T-Mobile SyncUp Tracker
Industry
Telecommunication, IoT
Client
T-Mobile
T-Mobile SyncUP TRACKER combines GPS, Wi-Fi, and T-Mobile’s network to help people locate bikes, luggage, backpacks, and other belongings from iOS and Android devices.
I worked on the experience as T-Mobile brought SyncUP Pets and SyncUP TRACKER into a more unified IoT ecosystem, including new ways for owners to securely share tracker access with trusted people.
Project Details
Industry
Telecommunication, IoT
Client
T-Mobile
Role
Senior Product Designer, IoT
Year
2020-2022
Platform
iOS / Android
The Problem
Tracker owners needed a secure way to share access with spouses, partners, family members, and other trusted people.
The challenge extended beyond granting access. Owners needed control over what secondary users could see, particularly sensitive information such as location and tracking history.
The experience also needed to work across two existing IoT products, SyncUP Pets and SyncUP TRACKER.
My Role
I led the UX exploration for shared tracker access, defining how primary owners and trusted secondary users would interact with the same device while maintaining different levels of access.
I worked across product, engineering, development, design, Voice of Customer, and leadership to translate technical, privacy, and customer requirements into a coherent experience.
Process
Existing usability studies from SyncUP Pets and SyncUP TRACKER provided an initial research foundation.
I supplemented those findings with customer-service feedback, Voice of Customer insights, competitive analysis, and existing product data.
A key finding emerged: users wanted to share tracker access without exposing all of their location data.
This became a core design principle for the sharing model.
Design
I separated the experience into two flows:
01 Primary User
The tracker owner who controls the device, permissions, and shared access.
02 Secondary User
The trusted person receiving limited access to the tracker.
Although both journeys intersected, separating them early helped the team identify permissions, dependencies, edge cases, and technical constraints before combining the experience.
As requirements evolved, I iterated on the flows with engineering, product, design, leadership, and Voice of Customer before moving into detailed iOS interface design.
Final product screens and key interaction details.
Outcome
The work established a shared-access model for T-Mobile's IoT tracking ecosystem centered on owner control, privacy, and trusted access.
The resulting framework helped align two tracker products around a common experience while accounting for different user roles, permissions, and sensitive location data.
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