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Call Center Tools

Redesigned enterprise call center tools through embedded research, solving critical navigation and efficiency problems that measurably reduced call handling costs and drove tool adoption.

Role: Design Lead
Company: WDS (Wireless Data Services)
Enterprise Tools Information Architecture Visual Design Update Improved Experience
Call center tooling redesign

The Challenge

WDS operated multiple call centers supporting mobile device customers across various carriers and retailers. Our support tools needed to reduce our internal operational costs.

The product manager approached me with a broad question: "How can we improve the agent experience with our support tools?" Call center metrics were underperforming, and we were hearing feedback that the tools felt cumbersome and outdated.

I embedded with call center agents to observe and understand their needs and pain points. My research revealed that the information architecture was hindering their ability to find content and complete tasks.

Jump to the Outcome

Call Center Agent Needs

  • Make it easier to navigate the tools
  • Reduce time to find content
  • Make content more consumable

Business Needs

  • Improve call center metrics
  • Reduce call handling costs
  • Drive agent engagement with tools

Design Process

Starting State

Starting state of call center tooling
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Generative Research

Observation

I began by spending four full days in our call centers, observing agents during live customer calls. I positioned myself as a silent observer—sitting beside agents, listening through headsets, and watching their screen interactions in real-time. This immersive approach allowed me to see the friction points as they happened: agents stuggling to find the content they needed, long pauses while pages loaded, and the visible frustration when device context was lost mid-call.

Interviews

I conducted 1-on-1 interviews with agents to dig into their pain points and needs.

Analytics

I reviewed call center metrics and tool analytics to understand where agents were spending their time and how they were interacting with the tool.

Findings from generative research
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Revise the Information Architecture

The research revealed that most usability issues traced back to a fundamental IA problem: the existing structure assumed a linear, task-completion workflow, but agents needed to move fluidly between information types based on unpredictable customer conversations.

I mapped the existing IA to visualize the structural constraints. The exercise made the core problem immediately visible: agents were forced to return to the home screen as a hub to access any other section of the tool. Every transition required two clicks minimum and completely broke their context.

IA mapping
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Wireframing

With the new information architecture defined, I began translating the structural changes into tangible interface designs. Wireframes allowed me to work quickly and focus stakeholder conversations on navigation patterns, content hierarchy, and interaction models—without the distraction of visual design details.

Wireframes
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User Testing

Before committing to development, I needed to validate that the wireframe solutions actually solved the problems agents faced. I built an interactive prototype in Axure that simulated the core navigation patterns and workflows, then returned to the call centers for hands-on testing with agents.

User Testing Plan
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Visual Design Redesign

This project presented a rare opportunity: not just to redesign this tool, but to establish a new visual design system for WDS's entire branded product portfolio. I recognized that our outdated visual design was actively undermining our business goals: our dated look was undermining our brand as a leader in customer experience excellence and our internal teams were embarrassed and frustrated with the look and feel of the tool.

I worked with the visual design team to execute on this design, guiding this work to ensure a modern and usability design. This required a different leadership approach — one based on influence, collaboration, and persistent advocacy.

I started with the visual design team to establish shared criteria for success. Visual appeal was important, but so were scannability during live calls, accessibility, clear information hierarchy, and scalability across our product line. Through many iterations, we refined the direction together—balancing modern aesthetics with functional requirements.

Visual design iterations
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What This Required of Me:

  • Clear communication — explaining why certain design decisions mattered for usability, not just stating preferences.
  • Design credibility — demonstrating I understood visual design principles enough to give informed feedback
  • Relationship building — investing time to understand the visual team's constraints and goals
  • Strategic framing — positioning feedback as partnership toward shared success, not critique of their work

Outcome

The redesigned call center tools delivered measurable improvements across both operational efficiency and revenue generation:

Business Impact

  • Reduced operational costs — Call handling efficiency improved significantly, driven by faster navigation, reduced page load times, and agents spending less time searching for information. The persistent device context eliminated the time previously lost to recreating context after each navigation. These efficiency gains translated to direct cost savings in our internal call center operations.
  • Improved call center performance — Key operational metrics moved in the right direction across the board—calls were handled more quickly, first-call resolution rates improved, and customer satisfaction scores increased. Agents were able to focus more on customer conversations and less on fighting with the tools.
  • Increased tool sales — The modernized visual design and improved functionality made the tools more compelling in sales conversations. The combination of demonstrable usability improvements and a credible, professional interface helped close deals with external call center clients and contributed to revenue growth.

Agent Impact

  • Reduced cognitive load — Agents no longer had to mentally track where they were in the tool or remember information that disappeared during navigation. The persistent device panel and lateral navigation allowed them to focus mental energy on customer problem-solving rather than tool navigation.
  • Increased confidence — Multiple agents reported feeling more in control during calls. Having visual device references readily available and being able to move fluidly between information types made them more confident in their support recommendations.

Agent Quotes

"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."