Reducing Call Friction Through a Unified Internal Platform
Crescent Bank
Financial Services
I owned the end-to-end design of Crescent's call service app, focusing on consolidating 5+ applications into one. This ended with an 87% adoption rate and cutting call time in half.
ROLE
UX/UI Designer (Research, strategy, branding, design)
DURATION
12 months
PLATFORM
Web
Overview
Crescent Bank services 15,000 customers nationwide, with a strong focus in being a Regional auto-loan lender for many sub-prime customers. Call service representatives (reps) were faced with outbound and inbound calls pertaining to auto-loan customers needing to make payments. This required a high volume of attention to detail and context switching, as there were always 5+ apps open on their screens to view data, take payments, and keep account info up-to-date, causing mental overload and giving way to human-error.
To address this, I designed from end-to-end Crescent's ConnectHub platform to make calls more efficient by streamlining relevant data, automating tasks, and consolidating 5+ apps into a single platform.
Overview
Crescent Bank services 15,000 customers nationwide, with a strong focus in being a Regional auto-loan lender for many sub-prime customers. Call service representatives (reps) were faced with outbound and inbound calls pertaining to auto-loan customers needing to make payments. This required a high volume of attention to detail and context switching, as there were always 5+ apps open on their screens to view data, take payments, and keep account info up-to-date, causing mental overload and giving way to human-error.
To address this, I designed from end-to-end Crescent's ConnectHub platform to make calls more efficient by streamlining relevant data, automating tasks, and consolidating 5+ apps into a single platform.
Finding Historical Problems
During a call, reps would pivot between speaking to the customer, completing manual tasks, maintaining interpersonal skills, and aiming to fulfill business goals. During the research stage, 4 main problems were identified:
1. Memory Overload
Reps had memory overload with remembering company and system knowledge, short-term and long because this changed almost every quarter with an update.
2. Context Switching, Always
Any call recording reviewed, or walking by their cubicles, you would see many apps, browser tabs, and sticky notes open on their monitors during phone calls.
3. Frequent Scrolling
A legacy platform contained pertinent call data and had to be scrolled through in order to find relevant information to answer questions and to gather a clear picture of the customer's situation.
4. Easy Human-Error
With pivoting so much between screens, apps, and calls, even seasoned reps had trouble with getting fatigued, leading to becoming prone to slip-ups, small and large.
Finding Historical Problems
During a call, reps would pivot between speaking to the customer, completing manual tasks, maintaining interpersonal skills, and aiming to fulfill business goals. During the research stage, 4 main problems were identified:
1. Memory Overload
Reps had memory overload with remembering company and system knowledge, short-term and long because this changed almost every quarter with an update.
2. Context Switching, Always
Any call recording reviewed, or walking by their cubicles, you would see many apps, browser tabs, and sticky notes open on their monitors during phone calls.
3. Frequent Scrolling
A legacy platform contained pertinent call data and had to be scrolled through in order to find relevant information to answer questions and to gather a clear picture of the customer's situation.
4. Easy Human-Error
With pivoting so much between screens, apps, and calls, even seasoned reps had trouble with getting fatigued, leading to becoming prone to slip-ups, small and large.
Impact of ConnectHub
High Adoption Rate
ConnectHub had an 87% SUS score for adoption rate from Collections Team managers and representatives.
Reducing Call Time
Call time was reduced nearly by 50% from automating manual tasks and streamlining data visualization.
Single Platform
From having 5+ applications and browser tabs open during calls to using a single platform.
First, Empathize and Prioritize
To gain buy-in for this app and keep an open line of communication, I included the stakeholders early by inviting them to an empathy workshop and prioritization meeting. This bridged the knowledge gap of what reps dealt with on a daily basis and what would truly help them accomplish business goals.
Empathy Workshop
Our target audience was the "Collections Team", who sought out late payments and made daily follow up calls. Understanding this team was paramount, as other teams executed similar tasks and had their calls funneled to them via the collections team. This workshop brought a more clear picture of needs, pain points, and aligning on the application vision for ConnectHub.
