behavioral analysis
Competitive analysis and market insights
Design strategy aligned with business objectives

UX Design

Information architecture and navigation design
Interaction design and prototyping
User testing and validation
Mobile-first design for iOS and Android

UI Design

Visual design and brand expression
Design systems and component libraries
Iconography and custom illustrations
Motion design and micro-interactions

Design Operations

Design system development and governance
Multi-team collaboration and scaling
Design-development integration
Documentation and knowledge transfer

Let’s Work Together

Whether you want to discuss the latest developments in digital service innovation, or have an idea for a service for your organization, we are always happy to talk.