Product design case study · giffgaff broadband
Giving members a choice of contract
Adding a cheaper 24 month fixed term alongside monthly rolling, without losing what makes giffgaff broadband simple.
Overview
Context
giffgaff broadband only sold monthly rolling plans. At about £30 a month, our entry price was too high to compete.
The outcome
Live in March 2026 with a 24 month plan from £25. In its first 6 months, 7,904 of 8,816 new orders (90%) chose the contract. Before launch, task completion rose from 4 in 11 to 10 in 10 across two test rounds.
01 · Discover
Our price was the barrier, and contracts could lower it
£30
a month entry price, too high to compete
23 to 38
months a member needs to stay for us to be profitable, depending on network
4 weeks
to deliver a lean V1 across the buy journey
The opportunity
Introduce contracts to unlock lower prices, while keeping our values: flexible, simple and fair value.
Source: PRD, Offering Longer Term Contracts
12 lightning demos
True no-commitment options are rare
24 months by default
Broadband providers pre-select the cheapest, longest contract once you enter a postcode.
Rolling, but not really
"Monthly" options still said "for 12 months" or added setup fees. Exit fees hid behind drop-downs.
What worked
A simple toggle, the saving shown next to it, and a price that changes in a fixed place.
We looked beyond broadband too: Hyperoptic, Cuckoo, brsk, Google One, The Gym Group, Adobe, Canva, Notion, iCloud and Framer.
Source: team lightning demos, February 2026
02 · Frame
From problem to a testable bet
Problem statement
Prospects only saw monthly rolling prices from about £30, so giffgaff looked expensive next to providers leading with 24 month deals.
Hypothesis
We predict that showing a cheaper fixed term side by side with monthly rolling will help prospects pick the plan that suits them.
We'll know this is true when they can find and choose a contract unaided, and can say what it costs and when it ends.
How might we present a contract without undermining the flexibility members chose us for?
03 · Ideate
Crazy 8s with the team
Four of us sketched eight ideas each, then dot voted.
Ideas that got votes
A toggle between the two contracts, "lock in and save" framing, and explaining why the contract is cheaper.
The gap to show
£29 to £35 rolling, or £25 to £32 fixed.
04 · Design
Both contracts, one tap apart
Key decisions
- Tabs above the plansMonthly rolling and the fixed term sit side by side, with the saving on the tab.
- Shorter plan cardsHighlights fold away, so switching tabs compares prices in a fixed place.
05 · Test
Everyone found it, but the price promise was easy to miss
10/10
completed the task, up from 4/11
4.5/5
how simple choosing a plan felt
7/10
gave the right monthly price
5/10
knew the price wouldn't rise mid-contract
No sneaky price rises that will seem unexpected when it goes up.
Round 2 participant
Source: Maze, Fixed Contracts - Iteration 2
Content testing
No mid-contract price rises set us apart
Cloze test
6/6
filled "No mid-____ price rises" with "contract"
No shared word
"Lock in your 24 month ____" drew contract, price and deal. "On all monthly rolling ____" was split too.
7 second test
3/5
recalled "no price rises", more than noticed the 3 months free offer
Our differentiator
Other providers raise prices mid-contract, often every April. We don't, so it became the headline of the landing page and the plan step.
Source: Maze, Contract/fixed-term cloze testing
Iterate · Final design
Lead with the promise
Key decisions
- A promise for both contractsNo mid-term rises on 24 months, and a 2026 price lock on monthly rolling.
- Show, don't claimA plain table: April 2026 fixed, April 2027 still fixed, against "the other guys".
- Say why it's cheaperLonger commitments help us plan and offer lower prices.
Desktop
The same pattern on choose plan
Why
- Consistent from landing to planTabs, banner and table repeat after the address check, so the choice never changes shape.
- A way out for the not-yet-ready"Not ready just yet?" captures people still stuck in a contract elsewhere.
Go-live
Live in March 2026
24 month full fibre from £25 a month, alongside monthly rolling.
06 · Measure
9 in 10 new orders chose the 24 month contract
In the first 6 months after go-live
24 month plans
7,904
24 month plan orders
Monthly rolling
912
monthly rolling orders
Contract share
90%
of 8,816 total orders
The hypothesis held: side by side, the cheaper fixed term became the clear choice, while monthly rolling stayed there for people who want flexibility.
Source: Broadband Metrics dashboard, Snowflake
What the contract made possible
A foundation for what came next
Switch in the account
Existing members can change from monthly rolling to 24 months, announced in March 2026.
Time limited promos
£5 a month for the first 6 months of a 24 month plan, from June 2026.
Contract buyout
A switching credit for people leaving another provider early, on 24 month plans.
Source: Confluence PRDs and CRM briefs
Reflections
What I learned
- 1
Put the choice where people choose
A good option is invisible if it sits away from the plan cards. One tab took completion from 4 in 11 to 10 in 10.
- 2
Completion isn't comprehension
Everyone finished round 2, but half missed the price promise. Asking what they understood found the real gap.
- 3
Earn trust in a contract
People expect contracts to hide price rises. Saying why it's cheaper and showing prices stay fixed made it feel fair.