Work / Onic by Circles.Life

Unlearning in Pakistan

Role: Design Consultant, 1.5 years
Team: Onic's product, design and engineering teams in Karachi
Methods: Remote research, heatmaps, usability testing, data reviews
Outputs: Redesigned app, plan cards, onboarding, family plan

In 2025, Onic, Pakistan’s first digital telco, asked me to redesign its entire app. No shops, no scratch cards, just an app. I said yes almost immediately.

I assumed neighbours with shared language, food and cricket heartbreak would use apps the same way. I was wrong, and this is a year and a half of unlearning.

Learning the market

Jazz, Zong and Telenor had shaped what a telecom app looks like: usage first, everything on one screen, loud and promotional. Onic’s own brand was just as loud, and the app had to belong to it.

Onic website plans section with tilted neon plan cards

Onic website perks section with partner offers in purple and yellow

From Onic’s website, by the brand team. Not my work, but the language the app had to speak.

Almost nothing was measured, so I pushed for heatmaps. They showed people tapping the loading screen over and over, so we cut it to two seconds. They also showed a home page built to sell plans, in an app people opened once a month.

What the home page did

Sell plans

Plans on the first fold
Same screen every visit
A reason to open the app once a month

What I proposed

Come back weekly

A dynamic home that changes
Offers, perks and games up front
Plans one tap away, not in the way

My playbook, and where it broke

I brought what worked at Simpl and GetMega: say less, fewer choices, hierarchy by journey, bold but calm. Then I tested it with people across Pakistan.

Home, usage first — My first home page and IA options. Scroll sideways and hover to see each screen.

Home, plan and vouchers — My first home page and IA options. Scroll sideways and hover to see each screen.

What I expected

Clean plan cards feel premium
White space feels calm and modern

What users said

"Is this all I get?"
"What are they not telling me?"

”Sab kuch ek saath dikha do. Show me everything first, then I’ll decide.”

Complex again, on purpose

Every plan came in monthly, six and twelve month versions, and users wanted all three on one card, side by side.

Epic Plan, 30GB, with partner perks — Tap a duration. Everything below it updates, so one card holds all three plans.

Plan cards

Big numbers, loud colour, everything visible. A crossed-out price is proof of a deal.

Onboarding

Every small step got its own screen and a little reassurance.

Family plan

One person pays, many people use, and the app had to make sense to all of them.

Getting a SIM, start to finish

With no stores, the app had to do a shop’s job. I took every field back to the table with three questions: do we need it, can two become one, do we need it now?

Home — The new onboarding flow, from plan to activation. Tap a step to jump to it.

Pick a plan — The new onboarding flow, from plan to activation. Tap a step to jump to it.

Where we landed

Calmer and bolder than the market, fuller than anything I’d ship in India. About 50% of my proposals made it in, enough to make Onic the most rebellious app in Circles.Life. Along the way I ran workshops and critiques with a brilliant young local team.

Pakistan Digital Awards 2026

Best Innovated Mobile App

Best Digital Customer Service Team

2.4 → 3.7 app store rating, over a year and a half