Create a credible upgrade path after service contracts.
I created JUMP! by bringing device financing, protection, and refurbishment together. The product depended on the whole lifecycle working, including what happened when the customer returned a device.
Senior Product Manager, Device ProgramsShipped work
THE DEVICE LIFECYCLE
01Finance02Protect04Upgrade03Return
Product + partners + program economics
KELVIN ZEE
T-MOBILE JUMP! · 2012 - 2015
01 · THE PROMISE
02 · THE GAP
03 · THE BUILD
04 · THE LIFECYCLE
05 · PROGRAM ECONOMICS
06 · WHAT CHANGED
Create a credibleupgrade path afterservice contracts.
Financing changed how customerspaid, not how they upgraded.
Test a product promiseall the way throughits return path.
Role reel, at your own pace
The promise
Create a credible upgrade path after service contracts.
The gap
A financing product changed how customers paid for a device, but it did not by itself create an upgrade experience. Missing was a path through protection, device return, and the remaining financing obligation.
The build
JUMP! combined existing insurance and stock-refurbishment programs with the new financing product.
The lifecyclePRODUCT AND INTEGRATION OWNERSHIP
An Asurion-to-Assurant technical integration that needed both companies to deliver the same customer outcome, across enrollment, entitlements, device returns, financing payoff, reset, and reconciliation, held together by API data contracts and business rules. Engineering teams implemented the backend systems.
Program economicsPROGRAM RESULT · DEVICE-PROGRAM PORTFOLIO
Device-program revenue grew from about $800M to $1.3B, attachment reached about 60%, and device-program costs were about 20% lower. For context, the annual equipment-installment ecosystem was $5.2B.
What changedPROGRAM RESULT
11.3M JUMP! enrollees by Q2 2015, and members upgraded 30% faster, from nearly 20 months to 14 months.
The role in 30 seconds, using only facts published on this site.
11.3MJUMP! enrollees by Q2 2015
30%faster member upgrades
~20%lower device-program costs
These are program outcomes, built over several years by many teams. Enrollment, upgrade timing, revenue and attachment are JUMP! results rather than the effect of a single decision, the 20% cost reduction applies to the device-program portfolio rather than the full financing ecosystem, and the $5.2 billion annual Equipment Installment Plan figure describes the context the programs ran in rather than revenue attributable to JUMP!.
A financing product changed how customers paid for a device, but it did not by itself create an upgrade experience. That required a path through protection, device return, and the remaining financing obligation.
I brought JUMP! to life by combining existing insurance and stock-refurbishment programs with the new financing product. My scope included product strategy for device financing, insurance, mobile security, and related partner experiences.
Design the lifecycle across companies
The customer promise depended on several companies agreeing on what happened next. Enrollment had to create the right entitlement. A returned device had to be adjudicated. The financing balance then had to be reconciled with the customer's upgrade.
I led the Asurion-to-Assurant technical integration and defined API data contracts and business rules for enrollment, entitlements, device returns, financing payoff, reset, and reconciliation.
This was product and integration ownership. Engineering teams implemented the backend systems. The important product work was making the rules and handoffs explicit enough for both companies to deliver the same customer outcome.
Treat program economics as product work
I owned product and partner economics across the device programs. RFPs and vendor negotiations sat alongside product redesign and operating improvements.
The portfolio included financing, insurance, mobile security, and protection. Its annual revenue grew from roughly $800 million to $1.3 billion while attachment reached about 60%.
What changed
JUMP! reached 11.3 million enrollees by Q2 2015. Redesigned upgrade and protection mechanics accelerated member upgrades by 30%, from nearly 20 months to 14 months.
The lesson is to test a product promise all the way through its return path. Financing, protection, and upgrading have to agree on the customer's state, and the economics have to survive that same lifecycle.
