Adam Daniel Best - Senior Product Designer

0→1: Launching giffgaff Full Fibre
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I led the systems design strategy to launch giffgaff’s 0→1 Full Fibre broadband market entry (Acquisition & Onboarding). Operating as the UX Orchestrator between agile squads and complex APIs, I architected holistic service logic. By designing for these high-ambiguity technical states, I boosted conversion to 6% (vs. 4.5% target) and sustained a 95 NPS from pre-install trialists.

Role
Product Designer (vertical strategy lead)

The Context: Orchestrating an 'Unpaved Path'

giffgaff is a member-led network built on simplicity. To diversify into Full Fibre, we had to innovate within a legacy, hardware-intensive utility sector. We were rich in digital agility but poor in physical control—a high-stakes "unpaved path" where our squads collided with the operational complexity of our network partner (VMO2). I defined my vertical strategy across the Acquisition and Onboarding lifecycle using a framework of Service Design Orchestration, this model governed our design across four domains—Experience, Innovation, Change, and Rules—to maintain brand trust when legacy tech was slow, non-deterministic, or failed.

Service Design at giffgaff

The Strategy: Orchestrating the Insight Machine

To attack a volatile 0→1 market, we needed a scalable discovery infrastructure. Our rapid experimentation was creating insight silos, causing a delay between user feedback and roadmap decisions.

I led the standardisation of our AI-augmented insight library. By standardising taxonomy and automagically tagging Maze trialist data, we reduced discovery-to-insight cycles. This directly empowered our product leads to make data-driven trade-offs in real-time.

Innovation at giffgaff

The Roadmap: De-risking via Incremental Scale

Launching a 0→1 vertical in a regulated space required a tiered risk-mitigation strategy. I helped steer the transition from proof of concept and staff alpha, to controlled user trials and regional alpha, before reaching a full National Commercial Launch. This allowed us to stress-test the service logic and physical handoff at increasing volumes, ensuring technical API failures were caught and 'designed for' in the UI before scaling.

De-risking the roadmap

The Engine: Architecting Service Logic

My primary contribution was architecting the underlying service ruleset. Applying service design thinking was essential to orchestrate an optimal user experience across multiple, concurrent, non-deterministic dependencies. My system logic synthesized three major API outcomes and a critical Ofcom regulatory constraint (One Touch Switch) into a single, cohesive user experience. I designed the logic where the Address Check (UPRN/Loqate) was the initial trigger, determining the Property Type (MDU vs. SDU) which then dictated a cascade of constraints, fundamentally altering the Field Force API output (1-stage vs. 2-stage install types) and real-time slot availability. Crucially, the system could not allow a member to finalise their desired Installation Slot (VMO2 Booking API) until the regulatory switch intent (SureSwitch API) was confirmed. By partnering with engineers to enable State-Aware UI for this volatile regulatory and operational window, I ensured that we gestionated user anxiety—explaining the 'why' behind variable lead times based on the property type and switch status. This precise orchestration during these high-ambiguity windows is how we sustained brand trust.

Service Blueprint snapshot

The Handoff: Post-Order Service Transformation

My scope extended through the high-anxiety "Pre-Activation" window—the gap between order and physical connection. Research showed the engineer visit was a peak friction point, causing a 40% pre-install cancellation rate.I used the Service Blueprint not as a static visual, but as a tool to lead technical change. By advocating for a digital service layer, I designed the pre-install experience. This self-serve flow captured critical field force data (Health and Safety and vulnerabilities) and provided proactive updates. Despite unavoidable VMO2 field force delays, we maintained a 95 NPS / recommendation rate from the trialist cohort by managing operational anxiety through the UI.

Orchestrating service design

Measurable Outcomes (Commercial Impact)

0.2% Churn Rate: Market-leading retention achieved by solving the "First 30 Days" experience.
9.7/10 DXS Score: Benchmarked via Medallia to prove navigation and technical flow quality.
91.7% CSAT: Maintained high-trust metrics during a high-stakes transition.

Check address key screens

One Touch Switch key screens

Manage install key screens

Reflections: Synthesising Concept into System

Launching giffgaff’s 0→1 Fibre vertical solidified my ability to apply systems thinking and a structured, logical systems design infrastructure (like the 4-Pillar model) to high-ambiguity product contexts. This methodology is not abstract theory; it is a pragmatic operational tool required to scale user experiences, improve commercial conversion, and manage technical risk.

Experience and Rules: I moved beyond designing user flows to architecting comprehensive Service Logic maps that explicitly defined success/fail and concurrent states for every third-party API call (UPRN, SureSwitch, VMO2). Designing for technical and regulatory reality rather than generic ideal paths—specifically enabling State-Aware UI for non-deterministic lag—is how we sustained user trust and achieved 6% Conversion.
Maturity: Leading a vertical from scratch required steering a living product through an increasing maturity lifecycle. I de-risked the 0→1 rollout by architecting a phased transition (from PoC to Controlled Regional Launch) that allowed us to stress-test the Service Logic and Physical Handoff at increasing volumes, ensuring non-deterministic technical failures were caught and mitigated by the UI before a national commercial launch.
Change: I utilized detailed Service Design Blueprints not as static visuals, but as Change Governance tools to transition the organization. By advocating for a proactively designed digital service layer (the Pre-Install Preparation Hub) to manage operational context when VMO2 physical logistics failed, I transformed a messy operational window into a 95 NPS member-led experience.