Role
UX/UI Designer
Client
Vodafone Group
Plataforms
App
Overview
SquaDK was a Vodafone Group initiative to create a Software Development Kit (SDK) that unified Vodafone’s systems with its partners’ platforms, delivering a seamless experience for end users.
This SDK allowed users to activate outdoor Consumer IoT devices, manage subscriptions, and monitor alarms triggered by these devices, all within a single ecosystem. The project brought together multiple distributed teams, requiring strong coordination to ensure technical scalability, usability, and consistency across platforms.
My role
I joined the project midstream as the only UX designer from the Portugal team. My focus was on designing missing screens and refining flows that were already defined, adapting the interface for dark mode, and ensuring that all designs were clear and ready for development.
I worked closely with developers and analysts on a daily basis while also collaborating with Vodafone Group’s design team to maintain consistency and follow their design system rules. At the end of each sprint, I presented the progress to stakeholders during sprint reviews, gathering feedback and aligning on next steps.
The Challange
The Vodafone Group SDK was a complex project involving multiple teams across different countries. My team and the developers were based in Portugal, while the Vodafone Group design team managed the global design system and ensured consistency across markets.
When I joined, the main processes such as onboarding, subscription management, payments, and alarms were already defined at a high level. My challenge was to fill in the gaps, design missing screens, and refine interactions to make the flows complete and ready for development.
Another key challenge was implementing a consistent dark mode. The design system provided a starting point, but many details had to be tested and refined to ensure proper contrast and accessibility across all screens.
In short, my role was to improve and finalize the experience, making sure every flow worked smoothly while staying aligned with Vodafone’s design standards.
Design Process
The project followed two-week agile sprints, so the design process was very collaborative and iterative. At the start of each sprint, I worked with analysts and developers to understand the requirements and priorities for that cycle.
Once the needs were clear, I designed high-fidelity UI screens in Figma, always keeping the design system guidelines in mind. These screens were reviewed with Vodafone Group’s design team to ensure consistency and to identify any needed improvements.
To make complex flows easier to understand, I created user flow diagrams that combined decision points and actual UI screens. These diagrams showed every step of the journey, including alternative paths like errors or failed activations, giving developers and analysts a clear blueprint for implementation and reducing misunderstandings.
For dark mode, I reviewed the existing design system documentation and tested colors to make sure they worked well for accessibility and readability. In some cases, I proposed refinements to improve balance and contrast across different components.
At the end of each sprint, I presented my work during sprint review sessions. This gave stakeholders a clear picture of progress and ensured that any feedback was quickly incorporated into the next iteration.
The Results
The Vodafone Group SDK was successfully completed, delivering a unified solution for IoT device activation and management.
By the end of the project, all screens were fully designed for both light and dark modes, missing flows were clearly defined and implemented, and the design system was strengthened to support future growth. The introduction of user flow diagrams improved collaboration between teams, reducing development errors and creating a shared understanding of how complex processes should work.
This work provided Vodafone with a robust, scalable SDK that simplified IoT management for both partners and end users, laying the groundwork for future innovations.