Designing for Trust Framework
Client
T-Mobile
Role
Design Strategist
Year
2019
Challenge
Design Challenge How might we design a consistent, human-centered retail experience across diverse formats and audiences—one that builds customer trust at every moment, especially in a complex, high-stakes category like wireless service?
Solution
We created the “Designing for Trust” foundational framework to guide retail experience design at T-Mobile. Rather than prescribing specific layouts or interactions, the framework established a new, flexible lens for prioritizing customer needs, identifying moments that build or erode trust, and aligning cross-functional efforts across physical, digital, and human touchpoints.
Approach
Reframed the customer journey around eight “Moments of Trust” (e.g., first impression, commitment, validation), each an inflection point that shapes long-term perception.
Shifted from segments to needs by developing "amplifiers”—spectrums of situational and emotional factors like price sensitivity, time availability, tech savviness—that influence stress and trust in different scenarios.
Mapped internal forces (e.g., compensation models, store layout decisions) that impact frontline behavior and customer outcomes—often unintentionally adding friction.
Established brand-aligned design principles, such as removing barriers, eliminating exclusion, and creating unexpected delight—all grounded in T-Mobile’s people-first, rebellious brand identity.
Built a scalable, living toolkit that supports in-store and omni-channel applications while allowing for iteration as the business evolves.
Outcomes
Provided a strategic foundation that shaped multiple in-store initiatives and customer experience enhancements.
Enabled teams to design inclusively by focusing on customers with the greatest needs—improving the experience for all. Influenced executive understanding of how internal decisions affect trust and loyalty, beyond just product and pricing.
Created a shared language and structure for cross-functional collaboration across design, operations, and business strategy.