Call service rep User Persona asset
Real-life call recording example
Assume, Validate, Prioritize
After understanding our target audience, an Assumptions Workshop was ran to identify assumed features and needs of the Collections Team, then was validated with the reps if we were on the right track. Below shows the prioritized assumptions:
Prioritization matrix of validated features
First, Empathize and Prioritize
To gain buy-in for this app and keep an open line of communication, I included the stakeholders early by inviting them to an empathy workshop and prioritization meeting. This bridged the knowledge gap of what reps dealt with on a daily basis and what would truly help them accomplish business goals.
Empathy Workshop
Our target audience was the "Collections Team", who sought out late payments and made daily follow up calls. Understanding this team was paramount, as other teams executed similar tasks and had their calls funneled to them via the collections team. This workshop brought a more clear picture of needs, pain points, and aligning on the application vision for ConnectHub.
Call service rep User Persona asset
Real-life call recording example
Assume, Validate, Prioritize
After understanding our target audience, an Assumptions Workshop was ran to identify assumed features and needs of the Collections Team, then was validated with the reps if we were on the right track. Below shows the prioritized assumptions:
Prioritization matrix of validated features
Defining Room For Improvement
With assumptions validated and prioritized, we decided to focus on:
Call flow structure and fluidity
Data visualization and relevance
Simplifying manual tasks
Defining Room For Improvement
With assumptions validated and prioritized, we decided to focus on:
Call flow structure and fluidity
Data visualization and relevance
Simplifying manual tasks
Call Flow Structure and Fluidity
We had a goal to maintain and keep to the general call flow of Inbound and Outbound calls being made:
Validation and Demographics
In order to maintain call flow structure and provide fluidity, I designed a modal with relevant information of the calling customer that would show immediately upon call initiation.
Upon verifying the customer, if demographics in the main system was not up-to-date, then the rep would be redirected to the customer's contact page to confirm in-house system info about the caller.
Lastly, to provide flexibility to reps needing to quickly progress through the call, an alert prompted inside the Contact Information page and on the left-side navbar as a reminder to update this information before ending the call.
Call Flow Structure and Fluidity
We had a goal to maintain and keep to the general call flow of Inbound and Outbound calls being made:
Validation and Demographics
In order to maintain call flow structure and provide fluidity, I designed a modal with relevant information of the calling customer that would show immediately upon call initiation.
Upon verifying the customer, if demographics in the main system was not up-to-date, then the rep would be redirected to the customer's contact page to confirm in-house system info about the caller.
Lastly, to provide flexibility to reps needing to quickly progress through the call, an alert prompted inside the Contact Information page and on the left-side navbar as a reminder to update this information before ending the call.
Data Visualization And Relevance
Call service reps were facing issues in scrolling up-and-down to find relevant call data, causing a loss of time and causing pauses during calls as the search for answers occurred.
Prioritizing Repeatedly Used Data
Within ConnectHub, I leveraged UX navigation best practices and the "Separation of Concern" approach to not clutter the main Account Overview page.
To prevent pauses during the phone call because of searching for relevant data, the Account Overview page was the main "hub" for all repeatedly used and referenced account details during phone calls.
Data Shown at the Right Time
In helping reps have data shown at the proper times during calls, such as when recovering past due payments - reps would have to ask why a customer fell behind and recite an authorization disclosure before submitting a payment, this information would only be shown based on the current call step to keep the rep within ConnectHub and prevent any human-errors.
Data Visualization And Relevance
Call service reps were facing issues in scrolling up-and-down to find relevant call data, causing a loss of time and causing pauses during calls as the search for answers occurred.
Prioritizing Repeatedly Used Data
Within ConnectHub, I leveraged UX navigation best practices and the "Separation of Concern" approach to not clutter the main Account Overview page.
To prevent pauses during the phone call because of searching for relevant data, the Account Overview page was the main "hub" for all repeatedly used and referenced account details during phone calls.
Data Shown at the Right Time
In helping reps have data shown at the proper times during calls, such as when recovering past due payments - reps would have to ask why a customer fell behind and recite an authorization disclosure before submitting a payment, this information would only be shown based on the current call step to keep the rep within ConnectHub and prevent any human-errors.
Simplifying Manual Tasks
During every call, reps wrestled with having to manually enter information into Crescent's main system to keep accounts up-to-date and relevant. Through ConnectHub, these tasks were automated, saving time and less context switching.
Automating Manual Note-Taking
Reps would use pre-made templates and manually jot down call notes during calls, then manually copy-paste their notes into the main system after the call.
To remove this step, I worked closely with the developers to make sure call notes were able to be automated into the main system, then I designed a Call Summary page for reps to review all call notes auto-created during the call before submitting.
Simplifying Manual Tasks
During every call, reps wrestled with having to manually enter information into Crescent's main system to keep accounts up-to-date and relevant. Through ConnectHub, these tasks were automated, saving time and less context switching.
Automating Manual Note-Taking
Reps would use pre-made templates and manually jot down call notes during calls, then manually copy-paste their notes into the main system after the call.
To remove this step, I worked closely with the developers to make sure call notes were able to be automated into the main system, then I designed a Call Summary page for reps to review all call notes auto-created during the call before submitting.
My Reflections
Empathy Increased
Call service roles are one of the hardest roles to be in. As I reviewed recordings, these reps have to deal with a lot from people and legacy tooling. An app like ConnectHub would improve their daily work and efficiency, lessening their mental load and stress.
Include Devs & Stakeholders, Fast
Working closely with these individuals helped me understand technical constraints, plus bringing ideas and knowledge I didn't have. This fueled my designs and feature creation, while aligning all of us in building a strong platform for the call service reps.
Recognize and Take Action
After seeing the call service reps' daily pain points, I decided to take action. These reps felt undervalued because their tools caused a heavy mental load, making a problem that was left unattended for years. However, ConnectHub was the start to the paradigm shift.
Next Steps
Gamification Via Leaderboards
While speaking with the call service managers, every single one mentioned how their employees lose motivation after getting docked during Quality Assurance reviews.
There were incentives for those at the top rankings of their teams, but the reps had no idea where they ranked until the end of their day.
A way to prevent this would have been to add a leaderboard to gamify their experience, helping with real-time ranking updates and promoting some friendly competition for real-time incentivization, since making calls can become repetitive and boring from day-to-day.
My Reflections
Empathy Increased
Call service roles are one of the hardest roles to be in. As I reviewed recordings, these reps have to deal with a lot from people and legacy tooling. An app like ConnectHub would improve their daily work and efficiency, lessening their mental load and stress.
Include Devs & Stakeholders, Fast
Working closely with these individuals helped me understand technical constraints, plus bringing ideas and knowledge I didn't have. This fueled my designs and feature creation, while aligning all of us in building a strong platform for the call service reps.
Recognize and Take Action
After seeing the call service reps' daily pain points, I decided to take action. These reps felt undervalued because their tools caused a heavy mental load, making a problem that was left unattended for years. However, ConnectHub was the start to the paradigm shift.
Next Steps
Gamification Via Leaderboards
While speaking with the call service managers, every single one mentioned how their employees lose motivation after getting docked during Quality Assurance reviews.
There were incentives for those at the top rankings of their teams, but the reps had no idea where they ranked until the end of their day.
A way to prevent this would have been to add a leaderboard to gamify their experience, helping with real-time ranking updates and promoting some friendly competition for real-time incentivization, since making calls can become repetitive and boring from day-to-day.
Interested In Learning More?
Interested In Learning More?
Connect with me on LinkedIn or email to start seeing how we can work together.
