Device Returns

The device return product allows customers to return their contracted device for a credit when upgrading to a new phone. I designed the new flow, enabling customers with contracts to seamlessly opt-in, assess their device, and apply their credit before they hit the cart.

Year

2025

Project type

Mobile app

Client

TELUS

Introduction

Receiving a credit for a new device

As TELUS customers are nearing the end of their contract, they look to upgrade to the newest devices. In the existing app flow, customers with contracts are forced to pay off their devices, preventing them from returning the device to TELUS for a credit unless they start the flow on the web.

As the lead designer, I worked on creating the user experience of device return flow, enabling customers to get a credit for their existing device and incentivizing upgrades plus device returns for the company.

Problems

Customers are forced to pay off their device

The existing app flow did not give customers the option to return a financed device, forcing them to pay off their device while purchasing a new phone.

Sticker shock when shopping

Because customers forgot about their financed device and are not given the option to return it, the sticker shock of seeing a charge causes users to drop-off while shopping. Ultimately, this reduces the potential revenue that the business can earn.

Dependence on mobile web flow

If customers wanted to return their device, they had to open the mobile web flow which was not optimized for returning their device. The multi-step journey is on one page, and customers have to manually select their financed device and its IMEI number.

Opportunity

Making it seamless to evaluate phone for credit

At the point where a customer would be forced to checkout, we added a new path allowing users to return their device for a credit. Once they enter, we focused on the following goals:

Reduce effort and recall of finding old device information by pre-populating
Give users transparency into how their device is being valued
Make users confident in understanding how their purchase will be reduced by the credit

Final designs

Final launched designs

By creating a seamless flow that highlights the opportunity to get credits, customers who are financing a device are able to feel incentivized to upgrade.

Highlight return option and make it easy

Once customers configure their new device, we highlighted the device return with two call-to-actions, making the option to return clear. Once started, the user only has to manually validate the physical condition of their device. Meanwhile, the device model and IMEI number are pre-populated on load.

Communicate results and break down the math

Through user research, we optimized the results screen through design and content to clearly communicate what happens next after the assessment. Whether the device is in perfect condition or non-returnable condition, the breakdown makes it easy for the customer to know what to expect during checkout.

Clear next steps to apply to cart

We include a device agreement to ensure customers know how the credit is applied to their purchase, and how they can ship their device back to TELUS for the credit. On the cart, we update their current device as a pending credit, creating confidence for the user to know that they are eligible.

Impact

Increased number of upgrades with credit

By adding this flow, we included a large segment of TELUS customer who may have otherwise failed to upgrade if they were charged their existing device price. '

Increased end-to-end conversion rate by nearly 14x
12% of customers would continue to cart after shopping for a new device, showing that we reduced financial barriers by modifying debt settlement to an opportunity for credits

Takeaways

Key takeaways

Test already with users, especially for a new domain area. We had pros and cons to either allowing to customer to shop for a new phone first, or to return their device for a credit first. After doing early user testing, we found that a majority of users preferred to shop first, as they were more concerned about finding particular models in stock.