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Challenge

Store Visit

Findings

Opportunity

Objective

Research

Design

Impact

WillowTree

How might we transform T-Mobile’s retail experience to drive self-service while leveraging AI-powered support?

Role

Product Designer, Intern

Period

Summer 2023

Team

Chris Polsaj, Kylie Woo, Ashley Gibson

As a Product Designer Intern at WillowTree, I worked on a high-visibility initiative to enhance T-Mobile’s in-store experience by empowering customers to self-serve while improving store efficiency. In a fast-paced two-week sprint, I designed a centralized dashboard and digital tools that help employees anticipate customer needs, streamline interactions, and reduce reliance on in-store support—culminating in a successful pitch to T-Mobile’s Digital Directors. AI-powered assistance was also explored to further enhance ME workflows.

Challenge

Identify opportunities to improve T-Mobile’s store employees (MEs) digital environment.

The instructions from our client was clear: we had to reduce customer care calls, cut down repeat store visits, and boost overall customer satisfaction (NPS).

Store Visit

A firsthand look at employee frustrations in Seattle.

Our team did a roadtrip to Seattle to immerse ourselves in T-Mobile’s retail environment. We shadowed MEs, captured real-time interactions, interviewed voluntary customers, and noted workflow friction between customers and MEs.

Immersion & discovery

Immersion & discovery

Immersion & discovery

We shadowed Mobile Experts (MEs), played around with their digital tools, and observed their daily challenges.

We shadowed Mobile Experts (MEs), played around with their digital tools, and observed their daily challenges.

We shadowed Mobile Experts (MEs), played around with their digital tools, and observed their daily challenges.

Meet Ben 👋

Meet Ben 👋

Meet Ben 👋

During our visit, we met Ben, a T-Mobile ME whose challenges helped us shape our design solutions.

During our visit, we met Ben, a T-Mobile ME whose challenges helped us shape our design solutions.

During our visit, we met Ben, a T-Mobile ME whose challenges helped us shape our design solutions.

Synthesizing our findings

Synthesizing our findings

Synthesizing our findings

We mapped key pain points across system navigation, customer interactions, and onboarding to find the most critical challenges MEs face daily.

We mapped key pain points across system navigation, customer interactions, and onboarding to find the most critical challenges MEs face daily.

We mapped key pain points across system navigation, customer interactions, and onboarding to find the most critical challenges MEs face daily.

Mapping out ME’s retail journey

Mapping out ME’s retail journey

Mapping out ME’s retail journey

We analyzed the end-to-end retail journey to understand how MEs interact with customers, navigate systems, and complete tasks. This helped us identify friction points in onboarding, assistance, and job performance.

We analyzed the end-to-end retail journey to understand how MEs interact with customers, navigate systems, and complete tasks. This helped us identify friction points in onboarding, assistance, and job performance.

We analyzed the end-to-end retail journey to understand how MEs interact with customers, navigate systems, and complete tasks. This helped us identify friction points in onboarding, assistance, and job performance.

Findings

MEs rely on multiple disjointed systems, causing inefficiency, errors, and frustration.

Our observations uncovered three primary issues:

  • Fragmented Digital Tools: MEs constantly switched between multiple apps, creating delays and increasing cognitive load.

  • Customer Task Drop-Off: Customers frequently abandoned setup tasks, leaving MEs to manually resume incomplete processes.

  • Inadequate Training Tools: MEs lacked effective methods to educate customers, leading to repetitive in-store visits.

Opportunity

How might we create an experience where MEs provide more value in-store, so customers feel confident enough to self-serve in the future?

To effectively teach customers self-serve, we zoomed in on two key areas: where and how.

Where are the most strategic points in their journey to teach the customer how to self-serve? How do they capitalize on those points to effectively teach the customer how to self-serve?

Current Convergence of Paths

Current Convergence of Paths

Current Convergence of Paths

MEs and customers interact multiple times throughout the customer’s lifetime, often leading to repeat in-store visits.

MEs and customers interact multiple times throughout the customer’s lifetime, often leading to repeat in-store visits.

