Top

TL;DR

Challenge

Insights

Deliverable

Design Strategy

User Research

Reimagining the Telecom for Taiwanese Gen Z

Design Strategy

User Research

Reimagining the Telecom for Taiwanese Gen Z

Far Eastern Group

Taiwan

ROLE

Design Strategist

TEAM

Kristin John
Roger Hong
Anushree Joshi
Alexandra Lai

TOOLS

Adobe
Figma

Working with the Design Museum of Chicago, we led research and service design strategy to explore how the museum could expand audience engagement, strengthen membership, and build sustainable growth.

The work uncovered key gaps across visitor retention, value perception, and system fragmentation, and we introduced strategic service directions, journey frameworks, and experience blueprints designed to extend engagement beyond the physical visit.

Working with the Design Museum of Chicago, we led research and service design strategy to explore how the museum could expand audience engagement, strengthen membership, and build sustainable growth.

CO-CREATION

3

co-creation workshops conducted for research, ideation and prioritization

SERVICE DESIGN

6

blueprints created, mapped to each individual conept

ARCHETYPES

5

behavioral archetypes identified through real Gen Z behaviors

PROBLEM

Gen Z, the first highly digital generation now makes up 20% of Taiwan’s population. Far EasTone needed to understand this digitally native generation deeply enough to move beyond price-based competition and create meaningful engagement.

How do you differentiate a telecom brand to a generation that sees all telecom brands as the same?

SCOPE

Our work focused on shaping opportunities and systems, not the build. We designed strategic directions, service concepts, and experience frameworks to guide future implementation.

INITIAL OBSERVATIONS

So, what’s happening on the surface of Taiwan’s telecom landscape?

These are the visible telecom trends shaping the market today on how Gen Z is currently choosing providers and how brands are competing.

Lack of brand & offering differentiation

Unlike previous generations, Gen Z views telecom brands as easily interchangeable and see no significant differences beyond the basic services like price and network stability

Price & stability drive decisions

Where older generations would have paid more for bundled services, Gen Z prefers stripped-down plans if it means paying less

Traditional call services are outdated

Gen Z has moved away from traditional voice minutes — with 80% of calls now happening through online apps like LINE

PLANNING OUR APPROACH

6 store visits across FET & competitor stores

1500+ survey data from FET participants

8 interviews & 4 intercepts across users and store managers

Ideation workshop with 20 participants

5 card sorting activities to validate concept direction

DRIVING INSIGHTS

But, what's driving Gen Z's behavior beneath the surface?

While the initial challenges are operational (pricing, differentiation), our research revealed deeper behavioral patterns that were shaping Gen Z's expectations

Decisions based  on authentic and trusted voices

Unlike previous generations who trusted traditional experts, celebrities, or voices in power, Gen Z makes decisions based on sources they consider authentic and relatable such as reviews on Dcard, recommendations from friends and family, or even self-certified experts who create content.

Flexibility of choice over rigid commitments

They actively seek flexible services & products   that allow them to adapt, switch or opt out easily.
This prompts brands to move beyond traditional “locked-in” models

Values shared experiences within their circles

Gen Z seeks out shared experiences within their circles and they have natural tendency to curate their digital experience. This drives them to look for brands that provide services enhancing their social interactions and overall experiences.

Personalization to stand out from the crowd

Gen Z is willing to spend money and share personal data for exclusive, personalized experiences, pushing brands to move beyond one-size-fits-all and enable individuality at scale.

While certain trends are tied to age, these insights reveal the distinct generational patterns shaping Gen Z in Taiwan.

DESIGN DECISIONS

Our early ideation followed the industry standard: telecom competes on pricing, bundles, and incremental plan improvements. Like most providers, FET’s core offering revolves around optimizing data packages.

Our driving insights led us to understand that this isn't what Gen Z wanted from their telecom.

We moved from "How do we make better data plans" to "How might telecom become a platform for identity, flexibility and shared experiences?"

We translated this into three concept directions:

Just For Me

Customizable telecom plans that evolve with usage and allow incentives to be chosen later, shifting from rigid contracts to adaptive systems.

"Customization is great if I can tweak it. I don’t want the system deciding everything for me."

-Kate, Interview Participant

FET x Campus Ambassador

Peer-driven brand engagement through student ambassadors, gaming tournaments, and mentorship programs which builds trust through real voices.

"I’ve had two campus ambassador experiences. It was a great low-cost way for me to explore industries I’m interested in, gain hands-on project experience, and connect with people from different universities and across the industry."

-Maeve, Interview Participant

Discover & Share

A lifestyle layer within the FET app connecting users to trusted reviews, discounts, and social exploration — making telecom part of daily life.

Each concept addressed a different behavioral tension and business gap.

"When I went to Tainan, I asked my friend -- who was studying in Tainan -- what local food there were. He sent me a bunch of Google maps links one by one, which was very troublesome..."

-Kim, Interview Participant