Total Wireless
The Wallet Experience
Context
When Verizon acquired TracFone and its portfolio of prepaid brands in late 2021, Total Wireless came under Verizon Value Brands. In September 2022, Verizon rebranded the service as Total by Verizon. But the rebrand created confusion — more than 70% of customers thought “Total by Verizon” was just a plan, not a separate brand. Less than two years later, on July 11, 2024, Verizon reverted the name back to Total Wireless, introducing a fresh teal palette and marketing geared toward value-minded and Latinx customers. For me, this context mattered. I wasn’t just designing another account feature — I was helping rebuild clarity and trust in a brand that was redefining its identity.
- Company: Verizon Value Brands
- Role: Experience Designer
- DATE: May 2024
- TIMELINE: 5 Months
Overview & My Role
I joined Verizon Value Brands in May 2024 as an Experience Designer on the Managing Journey Team. At the time, there was an initiative underway to introduce a new account balance system for prepaid customers — but the effort had been scoped primarily as a backend integration, with no real plan for a user-facing experience.
Once I joined, it became clear that customers needed more than just backend improvements — they needed visibility, clarity, and control. While collaborating with my XM partner on early dashboard concepts, I recognized a key gap: there was no dedicated space to show positive balances, making it hard for users to understand what funds were available versus what was owed.
To validate and shape the direction, I created multiple dashboard versions and shared them with coworkers across the office. Their reactions revealed confusion and highlighted the need for better separation between available balance and payment due — insights that ultimately led to the creation of The Wallet.
Key Findings That Shaped the Design
- Dashboard Testing: Tested multiple dashboard versions with participants to learn how they interpreted Account Balance vs. Total Due.
- Clarity Challenge: Noticed consistent confusion when users saw positive balances, often misreading them as amounts they still owed.
- Solution Unlocked: Introduced two key solutions:
- The Wallet – to clearly show Available Balance
- View Summary – to explain the breakdown behind Total Due
Problem Statement
Prepaid customers lacked a centralized way to view, fund, or manage their account balance. Without a customer-facing Wallet experience, they couldn’t predict upcoming payments, use Auto Pay effectively, redeem Payment Card e-PINs, or manage multi-line accounts with confidence — leading to service suspensions, confusion, and high support volume. At the same time, Total Wireless was transitioning to a unified billing system. Some customers remained on legacy plans that excluded tax and fees and offered limited flexibility, while others had been migrated to modern unlimited plans that included tax and fees and supported mid-cycle changes. This created significant friction in how payments were applied. For example, a customer on a legacy $50 plan might try to redeem a $55 Payment Card e-PIN — only to find it insufficient once tax and fees were added, causing failed redemptions and unexpected balances due. The lack of visibility into what was due, when, and why added pressure on support teams and eroded trust among customers trying to stay connected.
Objective
The goal was to create a flexible, transparent, and scalable Wallet-based billing experience for Total Wireless customers—while supporting business objectives around retention, fewer service suspensions, and a clearer experience during the brand relaunch.
- Separated plan selection from payment timing, giving customers more freedom and flexibility.
- Supported multi-line account management with full visibility and real-time status updates.
- Made it easy to add funds to the Wallet and redeem Payment Card e-PINs (for both guests and logged-in users).
- Enabled logged-in customers to enroll in Auto Pay during checkout with their selected payment method.
- Built trust by clearly showing available Wallet balance (usable for plans, products, and more), upcoming charges, and plan breakdowns.
- Aligned the design with Total Wireless’s brand shift toward simplicity, value, and mobile-first UX.
Jessica – User Persona
- Age: 32
- Location: Florida
- Occupation: Shift Lead at a Retail Store
- Tech Comfort: Medium
Motivations
- Keep her and her kids’ phones active
- Avoid service suspension
- Use cash or PIN Payment Cards to manage payments
Pain Points
- Can’t see or understand how much is due
- No easy way to change plans mid-month
- Confused by Auto Pay or PIN Payment Cards
Goals
- See everything in one place clearly
- Add funds when money is available
- Get notified before payments are due
Key UX Challenge
Designing a unified experience that served both legacy and modern prepaid customers was no small task. Legacy plans didn’t include taxes and fees and offered little flexibility for mid-cycle changes, while newer plans were more dynamic, tax-inclusive, and allowed plan changes at any time.
This complexity made it essential to separate funding from plan selection, especially when customers redeemed Payment Card e-PINs purchased at retail stores like Walmart or Target. These prepaid cards apply their full face value to the Wallet. However, if a user was on an older plan and redeemed just enough to cover the base plan amount (e.g., $50 for a $50 plan), taxes and fees could cause a shortfall, requiring additional funds to complete the purchase.
Customers needed full visibility into how much was due, when, and how their payments would be applied — whether funding manually, redeeming a Payment Card e-PIN, or setting up Auto Pay.
