Launching a mobile network in the United States

Overview

TPO was an ethical mobile network operator that provided mobile services in the United Kingdom through Three and in the United States through Sprint and T-Mobile.

The company's mission was simple but distinctive: customers could direct 10% of their monthly bill to a charitable cause of their choice, creating a direct connection between everyday spending and social impact.

As Head of Design and UX, I played a leading role in TPO's expansion into the United States, helping define the customer experience, onboarding journeys, account management platform, and digital storefront that would support the company's launch into one of the world's most competitive mobile markets.

While this project took place several years ago, many of the challenges remain highly relevant today. The work involved untangling complex customer onboarding journeys, simplifying technical processes, integrating with multiple third-party systems, and translating complicated operational requirements into experiences that felt simple and intuitive for customers.

Challenge

Launching a mobile network in the United States presented a unique challenge for a UK-based team.

At the time, TPO had no US-facing digital platform and no established customer experience for the American market.

The complexity went far beyond creating a website.

Mobile plan selection, customer onboarding, activation processes, billing, account management, and regulatory requirements all operated differently to what we were familiar with in the UK. Understanding how US consumers selected plans, activated services, managed accounts, and interacted with mobile providers required us to rethink many assumptions.

Adding to this complexity was the need to integrate with third-party suppliers responsible for network provisioning, customer activation, and plan management.

The challenge wasn't simply launching a new website.

It was designing an end-to-end customer experience capable of supporting an entirely new business operation in a market unfamiliar to the organisation.

My role

As Head of Design and UX, I was responsible for defining the end-to-end customer experience across the digital ecosystem.

My responsibilities included:

• — Leading UX strategy for the US launch
• — Designing customer onboarding and activation journeys
• — Defining information architecture and user flows
• — Creating wireframes and interactive prototypes
• — Designing account management, billing, payment, and customer service experiences
• — Conducting competitive analysis across the US mobile market
• — Collaborating with third-party telecommunications providers and platform partners
• — Working closely with development, product, operations, and customer support teams
• — Partnering directly with executive leadership, including the CEO and CTO
• — Supporting brand development and digital implementation alongside external creative agencies

A significant part of the project involved translating highly technical and operational processes into experiences that customers could navigate with confidence.

Vision

The vision was to create a customer experience that made choosing and activating a mobile service feel simple, transparent, and trustworthy.

To achieve this, we needed to bridge the gap between complex telecommunications infrastructure and a straightforward consumer experience.

The goal was not only to launch a new mobile network but to establish a digital experience capable of competing with established providers while reinforcing TPO's unique purpose-driven proposition.

Key transformations

Outcome

TPO successfully launched into the North American market with a digital platform supporting customer acquisition, onboarding, activation, account management, and self-service.

The platform provided customers with a straightforward way to select plans, manage services, and engage with the company's unique charitable proposition.

By combining customer-centred design, operational understanding, and close stakeholder collaboration, the team created a scalable foundation that enabled the business to establish itself within a highly competitive market.

Impact

User impact

• — Simplified complex mobile plan selection and activation processes
• — Created intuitive onboarding journeys for first-time customers
• — Improved customer confidence through clear and structured user flows
• — Delivered a seamless self-service experience across account management and billing

Business impact

• — Enabled TPO's successful launch into the US market
• — Supported customer acquisition through a purpose-led proposition and simplified user experience
• — Created a scalable digital platform capable of supporting future growth
• — Helped bridge the gap between operational complexity and customer simplicity

Organisational impact

• — Established UX as a critical part of product and business decision-making
• — Improved alignment between product, operations, customer support, and technology teams
• — Created shared understanding across internal teams and external suppliers through collaborative workshops and prototyping
• — Strengthened the integration between brand strategy and digital product delivery

Reflection

Looking back, this project remains one of the most formative experiences of my career.

While the technology, tools, and market have evolved significantly, the core challenge remains familiar: understanding complex operational systems and translating them into experiences that feel simple for customers.

The project reinforced the importance of deep discovery, stakeholder alignment, and systems thinking. It also provided valuable experience working internationally, collaborating directly with executive leadership, engaging with telecommunications providers, and contributing to both product and brand strategy.

Many of the principles developed during this work—simplifying complexity, aligning diverse stakeholders, and designing across interconnected systems—continue to influence how I approach large-scale product and service design today.

Stakeholder feedback