Driving Digital Adoption and Trust in Emerging Markets
COMPANY
Telenor Pakistan, JS Bank
SCOPE
Mobile platforms | Financial services | Media Streaming
REGION
Pakistan
ROLE
Digital Experience & Brand Lead (Independent)
Context.
In 2016, Pakistan was at an earlier stage of mobile adoption than many global markets, with rapidly increasing mobile usage but limited focus on user experience and design quality.
Many digital products prioritized functionality over clarity, trust, or usability — creating friction in adoption, particularly for media and financial services.
Localized design and brand talent was scarce.
The Challenge.
- Encourage adoption of mobile-first products in low-trust environments
- Improve usability without changing underlying infrastructure
- Elevate perceived quality and credibility through design
- Support scale in a market newly discovering mobile platforms
My Role.
I partnered with local teams to lead brand, product, and experience design across multiple mobile initiatives — focusing on clarity, usability, and trust as adoption drivers.
Results.
Redesigned two mobile banking applications, significantly improving usability and dramatically increasing Google Play Store ratings, reinforcing trust and adoption among users — including a high-sensitivity, military-focused audience.
Goonj, a mobile video streaming platform, reached 1.4M monthly active users and received a Bronze Effie Award for effectiveness.
Koyal, a music app focusing on independent Pakistani artists, gained 200k users in its first 2 weeks.
Executive Takeaway.
This work demonstrates how clear communication and experience design can accelerate digital adoption in constrained environments — especially where trust, usability, and perceived quality are critical to success.