MEs and customers interact multiple times throughout the customer’s lifetime, often leading to repeat in-store visits.

Ideal Convergence of Paths

Ideal Convergence of Paths

Ideal Convergence of Paths

By making the first interaction more personalized and impactful, we reduce the need for future visits—lowering retail traffic, decreasing customer care calls, and increasing NPS for both MEs and customers.

By making the first interaction more personalized and impactful, we reduce the need for future visits—lowering retail traffic, decreasing customer care calls, and increasing NPS for both MEs and customers.

By making the first interaction more personalized and impactful, we reduce the need for future visits—lowering retail traffic, decreasing customer care calls, and increasing NPS for both MEs and customers.

Objective

Create an experience that enables MEs to accomplish 3 things.

Research

Applying Jakob’s Law: learning from industry leaders.

Analogous Research— Apple Store Experience

Analogous Research— Apple Store Experience

Analogous Research— Apple Store Experience

Apple is known for having one of the best retail experiences in the world— during our kickoff, the client specifically mentioned wanting to replicate Apple’s level of efficiency and customer engagement in their own stores. To understand how Apple achieves this, I conducted an in-store immersion and identified three key strategies of how they were able to do it so well.

Apple is known for having one of the best retail experiences in the world— during our kickoff, the client specifically mentioned wanting to replicate Apple’s level of efficiency and customer engagement in their own stores. To understand how Apple achieves this, I conducted an in-store immersion and identified three key strategies of how they were able to do it so well.

Apple is known for having one of the best retail experiences in the world— during our kickoff, the client specifically mentioned wanting to replicate Apple’s level of efficiency and customer engagement in their own stores. To understand how Apple achieves this, I conducted an in-store immersion and identified three key strategies of how they were able to do it so well.

Comparative Design Audit

Comparative Design Audit

Comparative Design Audit

Analyzed industry-leading digital experiences like Uber and Rise to understand how they anticipate user needs. Key takeaways—real-time feedback, data-driven insights, and proactive notifications.

Analyzed industry-leading digital experiences like Uber and Rise to understand how they anticipate user needs. Key takeaways—real-time feedback, data-driven insights, and proactive notifications.

Analyzed industry-leading digital experiences like Uber and Rise to understand how they anticipate user needs. Key takeaways—real-time feedback, data-driven insights, and proactive notifications.

Whiteboarding & Ideation

Whiteboarding & Ideation

Whiteboarding & Ideation

I mapped out workflows and early design concepts to integrate anticipatory support and a single pane of glass, ensuring MEs could access the right information at the right time.

I mapped out workflows and early design concepts to integrate anticipatory support and a single pane of glass, ensuring MEs could access the right information at the right time.

I mapped out workflows and early design concepts to integrate anticipatory support and a single pane of glass, ensuring MEs could access the right information at the right time.

Design

Using experiential learning theory as the design framework.

Experiential learning theory emphasizes hands-on interaction, reflection, and real-time feedback. I used this framework to design solutions for anticipating needs and a single pane of glass, ensuring MEs could seamlessly learn and adapt within their workflows.

Anticipate Needs

Single Pane of Glass

Today’s View

Allows MEs to proactively plan their day by providing a clear overview of customer appointments, past interactions, and upcoming needs— all before even the customers walk into the store so that MEs are better prepared and more efficient once they are in.

Leveraging user data for prediction

Digital Drop-Off allows MEs to see where a customer abandoned a task in their web or mobile app. By surfacing this information, MEs can proactively provide solutions before the customer even steps into the store, creating a effective retail experience.

User interview feedback

Studies show that individuals that have well-defined goals and clear expectations before starting a task are more likely to stay focused, motivated, and achieve better outcome (Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information)

Setup Wizard

A fast and intuitive way for MEs to onboard new customers in-store. By integrating progressive disclosure, completionism, and situational awareness, the system minimizes cognitive load and enhances engagement.

Encourage customers to self-serve

Inspired by Apple’s approach to hands-on learning, this system actively involves customers in their setup process. By engaging them in key steps, customers gain confidence in managing their accounts, reinforcing self-service behaviors and reducing future in-store visits.

