Balance Summary Redesign for eSIM Roaming

Redesigning the Balance Summary to Support eSIM Roaming Bundles for Pay-as-you-go Customer

My Role

I led the design of the Balance Summary experience within a small cross-functional team. As one of three designers, I worked independently on this feature from initial exploration to final handoff. I collaborated closely with developers to ensure to ensure implementation aligned with design intent, while navigating technical constraints and business priorities.

Overview

The exsiting Balance summary focused solely on local bundles and top-up balances. However, with the company’s expansion into the eSIM market, a new challenge emerged: how to effectively integrate roaming bundles and PAYG services for users traveling internationally.

This redesign aimed to support the expanded offering while maintaining a user-friendly experience and ensuring the dashboard remained intuitive, scalable, and aligned with evolving business needs.

Scope

This case study focuses on the redesign of the Balance Summary within the web and mobile app. The scope included designing a solution that supports both local and roaming bundles and PAYG balances all in a single, scannable view.

The Old User Experience

Strength

• All key balances (data, minutes, texts, credit) are presented in a single view
• Each type of usage is visually separated with icons and progress bars, making scanning easy

Key Friction

• Treats all balances as local-only, which doesn’t scale to international usage contexts
• UI starts to look cluttered and utility-heavy

Why Redesign?

With the company’s expansion into eSIM and international roaming, the UX needed to:

• Support two bundle contexts: On-Island (local) and Roaming
• Present key balances without overloading the screen
• Help users easily view both types of bundles, while maintaining clarity on important information
• Handle unlimited plans alongside usage-based bundles.
  

The goal was to redesign the balance summary to support roaming bundles without compromising user experience, making it easy for both new and existing customers to manage their usage.

Data Collection Strategies

Competitor Benchmarking

I analyzed telecom apps that successfully integrated eSIM roaming services, noting user experience best practices and pitfalls.

Internal Data Analysis

Collaborated closely with product and data teams to understand user behavior and prioritize content for the dashboard. This included determining which information such as active bundles, PAYG eSIM balances, and available top-up or purchase actions needed to be surfaced most prominently to support both local and roaming users.

Stakeholder Interview

To understand business goals and strategic direction around eSIM expansion, PAYG services, and evolving product offerings. This included clarifying business rules, bundle eligibility, and how roaming should be positioned alongside local services etc.

Dealing with Constraints

Technical Constraints

Roaming data integration was complex. I collaborated with engineering to ensure accurate, real-time updates.

Information Overload

Showing local and roaming bundles together risked overwhelming users. I used collapsible sections to manage content visibility.

Component Limitation

The design system didn’t support the new layout, so we created a custom component for the Balance Summary.

Iteration 1

Initial Design

• Clear separation between data, credit, and minutes.
• Simple card layout that’s easy to scan.
• Strong hierarchy with bold numbers and labels.

Challenges

• Visually lacks engagement or hierarchy beyond typography.
• Doesn’t utilize progress indicators or visuals to communicate usage levels.

Iteration 2

Refinement

• Semi-circle to instantly communicates data usage
• Design makes it easy to find information at a glance

Pivot Point

• Credit is hidden. Users have to scroll to see it
• For Pay As You Go users, credit is a primary concern, so hiding it breaks mental priority

Iteration 3 

Final Outcome

• Shows data, credit, and minutes all in one view similar to the current one
• Uses semi-circle graph only where relevant
• Visual + numerical pairing makes the information intuitive and digestible

Possible Future Improvement

While the final design solves for current business needs and user clarity, there are still areas for potential improvement.

• Credit Has No Usage Indicator
• While we avoid clutter, the layout does use a lot of space.

Why these are Acceptable Trade-offs

• Semi-circle graph was used sparingly (only for data) to keep the interface clear and avoid overload.

• Unlimited services don’t benefit from visual meters, keeping them text-only makes the layout cleaner.

• A dedicated Roaming tab ensures local and travel-related bundles are not mixed or confusing.

• The design is optimized for clarity and future scalability, not just compactness.

Measurable Impact

This project was completed during my time at JT Global, where I led the end-to-end design process through to final iteration. Due to a company-wide redundancy, I was unable to follow through on post-launch metrics. However, the final design was fully documented and handed off in alignment with both product and engineering teams for implementation.

Next Steps

If continued, next step would include:

• Track engagement with On-Island vs. Roaming tabs:  % of users switching tabs
• Monitor top-up interaction for PAYG users: Click-through and completion rates
• Run usability tests with roaming users: Identify real-world friction points

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