As part of my university degree, I opted to do a placement year to gain some invaluable experience before graduating. I was incredibly fortunate enough to be offered a role as a Product Manager at Vodafone UK.
I was responsible for (product) managing the My Vodafone App - Vodafone UK's most used digital channel with over 14 million visits each month.
Projects
Store Listings Update
One of my first projects was to update the App Store and Google Play Store listings for the app as they had not been updated for a number of years.
Screenshot of what the Google Play Store listing used to look like
Although this may seem a simple task at first, many of the designs we had of the app pages were incredibly out-dated and some pages did not exist at all. I meticulously worked with our incredible UX design team to recreate these pages within Figma (our interface design tool) for mobile and tablet devices, across iOS and Android.
I also worked with our copywriting team to update the image captions and listing descriptions, gaining feedback from colleagues and stakeholders and final approval from our brand team.
Screenshot of what the Google Play Store listing now looks like
It provided a great opportunity to understand product management better and build connections which proved invaluable throughout the rest of my placement.
Other Projects
Most of the projects/features I had the pleasure of working on have not yet been released so cannot share many of the details just yet. Here's a brief selection of the features I managed which are coming in an app update very soon:
- Billing redesign
- New extras journey
- New controls and limits journey
- New authentication platform (SSO)
- Improved biometrics experience
- Improved webview experience
I will be sure to update this with some more details once they've been made public 😁
Outside of Work
Outside of my work as a Product Manager, the placement provided many unforgettable opportunities to give back to the community, help run events and socialise with my colleagues.
Vodafone Games 2022
In July 2022, I was given the opportunity to volunteer and help run the inaugral Vodafone Games - a company-wide sports day.
One of my colleagues and I travelled to Newbury for the day where we were responsible for ensuring the games ran smoothly for the hundreds of staff who signed up to take part.
Although it was an incredibly warm day, it was so much fun meeting colleagues from all over the company and making sure they had the best experience possible.
Paddington Canal Litter Picking
As a way of giving back to the local community, my team and I spent one afternoon on a boat along Paddington canal, clearing up litter which had fallen into the canal.
By the end of the afternoon, we had collected over 3 black bags worth of waste! My personal favourite items found were a singular airpod and a Converse shoe.
Digital Technology Leaders Awards 2022
The My Vodafone App has an trade-in tool which performs self-diagnostic checks on the device to ensure it is in good condition before trading it in.
Due to the innovative and eco-friendly nature of the tool, we were shortlisted for Mobile Project of the Year at the Digital Technology Leaders Awards 2022.
As I was responsible for submitting in an application for the award, I got the chance to respresent the team at the awards ceremony in central London.
Collecting the Digital Team of the Year award (I'm hiding at the back!)
Although we unfortunately did not win Mobile Project of the Year, Vodafone won the award for the Digital Team of the Year and I got the chance to go on stage with others within Digital to collect the award.
Socials
I was incredibly fortunate to be part of an outgoing and friendly team during my placement and had many opportunities to get to know them outside of work.
On my last day at the office, I had a great time at a leaving meal with the rest of the team at Pizza Pilgrims, after a competitive game of shuffleboard at Electric Shuffle.
We even got the chance to say a proper goodbye over a few drinks at the end of the evening.
Final Thoughts
It has been an absolute joy to have worked in the app team and couldn’t have asked for better colleagues. Thank you to everyone I had the pleasure of working with this year, especially my manager David Lowe for your trust, support and guidance.
From leading projects that will be used by millions of customers to helping run the inaugural Vodafone Games, I’m so grateful for all of the experiences and opportunities this year has granted me.
I’m excited to be returning to university soon to finish my Computer Science degree and cannot wait for some of my projects to be released in the app very soon! 😄