T-Mobile GLUE

The Problem: The T-Mobile GLUE (Global Language for Unified Experiences) is an online platform that serves as the single repository for all T-Mobile experience patterns and guidelines.

The challenge is T-Mobile works with a lot of internal teams and external agencies create a wide range of digital products and services across multiple platforms. Maintaining one voice of style and experience consistency throughout these experiences is a huge effort. At the beginning of this project there were 9 different style guides with no consistent source of truth for experience. To further complicate the issues, there was no cross-functional alignment between development teams which led to numerous variations of coding styles.

The Goal: A massive cross-functional effort to create a standardized, AA accessibility compliant UI/UX pattern library that designers and developers would leverage. It was essential that the foundation we were creating would be a rock-solid foundation that T-Mobile could use system-wide to modernize its technological backbone.

I approached the project in direct collaboration with technology using atomic design methodology to create a consistent, recurring pattern tool set to minimize "one-off" designs. To set the appropriate boundaries, I had to write comprehensive rules for human interface guidelines and create pixel perfect assets that would be used by designers and developers alike. As the project evolved, more and more complex patterns were added to provide UX designers, agencies, developers and product managers ready-made components and complex flows that could be quickly assembled to form fully realized experiences. 

The Results: Nearly immediate improvements in consistency, process and quality across UX and development teams. There have also been improvements in development process by allowing them to think bigger picture about how to create re-usable digital capabilities that other teams could share. We also saw process improvements with product owners to reduce excess churn during design critiques.

Once fully deployed, this technological overhaul will be the most significant improvement to T-Mobile infrastructure in it’s history resulting in billions of dollars a year in savings.

Role: Senior UX Design Manager, Experience Designer, Interaction Designer, Visual Designer, Project Manager, Strategic Partner

Skills Used: Identity, Graphic Design, UI, UX, XD, IA, Visual Design, Wireframes, Copywriting, Production Design, Project Management, Strategy, Planning