Wallet Features & Strategy
Once Wallet became a core part of the experience, we focused on designing it to support real-world prepaid behavior — from top-ups and e-PIN redemptions to Auto Pay — with maximum clarity and control.
- Balance Visibility: Customers could view their available Wallet balance at any time, helping them understand what funds were usable for upcoming plans, add-ons, or renewals.
- Funding Options: Supported multiple payment methods, including debit/credit cards, PayPal, and Payment Card e-PINs purchased at major retailers and redeemed online.
- Payment Clarity: Provided an intuitive view of upcoming charges, transaction history, and line-by-line activity — all in one place.
- Auto Pay Integration: Logged-in users could enroll in Auto Pay after funding their Wallet, helping avoid service interruptions.
- System Safeguards: Enforced funding limits (e.g., $250/day, $1,000 total/month, max 25 transactions) and clearly explained expiration timelines and non-refundable fund policies.
- Backend Logic Alignment: Clearly separated Wallet funds from Total Due while ensuring both could be managed together within the same interface.
Cross-Functional Teamwork
I supported the UX execution of key billing flows that empowered customers to manage their accounts with flexibility and confidence:
- Add Funds (Logged-in & Guest)
- Plan Changes (mid-cycle & scheduled)
- Auto Pay Setup
- Redeem Payment Card e-PINs
- Multi-line and account-level management for full visibility and flexible plan control
- Dashboard & Account Page Updates
- XM and Product Leads to translate customer insights into feature priorities
- GTS and Backend Engineers to define feasibility and backend logic
- Legal, Accessibility, and Content teams to ensure regulatory and inclusive language compliance
- Visual QA and Devs to support implementation and polish across breakpoints
These experiences were built mobile-first, WCAG-compliant, and structured to reflect the nuances of both legacy and modern prepaid plans.
This work was deeply collaborative. I worked closely with:
Beyond designing individual flows, I focused on ensuring my work consistently supported a unified, intuitive customer experience across all billing scenarios — from manual top-ups to Auto Pay to multi-line plan changes. My aim was to bring clarity and confidence to users, no matter how or when they chose to pay.
At the same time, the centralized Design System team was still actively shaping shared components and tokens. To maintain consistency with Total Wireless’s new brand identity, I relied on locally published Figma libraries that reflected the most up-to-date foundations and core elements — including color styles, spacing, and typography aligned with accessibility guidelines. This ensured my deliverables were fully brand-aligned, developer-friendly, and scalable as the design system matured.
Add Funds – User Flow Overview
This flow shows how both Logged-In and Guest users can complete the Add Funds journey, including optional Auto Pay enrollment.
User logs into My Account
Starts from the main dashboard with authentication in place.
Dashboard: Clicks “Pay Now”
Accesses payment options directly from their dashboard widget.
Pay with Card / PayPal or Redeem PIN
Reviews due amount and chooses saved or new payment method.
Optional: Enroll in Auto Pay
Has the option to enable Auto Pay during checkout with selected method.
Accepts Terms & Conditions, and Submits Payment
Final confirmation of payment terms before submission.
Clicks “Pay Online” in Top Navigation
Entry point for non-logged-in customers seeking quick payment access.
Provides Phone Number or Serial Number
Validates the line to retrieve account info and amount due.
Sees Due Amount and Due Date
Displays exact amount owed, with breakdown if available.
Pay with Card / PayPal or Redeem PIN
Enters payment method details manually.
Accepts Terms & Conditions, and Submits Payment
Completes payment with visible confirmation and optional receipt.
Results & Impact
What Changed for Customers?
- Guided clarity during Total Wireless's rebrand by separating Wallet vs. Total Due
- Reduced support volume by increasing visibility and self-service confidence
- Enabled plan upgrades and Auto Pay setup across customer types
- Established Wallet as a foundational feature in billing and dashboards
Technical Constraints & Customer Insights
Due to tight launch timelines and backend limitations, not all enhancements could be implemented in the first release.
While Wallet redemptions successfully applied the full value of Payment Card e‑PINs, there were occasional situations where additional funds were needed to complete a transaction.
Even with these early limitations, the Wallet experience introduced a major leap in transparency and payment control—empowering customers to stay ahead of charges, monitor their account activity, and fund their plans with greater confidence.
Summary
Together with cross-functional partners, we transformed a backend billing initiative into a customer-facing Wallet experience that gave prepaid users visibility, flexibility, and control. By designing a dedicated space to manage funds, track upcoming charges, and redeem Payment Card e‑PINs, we addressed confusion and reduced service interruptions.
The Wallet became a scalable foundation for future improvements—bridging legacy and modern billing systems, introducing unified billing with a single due date across all lines in an account, and supporting dynamic plan changes aligned with Total Wireless’s brand shift toward simplicity and transparency.
Disclaimer: This case study is a personal recount of my UX contributions while contracted by Verizon Value Brands. All information presented here is either publicly available or recreated based on my personal knowledge and experience. No confidential data or proprietary materials have been shared.