New customer service model
Background
A key business priority was reducing customer service representative time per order. Through data exploration, we identified instances where customer service representatives were playing middleman without adding clear value. Our working hypothesis was that allowing our users to connect directly in those instances could reduce customer service representative time per order, but only if our users embraced the new functionality.
To preserve the user experience, as well as ensure any new functionality was adoptable and usable, we needed to understand what problems direct communication could solve for all of our users and ensure our designs would fit into their processes.
OUTCOME
Development of a v1 solution for partners, customers, and customer service representative that is expected to save 37% of customer service representatives’ time
Stakeholder buy-in for the long-term vision of the initiative which is expected to save up to 70% of customer service representatives’ time
Approach
To tackle this initiative, we embarked on an iterative research and design cycle that took about 8 weeks. The team consisted of a product manager, UX designer, squad of engineers, domain lead, and researcher (i.e., me). While research was being conducted, we also needed to gain internal buy-in for our approach and ensure stakeholders were learning at the same speed that we were.
We conducted the following research projects:
Exploratory research with customers & providers to understand what problems they faced around customer service and what we needed to consider for the idea of direct communication to be feasible
Storyboard explorations with customers to uncover what situations direct communication would be valuable and push our thinking beyond initial ideas
Concept testing with customers, providers, and customer service representatives to iterate towards a feasible design solution for each type of user
Usability testing with providers, since they would be responsible for the majority of the interaction, to ensure they could easily understand what direct communication was and what it meant for them and could take swift action as needed