Siren
Wide-scale user research, product consulting, MVP design and UX/UI for an innovative call centre web app.
Project team:
- Alex Minkaczuser research, product consulting, MVP design, UX & UI design
- Mark Mirasolback-end and front-end development
- Hunter Baileyclient, product owner
- The client’s BPO teamindispensable input
The challenge
Our journey begins in the Philippines, where a young entrepreneur from Texas decided to outsource his call centre team.
His company specialises in lead generation for the insurance industry, especially car and home insurance. His automated system can find the best deals available, reach out to appropriate prospects in the U.S., and get them in touch with specially selected insurance companies.
Why Philippines? As you may know, the country is famous for its low cost of labour and a high number of people with near-native command of English. That sounds like a perfect opportunity for many BPO businesses, especially those who work for U.S. clients.
The client’s team worked on an old-school, open-source system called Vici Dial. It’s a very solid piece of software, but the interface left a lot to be desired.
The client had a far-reaching vision for how the company should evolve.
But first, they needed an interface that works with the agents, not one that works against them. Something that can make use of Vici Dial’s great back-end and engine, but with a better UX and increased job productivity.
The solution
User research
I carried out several in-depth interviews with the whole team, spanning all levels of the company hierarchy.
I evaluated the interface using appropriate usability heuristics.
I also carried out contextual interviews along with usability tests.
These three methods unearthed many opportunities for improving the experience of everyone that uses the system, along with all the relevant KPIs.
Product & brand consulting
I then spent a considerable amount of time with the CEO/Product Owner. I confronted his input with the team’s input and the research results.
Can you imagine the monthly cost of 500 missclicks that terminate calls instead of forwarding them to your affiliate partners?
How about situations in which agents don’t remember what to say because something distracted them?
We focused the MVP feature list on pain points like this, but we also noticed an interesting opportunity: this software could easily earn money by itself in a SaaS model. Most call centre software is barely usable and this space is in bad need of innovation!
Modeling & sketching
Most designs start from sketches, and this one isn’t different. The more complex the project, the more sketching, planning and modeling make a difference.
UX & UI Design
Who says that back-office software has to look corporate, complicated and boring?
We decided to go the other way.
The web app I designed was a hit with the BPO team. It saved them time, nearly eliminated missclick errors, and helped them become better at their job every day through an integrated, gamified achievement system.
Evolving and expanding
There was a second stage to this project, one that solves an important problem.
How do you make use of a workforce that speaks good English, but still has some Filipino accent that gives away the whole operation?
Well, who says they have to use their own voice?
This edition of the software uses pre-recorded messages spoken by a native speaker of American English. The user clicks the mouse to play the appropriate audio message to the phone line. Or they can use a keyboard shortcut. The system also includes filler words (“umm”) and interjections (“wow!”, “aha!”).
Advanced call options
All versions of the system also have advanced call management functionality. It has been user-tested to make sure that everything stays clean and usable.
Would you like to learn more about this project?
I’ll be happy to share the whole story – get in touch.
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Wide-scale research, digital strategy, branding, creative direction, web design and UI design for a real estate developer.
“He’s a fantastic listener and communicator. He really understood our needs and documented them all out for us to see.”
Hunter Bailey
CEO
Siren
“Simply one of the best, most rounded and helpful designers I’ve had the privilege of working with.”
Phil Lewis
Managing Director
Corporate Punk
“Alex was a pleasure to work with. He is pro‑active, creative, passionate and thorough in his design approach.”
James Lahren
CEO
PerformX
“He is a very precise, highly professional expert. He adapted very swiftly to our needs and proposed well structured solutions.”
Gyorgy Folk
Editor-in-chief
Civil Liberties Union for Europe