Wowbox – Myanmar Market Entry
Role
Research lead and individual contributor in research and product design.
Impact
Within 12 months, Myanmar became Wowbox's largest market. 70% of all data packs in the country were being sold through the app. Doubled engagement at launch vs previous market launch.
Problem
Senior stakeholders and the local business unit wanted to launch Wowbox in Myanmar quickly and address issues in future updates. Yet our previous market launch in Pakistan had taken the same approach and underperformed.
Approach
Planned, directed and executed user and market research over five days in Myanmar. Focused on identifying the smallest fixes with the largest impact before launch and to deliver solutions within two sprints.
Client
Telenor
Process
Stakeholders pushed to launch Wowbox in Myanmar without validation, but I flagged previous market launches that underperformed due to insufficient user and market understanding. This secured buy-in for pre-launch research. The trade-off: tight timelines. We agreed on a focused approach—identify high-impact issues fixable before launch, then iterate post-release based on live data.
Research approach
I had one month to plan research and coordinate stakeholders across Europe and Asia, 5 days to execute studies on the ground, and two sprints to deliver solutions. The first sprint focused on design delivery; the second on technical feasibility, developer alignment, and coordinating changes across markets.
I wrote research plans and scripts, aligned stakeholders across regions, and coordinated with vendors and content partners in Myanmar. Research was executed over 5 days and covered:
Focus groups
Eight sessions exploring users' digital lifestyles and how Wowbox could potentially fit within their daily routines
Card sorting
Open and closed sessions to inform information architecture and content strategy — including contextual use of English versus Burmese
Field research
Observing local phone shops where low-tech users get support, and street intercepts with students to understand app discovery without a Play Store
Usability testing
Eight participants across diverse target groups and technical abilities
Key findings
Research revealed significant barriers to adoption: Telenor's new sign-in system was nearly impossible to complete under certain conditions. Navigation was confusing. Error messages in English weren't understood — despite users setting English as their default language. The value proposition was unclear, with participants describing it as "an app that does lots of things" without standout benefits.
Rapid solution development
After aligning with the Product Manager on priorities, I had two sprints to deliver solutions. The first sprint covered 80% of the design work; the second involved fine-tuning and developer collaboration. The approach was quick wins over perfection — identifying the smallest changes that would have the most impact, with a view to retest and iterate after launch.
Key improvements included – sign-in system usability fixes, contextual error messages in Burmese, streamlined balance screen, clearer onboarding to communicate benefits, improved store layout and navigation, and better purchase confirmation flows.
Outcome
Key results
70% of all data packs in Myanmar sold through Wowbox within nine months — vs 4% on the flagship My Telenor app
Doubled user engagement compared to Pakistan launch
Became Wowbox's biggest market within 12 months, surpassing Bangladesh
Success led to a partnership with Huawei on WowPlay, a Wowbox-branded streaming service
Post-launch, I ran independent usability testing saving over $5k USD per round. Testing confirmed significant usability improvements and user understanding of the value proposition.
"A big thank you to Jamie and the rest of the Wowbox team for all your hard work. The success of Wowbox exceeded our expectations and because of you we were able to hit our data sales KPIs this year — without the success of Wowbox, this would not have happened." — Niklas Lind, Head of Digital, Telenor Myanmar
"Wowbox's early success in Myanmar played a key role in Huawei selecting us as their streaming services partner."
— Indi Davis, Head of New Digital Services, Telenor Myanmar
