Self service design-principles

Self-Service Design

Principles

03/24/2013

Background

ImprovedUsability.com

• Design principles have emerged from the work of User Experience (UX)

professionals over the past few years.

• Much of this insight has been gleaned from user research and

implementing effective designs.

• Something that we've learned to keep in mind is that we're competing

with other channels.

• If it is easier, faster, or provides a greater sense that the transaction has

been completed by picking up the phone or walking into an office, then

that is what customers will do as opposed to doing it online.

Design Principles > 1. Reassurance


• Customers fear that online transactions wind up in a "black hole."

• They need reassurance that what they've gone online to complete has actually taken place.

• Designers can help allay these fears through the use of:

• date and time stamps;

• confirmation numbers; and

• enabling the customer to either print or email a

confirmation page to themselves.

• Given the growing use of tablets, it is important to enable customers to also email a confirmation message or quote to themselves.

Chase offers a transaction

number to customers after

making a credit card payment.

Design Principles > 2. Clear Link Labels


• User research shows customers are often time-pressed with performing self-service transactions.

• Design considerations:

• Clear link labeling to find their way to the transaction they wish to complete.

• Usability testing focused on proper labeling is time well spent in this regard.

• Customers are not in an ideal place to offer marketing advertisements.

• Targeted email however is appreciated.

USAA surfaces common

transactions in the left rail once

a customer logs in.

Design Principles > 3. Hub & Spoke


• Interaction design models need to help facilitate costumers finding and completing transactions.


• Providing users with a hub or landing page to start all of their self-service transactions with is helpful in this regard.

• As transactions are completed, the user is brought back to the hub to either sign out or begin another transaction.

• During usability testing, we've often seen customers feel that the hub or landing page provided them with a certain sense of security before attempting another transaction.

USAA brings customers back to

the “hub” or authenticated

landing page after completing

transactions.

Design Principles > 4. Password Recovery


• One of the most common reasons for customers to call the call center is because they have forgotten either their user name or password.


• It is essential to make the retrieval of these as easy as possible via the website or mobile device.

• A best practice in this regard is to send an email to the customer with the address in their profile and prompt them to click on that link to re-enter the website.

• Oftentimes this enables the customer to easily reset their password without having to call the call center.

USAA allows customers to have

a temporary password via email

or text message. They also

have the option to answer

Knowledge Base questions.

Design Principles > 5. Price & Comparisons


• While it may seem obvious, most customers will not make an online purchase without a seeing the price first.


• Ideally, customers want to see a side-by-side comparison of what they have now and the options for replacements.

• With some clients, their older systems are not at a point where they can present a price to the customer online.

• Unfortunately, this is a non-starter for the online channel to compete with others.

USAA customers are clearly

shown the price impact of

adding a teen driver before

purchasing.

Design Principles > 6. Plain Language


• Extra effort should be made to simplify the instruction text that is used on a self-service site.


• While some specialized terms are required by legal considerations, the customer should be able to quickly find in-line or contextual help to better understand what troublesome terms mean.

• This should be a particular focus during usability testing and with other user touchpoints.

Capital One 360 (formerly ING

Direct) offers contextual help in

plain language to help

customers link to other bank

accounts.

Conclusion


• While many of the design considerations mentioned above may seem like common sense, it is surprising how often they are ignored.

• Sometimes this happens because of pressure from leadership to provide more complex or compelling designs.

• It is important that the designers do everything possible to keep these transactions as easy to complete as possible.

• When we have been successful in doing so, customer satisfaction scores have indicated that did our jobs well.

Improved Usability


At Improved Usability, we are dedicated

to helping you delight your customers

whether your company sells services or

products.

We able to help you better understand

your customers needs and how best to

position your products or services in

their current workflow or lifestyle.

We also conduct usability testing for

current and new products or websites. Usability testing is typically

conducted in one-on-one sessions.

Self service design-principles

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