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Call Center Tools
Creating a better experience with the tools for call center support agents.
Project summary
Background
We operated a number of call centers providing support for mobile phones. As part of this, we provided both support content and the tools to access that content, allowing support agents to troubleshoot and solve issues.
My role
I led the design on this which included information architecture, interaction design, and research.
Target users
Call center agents providing support for those with mobile device and plan issues.
Problem to be solved
The product manager approached me about how we could improve the experience of using the support tools. Ultimately, we were looking to improve call center metrics, reducing costs, and driving engagement of our support tools among agents.
Based on generative research and usage data I collected, I was looking to solve for 7 identified problem areas: difficulty moving between areas of the tool, selected devices are lost while moving about the tool, duplicate content and functionality, search needs to be easier to get to, content needs to be more readable and scannable, page load times are too long, and agents provide better support with visual references.
Outcome
Revisions to the tools included an updated information architecture, pulling search forward to be more easily accessible, a persistant device area available in the navigation, a larger visual device image that exists alongside any device-specific content. Improvements made during this project reduced internal costs by improving call center efficiency and increased revenue thru sales of the tool by making the tool more useful and engaging for agents. Metrics tracked included NPS/CSAT, length of calls, cost of calls, number of first call resolutions, and number of returns.
Breakdown of my process
Starting state
Here's a view of the tool before we started this project:
Informative research
I started off by spending 4 days in the call centers, sitting with agents, listening in on their calls, observing over their shoulders. This acted as sort of a funnel, allowing me to identify and focus in on some of the bigger issues. From there, I needed to dig deeper so I went back into the call centers and interviewed several agents trying to understand how they approached the problem-solving they were doing on calls. I also dug into the analytics on our tool to understand where agents were spending their time and specifics on how they were interacting with the tool.
Update information architecture
I knew that many of the issues where stemming from a problem with the information architecture (IA). I started by mapping out the current IA, which surfaced the constraint of going back to the home area in order to go anywhere else. The new IA design would allow agents to move back and forth between areas of the tool, persisting their spot and context when they resumed their visit to an area.
Wireframes & feedback
I then began applying the updated site structure into a set of wireframes. The wireframes included updated page layouts and a new way to navigate. I was constantly working with the rest of the team during this process to share the designs and gather their feedback.
Testing
I prepared the wireframes into an interactive prototype using Axure and took them into the call center to do some informal testing with call agents. I met individually with seven agents and had them perform a set of tasks with the wireframes to spot any issues and to make sure that the updated design would make things easier for them. Major findings from the tests show that the various ways to search were confusing, as well as providing positive feedback on the new navigation structure.
Visual design direction & revisions
For this project, we had the opportunity to create a completely new visual design style for our company-branded version of this product. It was the first step in updating our design style for our full product line. I had taken it on as a goal of mine to update our design because I felt like we needed to better portray our company's offerings and credibility. We were using these as sales tools as well as in actual implementations, and as a company who leads the way in improving customer experience for others, I didn't think we were convincingly conveying that we are leaders in good experience (visual design being one aspect that influences user experience). Additionally, there was a fair bit of internal dissatisfaction with the design.
I worked closely with the visual design team through quite a number of iterations to help come up with a design style to be applied for this project, and ultimately the rest of our branded products. The team came up with a number of initial style options and from there I worked quite extensively providing feedback through each of the iterations to improve the usability of the visual design.
Final testing
Once the new designs had been implemented but prior to a full release, I went back into the call centers and did one final round of testing with 3 agents. This served as a sort of sanity check and to provide us with quotables that we could use in marketing and sales of the product. This research included both task completion and interviews.
"You're getting the diagram [device image] out quickly, putting more information forward, and using the screen more logically."
"[This has] less tabs. Plus it's much smoother transitions. And I won't get lost."
"The speed is much better. I didn't have to look away at any point. With the other one [previous tool], I click a link or load up a device and I either have to twiddle my thumbs, or talk to the customer and drag out my sentences."
"This [new design] is really good because you can go back and forth [between customer info and device info] and still have this information here."
Reflections
Challenges on this project included establishing a new product brand identity, while working with the visual design team to improve the quality of their outputs. This required persistence and patience, increased communication, thoughtful explanations of design decisions, and trusting my gut when it came to visual design decisions.
I'm proud of how we were able to stay so close to our users throughout this whole design and development process, constantly integrating in research and testing. The following is a graphic I created showing the design process that I shared in a company-wide product update presentation.
