Full case study ~4 min read
B2B
Telecom
Generative Research
Switching mid-stream from product to experience transformation with a projects savings of $3.3M
Co-lead Cricket Wireless point-of-sale research, uncovering critical friction points to inform strategic improvements.
Year2021 - 2022
ClientCricket Wireless, Big Nerd Ranch
Full-Time
2 weeks
Methodologies
Process & Product DemosDesign AuditStakeholder InterviewsContextual InterviewsIn-Store ObservationsOpportunity GenerationPrioritization & Alignment Workshops
Tools & Frameworks
FigJam
Miro
Jira
Microsoft Word
Keynote
Context
Cricket Wireless’s point-of-sale system wasn’t built with user experience in mind—and it showed. The platform suffered from frequent downtime, was difficult to adapt as the business evolved, and created real drag on sales, customer satisfaction, and maintenance costs. At the same time, advocate turnover was high, so any system that relied on deep institutional knowledge was actively working against the business. Cricket’s VP of Technology brought in Big Nerd Ranch (now Amdocs Studio) and Projekt 202 to dig in—initially expecting a transformation roadmap for the POS, but quickly uncovering a much broader opportunity.
Role: Co-Researcher
Scope: A 2-week generative discovery, co-led with a partner researcher, to validate the assumed POS pain points and identify the highest-leverage opportunities to act on. The work spanned process and product demos, a design audit, stakeholder and contextual interviews, in-store observations of advocates working live with customers, and a series of prioritization and alignment workshops with senior stakeholders.
Midway through, the research led to a critical reframe: most of the friction wasn’t in the POS itself—it lived in the broader in-store and operational experience. We shifted the scope from a POS redesign to an enterprise experience transformation.
Problem
Cricket Wireless's POS system was built without user experience in mind, suffered from performance issues causing downtime, and was difficult to customize. These problems negatively impacted sales, created customer friction, and drove up maintenance costs.
Opportunity
From 8 opportunities surfaced in research, 4 rose to the top—the focus areas where Cricket could move fastest and see the clearest impact on advocates, customers, and the bottom line.
1
Constrained Processes
Ease friction with the ACP and Port In processes.
Goal: take strain off advocates and customers, and reduce transaction time.
Future business impact: improved customer experience, reduced transaction times, increased new user sign-ups.
2
Call Center
Enable advocates to troubleshoot customer issues without escalating to the call center.
Goal: improve customer satisfaction while reducing call center volume.
Future business impact: minimized call center volume, decreased transaction time, increased employee satisfaction.
3
Training & Communication
Ensure advocates are consistently trained in their ideal learning style.
Goal: reduce knowledge gaps and in-store errors, and improve customer interactions.
Future business impact: improved training quality, increased employee satisfaction, improved customer experience.
4
POS Scalability
Introduce POS UX best practices and identify efficiency gains.
Goal: long-term design scalability—keeping simplicity at the forefront as functionality grows.
Future business impact: reduced UX inefficiencies, increased employee satisfaction.
Research
- Research & Discovery: I co-led the user research effort, conducting user interviews, stakeholder interviews, and in-store observations to assess how advocates interact with the POS system. I also facilitated alignment workshops to coordinate recommendations with a strong point of view across 8 identified focus areas.
- Leadership & Team Management: I took on a lead role to bridge collaboration between P202 and Big Nerd Ranch, two companies with different processes and working styles. I coached team members on effective collaboration, conducted retrospectives to address challenges constructively, and remained a neutral mediator during inter-team tensions to keep the project moving forward.
- Strategic Influence: Brittany and I persuaded senior management at Big Nerd Ranch to pivot from the initially requested product transformation to an experience transformation approach. This was a significant strategic shift that was new to the organization, so we provided regular touchpoints and reassurance to maintain stakeholder confidence. I helped insights shift the project scope from POS-only improvements to holistic customer experience enhancements.
- Business Development: Following this successful discovery, I drove sales efforts by scoping new projects, developing case studies, and creating pitch decks for the sales process. The work on this project contributed to one of Big Nerd Ranch's most successful discoveries with the highest returns, strengthening relationships that led to additional projects.
KEY TAKEAWAY 1
Given the high advocate turnover, it's essential to keep all offerings and interfaces simple to support even the most inexperienced advocates
KEY TAKEAWAY 2
Advocates, call center staff, and corporate employees did not distinguish between the front-end and back-end of the POS system. Most of the issues identified by corporate were related to the back-end technology
“
...I would highly recommend Bridget for any Sr. Leadership role as she’s extremely talented, thoughtful, a true Professional and knows how to deliver value added results. We were lucky to have her on our project and I sincerely hope our paths cross again as she was an absolute delight to work with.
Rick Allen — Associate VP of Technology at Cricket WirelessClient at Big Nerd Ranch (now Amdocs Studio)
Solution
The project aimed to transform the POS into a performant, secure, and well-documented system that could be easily customized to meet changing business needs. By making the system simple and intuitive, the solution would reduce process and tech friction for both advocates and customers.
The project aimed to transform the POS into a performant, secure, and well-documented system that could be easily customized to meet changing business needs. By making the system simple and intuitive, the solution would reduce process and tech friction for both advocates and customers.
“
When there was tension on the team due to how our offices approached projects differently, Bridget was able to bridge that gap with open communication, as well as proactively setting up meetings to gain alignment together. Without her, the project would have been significantly more difficult to accomplish.
Brittany Herold — Co- Researcher Former Teammate at Big Nerd Ranch/Projekt 202 (now Amdoc Studio)
Outcomes
$3.3 million projected savings from POS platform improvements alone
1 of BNR’s most successful discoveries with highest returns, leading to your expanded role in sales and business development
Strengthened a fractured client relationship through cross-functional collaboration exceeding expectations
Strategic pivot from product to experience transformation, uncovering 8 opportunity areas beyond the original scope
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