From Concept to a Comprehensive Communication Solution
During the pandemic, I joined Textr Go's product team just 3 months after its launch. At that time, the app only offered basic VoIP calling and texting - pretty similar to what was already out there. We needed to make Textr Go stand out and add new features while reaching the right users.
Through continuous research, iterative improvements, and leveraging data-driven insights, we successfully grew from a simple calling app to a global communication platform.
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The impact
Through five major iterations and many A/B testing of both iOS and Android applications, plus the addition of web and WeChat Mini Program platforms, combined with targeted SEO efforts and strategic ASA/ASO advertising, we achieved remarkable results:
Research & strategy
After conducting competitive analyses, market research, and user interviews to uncover best practices and identify untapped opportunities for Textr Go.
We looked closely at our competitors and realized we couldn't compete head-to-head with the big players in basic calling and texting services. However, our partnerships with UK Three and China Mobile opened up a new opportunity: eSIM Data Plans
It leveraged existing carrier partnerships
Low technical risk to current services
It had clear revenue potential
There was a growing market demand
Additionally, I redesigned the style guide and design systems during this phase to ensure future brand consistency across all platforms.
First solution
Adding eSIM functionality gave us early wins, with existing users increasing their engagement by 30%. However, we soon realized that new users weren’t adopting eSIM as expected.
Limited eSIM phone compatibility and high user education costs hindered eSIM adoption.
New users continued to focus on basic number and texting features.
Strategy adjustment
Second solution - verification code
By continue analyzing user data and user behavior, we discovered:
A significant number of users sought temporary numbers
There was high demand for verification code services, especially among Chinese users
Attracting these users was more cost-effective
This led to our next big move - adding verification code services.
But we had to be careful: we already had two main features (VoIP numbers and eSIM), and we didn't want to confuse users. So we:
Redesigned the app to clearly separate long-term numbers from short term verification codes.
Made eSIM less prominent since it primarily catered to existing users.
Launched a WeChat Mini Program, 20K users in three months through organic traffic, with 30% retention rate within the few week.
Built a web app version for desktop accessibility.
For marketing, we got smarter:
Optimized for different SEO keywords in different countries.
Promoted Textr Go on Little Red Book for the Chinese market.
Developed SEO-friendly landing pages tailored to specific user needs.
Cross-promoted across our platforms.
Key learnings
My journey through this project provided several key insights:
