Case Study · 2025

Fontalk

Phone service that helps you build credit through daily actions. Your trust grows into real opportunities.

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

4 months

Team

8 Software Engineers, 2 QAs, 1 DevOps, 1 Designer

Platform

iOS · Android

Overview

Fontalk turns the most ordinary thing in your pocket — your phone bill — into something that opens doors. Paying for talk, text, and data on time quietly builds a credit profile that unlocks better rates, housing applications, and financial products. I designed the end-to-end experience: a guided onboarding that gathers what's needed without feeling like a credit check, a frictionless SIM-installation flow that works across iOS and Android, and a home that shows the user how every action moves their trust score forward.

The Problem

Millions of people — newcomers, students, freelancers, the underbanked — have no credit footprint because the systems that grade them don't see the bills they pay every month. Existing 'rent reporting' tools are slow, manual, and only show up after months. Phone bills, paid every single cycle, are an untapped on-ramp.

01 · Approach

The Process

Fontalk lives or dies on trust. I ran 14 user interviews across two markets — half with people who had thin credit files, half who'd been turned down for a credit product in the past year. The pattern was clear: people would happily share data IF they understood exactly what was being collected, why, and what they got in return. The whole experience is built around that contract.

(01)Discover

14 interviews. Mapped the emotional friction of credit checks vs. the calm of paying a phone bill.

(02)Define

Reframed the product from 'wireless plan' to 'wireless plan that earns you a credit footprint'.

(03)Design

Five-screen onboarding, transparent plan builder, dual SIM flow for iOS and Android.

(04)Ship & learn

Phased beta across 3 carriers. 91% activation completion on first session, 4.7/5 user trust score.

02 · Features

What we shipped

Each feature was driven by a specific insight from research, shipped behind a metric, and iterated weekly.

Plan, paid, points

Pick a plan, pay on time, and watch a real credit profile build month after month — automatically reported to bureaus.

Transparent collection

Every piece of data we ask for is justified inline. Users can see exactly what is shared, with whom, and why.

Dual-OS SIM activation

Tailored eSIM and physical SIM guides for iOS and Android — including a recovery flow when activation fails the first time.

Daily action loop

A home that rewards on-time payments, plan upgrades, and verified address updates with tangible trust-score movement.

03 · Customer journey

Walk the user's path

Each screen below maps to a real moment in the user's journey — from the first 90 seconds to a steady-state where the agent runs unattended.

(01)Marketing site

A web home that earns the install

Most users meet Fontalk on the web first. The marketing site is built to answer the two questions a new visitor asks — 'what is this?' and 'is it safe?' — through a Home page, a clear How-it-Works walkthrough, an About page, an honest FAQ, a Support hub, and a Community page that signals real users.

Six purposeful pages — no marketing fluff
How-it-Works explains the credit-building loop in 3 steps
Community + Support pages address trust head-on

(02)Onboarding

A four-screen welcome that sets the contract upfront

Before users hand over any information, Fontalk explains the deal in plain language: a phone plan that quietly builds your credit. Each onboarding screen surfaces a single promise — connect, build, thrive, unlock — so the value lands before the work starts.

One promise per screen — never a wall of marketing copy
Visual progress so the user always knows how close they are to done
Skip-friendly: users can dive in and complete the rest in-app

A four-screen welcome that sets the contract upfront – 1

A four-screen welcome that sets the contract upfront – 2

A four-screen welcome that sets the contract upfront – 3

A four-screen welcome that sets the contract upfront – 4

(03)Account & Plan — eSIM

Create an account and build the plan you actually need

An eight-step focused flow takes the user from account creation through plan customization, address collection, payment, and a confident success state. Each step is its own modal — never an intimidating multi-page form.

Build-your-own plan with live totals
Address & payment collected only when needed, with clear justification
Success screens preview what comes next, not just celebrate

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 1

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 2

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 3

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 4

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 5

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 6

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 7

Create an account and build the plan you actually need – 8

(04)Physical SIM alternative

A second path for devices that need a physical card

Not every device supports eSIM, and not every user wants it. The physical-SIM flow mirrors the eSIM setup but adds the shipping path — collect shipping address, confirm billing, review the order, and a success screen that sets expectations on delivery.

