Bolt VPN · Consumer app · Global
Bolt VPN via Galixo AI · Lead Product Design Consultant · 2023
A VPN app that needed to look like it earned them.
Bolt VPN had the scale but not the polish — a dated interface bleeding conversion to slicker competitors. I was brought in through Galixo AI to rebuild the brand, the product, and the paywall flow that drives the subscription business.
Bolt VPN · Consumer app · Global
Bolt VPN had reached 25 million downloads on a dated interface — one-tap connect was hidden behind two tap-throughs, server selection was a wall of flags, and the paywall was doing the bare minimum to convert users who'd already decided to subscribe. The category had moved; the product hadn't.
The brief was end-to-end: complete visual overhaul, UI/UX redesign of every core flow, and a paywall rebuild calibrated to lift subscription conversion without sacrificing the "free and fast" promise that drove downloads in the first place.
What I did
Rebuilt the brand from the logo out — typography, colour, iconography, motion. The old identity read "free utility app"; the new one signals "subscription-grade product you'd pay for." Modern and confident, no cyberpunk cliché.
Redesigned connection flow, server selection, and status UI. A user who just wants VPN-on never thinks about the app; a user wanting server control gets there in two taps. Visual server status, grouped country tiles, instant-feedback motion.
Rebuilt the paywall around price clarity, plan comparison, and a trial that felt like opportunity, not trap. No dark patterns, no fake urgency. Conversion lifted because the upgrade was easier to understand, not because friction forced it.