1. Customer scans QR code during setup

The ME initiates the process, and the customer scans a QR code to seamlessly link their device to the setup flow.

  1. ME inputs customer preferences

MEs assist with key setup details, ensuring accuracy and efficiency while keeping the customer engaged.

  1. Customer completes setup on their own device

For select steps, customers can self-serve, reinforcing independence and reducing ME workload.

Anticipate Needs

Single Pane of Glass

Today’s View

Allows MEs to proactively plan their day by providing a clear overview of customer appointments, past interactions, and upcoming needs— all before even the customers walk into the store so that MEs are better prepared and more efficient once they are in.

Leveraging user data for prediction

Digital Drop-Off allows MEs to see where a customer abandoned a task in their web or mobile app. By surfacing this information, MEs can proactively provide solutions before the customer even steps into the store, creating a effective retail experience.

User interview feedback

Studies show that individuals that have well-defined goals and clear expectations before starting a task are more likely to stay focused, motivated, and achieve better outcome (Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information)

Setup Wizard

A fast and intuitive way for MEs to onboard new customers in-store. By integrating progressive disclosure, completionism, and situational awareness, the system minimizes cognitive load and enhances engagement.

Encourage customers to self-serve

Inspired by Apple’s approach to hands-on learning, this system actively involves customers in their setup process. By engaging them in key steps, customers gain confidence in managing their accounts, reinforcing self-service behaviors and reducing future in-store visits.

1. Customer scans QR code during setup

The ME initiates the process, and the customer scans a QR code to seamlessly link their device to the setup flow.

  1. ME inputs customer preferences

MEs assist with key setup details, ensuring accuracy and efficiency while keeping the customer engaged.

  1. Customer completes setup on their own device

For select steps, customers can self-serve, reinforcing independence and reducing ME workload.

Anticipate Needs

Single Pane of Glass

Today’s View

Allows MEs to proactively plan their day by providing a clear overview of customer appointments, past interactions, and upcoming needs— all before even the customers walk into the store so that MEs are better prepared and more efficient once they are in.

Leveraging user data for prediction

Digital Drop-Off allows MEs to see where a customer abandoned a task in their web or mobile app. By surfacing this information, MEs can proactively provide solutions before the customer even steps into the store, creating a effective retail experience.

User interview feedback

Studies show that individuals that have well-defined goals and clear expectations before starting a task are more likely to stay focused, motivated, and achieve better outcome (Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information)

Setup Wizard

A fast and intuitive way for MEs to onboard new customers in-store. By integrating progressive disclosure, completionism, and situational awareness, the system minimizes cognitive load and enhances engagement.

Encourage customers to self-serve

Inspired by Apple’s approach to hands-on learning, this system actively involves customers in their setup process. By engaging them in key steps, customers gain confidence in managing their accounts, reinforcing self-service behaviors and reducing future in-store visits.

1. Customer scans QR code during setup

The ME initiates the process, and the customer scans a QR code to seamlessly link their device to the setup flow.

  1. ME inputs customer preferences

MEs assist with key setup details, ensuring accuracy and efficiency while keeping the customer engaged.

  1. Customer completes setup on their own device

For select steps, customers can self-serve, reinforcing independence and reducing ME workload.

Impact

Pitched to T-mobile digital directors.

The client was highly impressed with the rapid progress and quality of execution within just two weeks. Key stakeholders saw immediate feasibility in several concepts, with discussions around cost considerations for implementation.

Successful alignment deal. Select features planned for development in the following quarter.

The successful pitch led to T-Mobile committing to moving forward with key concepts, securing alignment for development in the next quarter. This validated the feasibility of the designs and reinforced WillowTree’s role in shaping their future retail experience.

Designed in Downtown Toronto. Inspired by Kitsilano.

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© 2025

Designed in Downtown Toronto. Inspired by Kitsilano.

LinkedIn

Mail

© 2025

Designed in Downtown Toronto. Inspired by Kitsilano.

LinkedIn

Mail

© 2025