Client Portal
3 Months
Challenge
“How might we provide clients with the knowledge and support needed to manage their credit & marketing programs on time?”
Measurement
”We’ll know we’re successful when we see a reduction of client managers’ time spent tracking issues and responding to program inquiries.”
My Contributions
Business strategy, research planning, user observation, user interviews, data synthesis, UX strategy, personas, scenarios, user flows, KPI definition, and UX project manager.
User research helps us understand people, processes, and tools, and uncover their needs.
I led a small team through user interviews and observation, uncovering a pretty common theme: clients and client managers alike were spending all of their time chasing down each other for basic information instead of working on strategies to improve credit programs.
Research shows the biggest problem to solve is a lack of timely collaboration.
“I’m driving a speed boat. You guys are trying to turn the Titanic.”
Clients have access to reporting data but don’t know how to leverage it to create actionable insights.
Clients and client managers alike often don’t know who to turn to for answers when resolving issues.
Client managers often schedule meetings to clarify data points, which extends timelines.
Personas and strategy keep designers focused on client goals and their desired outcomes.
Using the research as a basis, I created artifacts to keep the team aligned on how to design. With client & client manager personas and a UX strategy, project collaborators can focus on the overlap of user and business goals to achieve maximum value for everyone!
Experience maps outline the client touchpoints when resolving program issues.
+ Confirms with stakeholders how the system should work at a high level.
User flows then identify each step of the touchpoint and how clients complete tasks.
+ Informs content structure and helps developers communicate potential issues.
My Take
I think it’s important to sketch ideas at the beginning of design iterations (there will be plenty of time to worry about pixel-perfect spacing in Sketch and Figma, later). Early on when you’re sharing ideas and revising concepts, low-fidelity works great!
Sketches break down each user flow step into data points and design patterns.
+ Helps ensure content hierarchy and identifies major layout concerns.
Wireframes and prototype testing ensures clients can communicate and complete tasks effectively.
My final contribution to the project was establishing a visual design and performing usability testing on critical user tasks. As with all ADS UX projects, we iterated on key user flows and UI design until all users recorded a 100% successful task completion rate.
Impact
Eventually, the Client Portal would be built in Salesforce as part of a larger client self-service platform. To date, over 25 client organizations have transitioned to the platform, and the team continues to identify opportunities for improvement.
Clients respond to strategy changes 2 days (est.) faster than before
Recurring status meetings reduced by over 50%
ADS internal client support operations cost reduced by +12%