3 Mobile App: Native Redesign

The Challenge

After migrating to a new platform, the Three Mobile app became a “web view wrapped in an app.” This resulted in broken interactions, confusing navigation, and a frustrating user experience. Consequently, the App Store rating plummeted from 4.4★ to 1.3★, with over 90% of reviews turning negative. The objective was clear: redesign the core experience as a truly native app to restore usability and user trust.

Design Approach

The previous app’s core failure was its reliance on non-native web views. My primary objective was to transition the experience into a fluid, component-driven design system. I audited the existing information architecture and streamlined the most critical user journeys, specifically the billing and account management flows, by removing redundant steps and standardising primary actions.

To bridge the gap between abstract concepts and final implementation, I built a high-fidelity prototype in Figma. This allowed stakeholders to experience the app’s motion, progressive disclosure, and micro-interactions firsthand. By demonstrating exactly how the navigation would feel on a physical device, I secured buy-in for the native approach and established a clear, shared vision for the engineering team. See also why UX must speak the language of business — stakeholder buy-in was as much about framing outcomes as it was about the interface.

Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of advocating for the user, even under tight deadlines. While it would have been easier to reskin the existing web views, pushing for a native, component-driven approach ultimately saved the app’s reputation and restored user trust.