Account setup, plan build, and address collection in one focused flow
Separate billing and shipping address screens — fewer mistakes
Order summary + success state that previews delivery timing

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 1

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 2

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 3

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 4

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 5

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 6

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 7

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 8

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 9

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 10

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 11

A second path for devices that need a physical card – 12

(05)Number selection

Pick a fresh Fontalk number

Users who want a clean start choose a new number from a focused picker, then confirm via a summary screen that shows everything about their new line before they commit.

Filter by area code and pattern preferences
Compatibility summary surfaces eSIM-ready devices automatically
One-tap reservation while the user finishes setup

(06)Number transfer (port-in)

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world

Porting in is where most carriers lose users. Fontalk's transfer flow handles every state explicitly: in-progress, success, ineligible numbers, and resolution-required cases — each with a clear next step.

Eligibility check up-front so users know what to expect
Distinct success paths for eSIM and physical SIM transfers
Friendly recovery for ineligible numbers and stuck transfers

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 1

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 2

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 3

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 4

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 5

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 6

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 7

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 8

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 9

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 10

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 11

Bring your number — designed for the messy real world – 12

(07)Pay with cash

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked

Fontalk's core user often doesn't have a credit card to pay with. The Pay-with-Cash flow lets a user pick a nearby store, generate a barcode, and pay in person — keeping the door open for the exact users who benefit most from credit-building.

Step-by-step how-it-works explainer before the barcode is generated
Nearby-store picker with multiple options
Barcode + success state confirms the payment without confusion

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 1

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 2

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 3

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 4

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 5

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 6

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 7

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 8

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 9

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 10

Cash-friendly checkout for the underbanked – 11

(08)SIM activation — iOS

Get talking in minutes on Apple

iOS users activate instantly via eSIM, or follow a step-by-step manual flow if their device or carrier requires it. The guide adapts based on what the device reports back.

Instant eSIM provisioning where supported
Two-track manual activation guide with progress checkmarks
Inline help when a step looks unfamiliar

(09)SIM activation — Android

Same ease, fully native on Android

Android gets its own activation experience — including a recovery flow for the moment an eSIM hand-off fails, with a one-tap path back to manual activation.

Instant + manual paths with platform-native components
First-class error recovery so a failure isn't a dead end
Designed against the messiest Android OEM realities

(10)Login

One identity, two platforms

Login is intentionally minimal. Same credentials work on iOS and Android, with platform-native input styling so the screen feels at home on every device.

Single email + password — no third-party walls
Platform-native input affordances on iOS and Android
Forgot-password is one tap from the login screen

(11)Usage

See exactly how your trust is growing

A calm, scannable usage view shows data, talk, and text in one place. Filters let users zoom in by period; the empty state is friendly and explains what they'll see once data flows in.

One screen for data, talk, and text
Filterable by day, week, month, or billing cycle
Friendly empty state — never a blank wall

See exactly how your trust is growing – 1

See exactly how your trust is growing – 2

See exactly how your trust is growing – 3

See exactly how your trust is growing – 4

See exactly how your trust is growing – 5

(12)Billing & Payments

Every payment is a step toward credit

Billing is the engine of trust. Users see a clear list of bills, full payment history, and tap any transaction for a detailed receipt — every on-time payment is reinforced as a credit-building action.

Bill list with status, due date, and amount at a glance
Payment history with filters by status and date
Tap-to-view receipts for every transaction

Every payment is a step toward credit – 1

Every payment is a step toward credit – 2

Every payment is a step toward credit – 3

Every payment is a step toward credit – 4

Every payment is a step toward credit – 5

Every payment is a step toward credit – 6

(13)Settings

Calm, complete control over the account

Settings collects everything a user might ever want to change — profile, devices, security, notifications, payment methods, language, legal, and a careful two-step account deletion. Every change is one tap from a clean hub.