Viasat
| GSaaS | E-commerce | 3.5 Months | Shipped
Satellite Subscription Monetization
MY ROLE
UX Research
Prototype
Testing & QA
Components & Spec
STAKEHOLDERS
1 Product manager
3 Engineers, 2 Marketers
1 Product design leader
1 Product designer(me)
OUTCOME
By restructuring Viasat’s satellite services plan ecosystem into a clear, modular subscription model, the redesign lowered bounce rates and helped drive a 32% YoY revenue lift.
BACKGROUND
Viasat is a global communications company connecting homes, businesses, governments & militaries with satellite internet, connectivity solutions.
Business Challenge:
While Viasat’s network covered 99% of the U.S., over 11.5 M people remained disconnected.
Our Mission:
When I joined, with the deployment of large-capacity satellites equipment, Viasat is transforming to GSaaS (global satellite-as-a-service).
PROBLEM
Initially, Viasat's product services primarily targeted a narrow B2C market. Its system faced issues such as insufficient scalability, fragmented workflows, and isolated data infrastructure. After discussions with product managers and the engineering team, we identified 3 legacy issues.
Device Performance Restrictions
Unstable hardware performance
Complex and expensive installation
Low competitiveness vs Starlink
Third-Partners Platforms
Low product brand recognition
Track on contractor systems
Lose users to third-party platforms
Fragmented UX -> Avg. Conversion Rate Is Low
Disconnected acquisition channels
Generic onboarding experiences
Complex steps and low trust
Weak re-engagement loops
FINAL LAUNCHED
Replaced tooltip-based disclosures with inline annotations and established visual hierarchy through typography, iconography, and badges. Applied progressive disclosure and F-pattern layouts to prioritize key attributes—speed, price, and suitability—while anchoring CTAs to support decision-making.
Restructured FAQs into a mobile-first, collapsible component system using content chunking, card layouts, and contextual microcopy. Improved scanability, clarified installation steps and service policies, and aligned interaction patterns with modern B2B2C self-service standards.
6 steps → 2 steps
Simplified billing & payment flows, allowing users to view balance, manage autopay, and update payment methods with half the original effort.
Up to 50% Faster
Revamped plan builder and 0-to-1 features (smart assistant, bundled package, filtering, and one-time payment), cutting interactions by half.
OUTCOME
Purchase churn rate and subscription bounce rate decreased by 18%-22%.
22% ↓
32% ↑
Q4 revenue increased by 32% YoY, with transaction volume reaching approximately $305 M.
70+ internal users reported a satisfaction rate of over 90% for redesign components.
90% +
PROCESS
Address Availability → Plan Selection → Checkout
Understanding how primary users' end-to-end subscriptions exposed where complexity blocked access and coordination—shaping our UX focus on clarity and cross-role workflows.
We synthesized 2 type users for our B2B2C services
Multi-unit Owner
Technical Comfort ★★☆☆☆
Price-Sensitive Family User
Mobile-First Preference
Compare plans based on speed, price, installation period, and reliability
Manage home data usage for streaming, office, and guest devices
Look for smart plan recommendations that adapt to monthly behavior
Need real-time visibility into usage caps and throttling risks
Expect timely installation updates and in-app support
Highly sensitive to plan switching friction and billing surprises
Enterprise Admin
Technical Comfort ★★★★☆
Flexible-Focused Thinking
Heavy-Data Decision Maker
Compare plans based on coverage zones, cost-efficiency, and scalability
Manages tiered billing and hardware device usage thresholds centrally
Oversees multi-site subscriptions across geographies and departments
Needs visibility into service uptime, usage by location, SLA performance
Coordinates with IT, ops, and compliance teams for seamless integration
Operates within contract-driven workflows, requiring system auditability
Shared marketing insights with team
ITERATIONS
Built from an atom-driven direction
I kickstarted early explorations using existing tokens and components, gather feedback, and build fast improvement.
♿ Made critical data understandable without relying solely visuals
V3 balances clarity and engagement. While it improved accessibility and made comparisons easier, some enterprise users found the fixed illustrations too limiting, and PMs felt the promotional pricing still lacked impact.
V4: Only kept meaningful icons and enhanced the gradient promo area, knowing that users often overlook promotional caps.
As our business moved toward GSaaS offerings, I introduced a bundled service entry point in the initial exposure zone, ensuring enterprise admins could quickly identify their relevant plans without relying on deeper navigation.
⚖️ The trade-off between innovation and development speed in AI
While PM explored an AI-driven support flow, we quickly flagged that applying ML to a small plan set would add unnecessary complexity with limited value.
I partnered with engineering to scope a rule-based wizard using our existing logic-balancing innovation with feasibility and speed to delivery ahead.
Drove Design-Dev Integration
I partnered with engineers early to build a prop-driven PlanCard system, aligning on JSON schemas, tokens, and rendering behavior. This let us move faster across markets and avoid accumulating hard-coded debt.
Each card is theme-tokenized and conditionally rendered based on plan logic. This allowed us to maintain a consistent UI while supporting dynamic pricing, label states, and market-specific variations with minimal code debt.
Designed a seamless, step-consistent payment flow across card, bank, and PayPal options. Consistent layout and interaction patterns reduced friction and improved user trust during sensitive tasks.
Introduced a standalone payment flow based on user demand (~32% support tickets). While we balanced auto-pay tradeoffs, this modular system validated market need and improved task success for fast payments.
Worked closely with DS and engineering to handle regional logic—like Elo/Hipercard in Brazil and batch payments in the U.S.—using one shared component system. It helped us ship faster without compromising consistency or compliance.
Introducing 0->1 UX for Real Needs
🤖 Smart Wizard
To address user needs, I designed a rule-based Smart Wizard—an adaptive, intent-driven assistant that uses business logic to guide users toward relevant plans with minimal friction.
🧭 Filter System
I designed a progressive, goal-based filter system that translated technical tiers into everyday language—reducing cognitive load through predictive CTAs and contextual clarity.
🧮 Comparison Table
Built a scan-friendly comparison layout with semantic grouping and clear visual hierarchy—helping users evaluate key plan differences quickly while maintaining trust and transparency.
FINAL DELIVERABLES
A modular and scalable subscription and checkout solution that leverages intelligent logic to support seamless feature growth and streamlined implementation across multiple platforms.
Intent-Based Discovery & Clarity
Redesigned the entry flow using usage-driven filters and progressive disclosure to simplify decision-making.
Surface plan suitability before pricing, using visual tokens and a structured hierarchy to reduce friction.
Easy Comparison for Confident Evaluation
Introduced capped, side-by-side comparisons to support quick evaluation without cognitive overload.
Used typographic rhythm and inline metadata to highlight key plan differentiators at a glance.
Opinionated Guidance & Payment
Built a lightweight, customizable, and schema-driven wizard that adapts to user context and plan logic.
Unified payment flows across regions with modular UI components and dev-aligned fallback states.
