SyncUP KIDS
⭐️ 4.4 App Store Rating | 200K+ Users | iOS - Android
Company: T-Mobile
Duration: Approximately 1 Month
Team: SyncUP Design Team
My Role: Principal Product Designer
Case Study: Redesigning Playful Identity
Modernizing the SyncUP KIDS avatar system for thousands of users.
Overview
Designing Smiles: Reinventing the Avatar Experience
As a contributing Principal Product Designer on the SyncUP KIDS app, I was brought in by design and product leadership to reimagine the customizable avatar system—injecting new life, color, and personality into an experience meant to delight both kids and parents.
The original avatars lacked emotional charm and visual appeal. With a fresh perspective—and a track record of leading design across SyncUP PETS and TRACKER—I dove into the existing assets, explored dozens of creative directions, and ultimately built a new avatar design system from the ground up.
This included expressive new visuals, detailed documentation, and reusable Figma components. What began as a request for “better-looking avatars” evolved into a scalable, emotionally engaging system that empowered kids to see themselves in the product—while supporting future personalization features across the app.
Problem
Flat Faces, Fewer Smiles
The SyncUP KIDS team had built new personalization features that relied on users selecting avatars—ideally ones that looked like them or sparked joy. But the existing designs lacked polish, emotion, and variety. Choices felt repetitive, flat, and emotionally disconnected.
Leadership saw the gap and brought me in to lead a redesign effort—borrowing design expertise from T-Mobile’s flagship products. The ask was clear: inject life, character, and delight into the avatar experience, while laying a scalable foundation for future expansion.
Initial concepts were blocky and overly simplistic, with ongoing debates around how to represent diverse skin tones and hair types. I jumped in immediately—prioritizing shape, silhouette, and personality over color, to create avatars that felt fun, expressive, and emotionally resonant from the very first sketch.
⬆️ Above - Early avatars felt more “meh” than magical—cute potential, but missing that spark.
Leading The Design
My core role: Designing avatars. Building joy.
As a Principal Product Designer, I was brought in to help the SyncUP KIDS team reimagine the customizable avatars for their app. My work focused on expressiveness, inclusivity, and system design.
I contributed by:
- Exploring dozens of avatar concepts across face shapes, expressions, and hairstyles
- Designing inclusive skin tones, hair colors, and style combinations
- Creating detailed documentation for color systems, layering logic, and accessibility
- Building a modular avatar design system in Figma with reusable, scalable components
- Collaborating with product and visual design leadership to align on creative direction
- Delivering polished assets that supported new personalization features in-app
This role required balancing quick creative iteration with long-term design system thinking—ensuring every user feels seen.
The Work in Action
From Figma to big, joyful smiles.
A full look at the avatar design work I led for the SyncUP KIDS app—from early concepts to final systems—as Principal Product Designer.
Building New Concepts
Focused solely on shapes and forms
Reimagined for joy, built for flexibility. I transformed the original avatars into cuter, more expressive designs—while keeping the modular shape structure to support endless mix-and-match options for the team.
⬆️ Above - Refined from rough sketches to polished, modular designs—built to pop with charm and flexibility.
Each hairstyle was meticulously crafted through rounds of concepts and reviews—balancing playful charm with everyday believability to spark smiles and connection.
Shades of Joy
Finding the perfect blend without blending in.
Once the base avatar designs were approved, I focused on crafting a diverse, inclusive set of skin tones. The goal: represent a wide range of users with care, clarity, and visual harmony—without overwhelming the system.
⬆️ Above - Visual design for the app tour needed to be informative, cute and animation friendly. Here for example, are early concepts for the Virtual Boundaries and QR code scanning sections.
Hair Colors That Pop
& feel fun
From playful pinks to natural browns, each color was chosen to balance fun with familiarity. Every shade was tested across avatar types—kids and adults—to ensure personality, contrast, and clarity.
From Concept to Components: The Avatar Design System
Documented, scalable, and ready to delight.
To wrap the project, I transformed the final avatar components into a fully documented design system—built in Figma with scalability in mind. This system empowered the KIDS design team to create consistent, customizable avatars that could evolve with the product.
Delivering Results
Personalized smiles. Real user joy.
The SyncUP KIDS app quickly grew to over 200,000 users across iOS and Android. I was proud to contribute to its success by leading the redesign of the customizable avatars—adding personality, charm, and emotional connection.
Building the Avatar Design System was a direct ask from design leadership, and a meaningful opportunity to collaborate across teams. Once completed, I returned to leading PETS and TRACKER, but it was incredibly rewarding to see my work bring smiles to both kids and parents alike.
Disclaimer:
The work shown here was created during my time at T-Mobile and is presented solely for personal portfolio use. All visuals reflect my role and contributions, and are shared respectfully to highlight process and craft—not for public or commercial use.
Reflections
Behind The Scenes
At the time, I was leading UX design for both the SyncUP PETS and TRACKER teams, so it was a fun challenge to temporarily jump in and support SyncUP KIDS by redesigning their avatar system.
Working alongside the KIDS design team was a refreshing, collaborative experience—I learned a lot while crafting expressive, flexible components that aligned with their vision.
Also? Because I contributed to the app, I got a cupcake during the company celebration when SyncUP KIDS hit a big user milestone.
Worth it.
Here’s what teammates had to say…
"...The kindest coworker you can imagine..."
Alyssa — UX Designer, T-Mobile
September 28, 2023