Problem Resolution and Online Chat

Quote: "I'll do everything possible not to talk on the phone." -Dean, User Testing Feedback 2012

Mapping out the customer journey, based on our customer research; butcher paper required!

An ecosystem document, which combines elements of the customer journey, guiding principles and concepts, helping to communicate findings,  themes and insights to our stakeholders.

Our customer research helped us update our personas, providing context to our customers' triggers, attitudes and behaviors for resolving their issues. 

A "How Might We" concepting session with the team, using the insights and guiding principles from the discovery phase of the project .

Scenarios and storyboards helped to refine and communicate concepts to stakeholders.

Testing the chat prototype, which empowers customers and enables easy communication between customers and care agents with the use of the camera and texting images.

An interactive prototype (made with Keynote), used in testing to simulate chat on a mobile device.

One of four sessions with customer care agents, to help the team understand their process, operational considerations, and to validate/invalidate our concepts.

A service blueprint to document a future state of the support process and the impact of cross channel chat.

Problem
As DIRECTV products and services have become more complex, executive leadership identified a need to better understand the customer experience as it relates to support and care when problems arise (technical, billing, programming, etc.). At the end of our initial phase, online chat was identified as an opportunity that would have immediate, positive impact on the customer experience; then, the problem became more focused. Online chat had been traditionally viewed as a single channel and text based tool for customer support, focused on acquisition, rather than support for current customers. additionally, we found that the burden of problem resolution relied on the customer, creating an inconvenient and frustrating experience.

Goal
In the initial phase, the goal was to understand and define the customers’ problem resolution processes holistically and across touchpoints. This would serve to A) help build customer empathy across the enterprise B) provide a framework and vocabulary to be used for future work and C) identify opportunities for new products and services. After identifying online chat as a top priority, the goal was to concept, prototype and test a solution that went beyond customer expectation. The solution needed to provide a convenient and easy way to help customers solve their problems, speaking to the pain points and guiding principles identified in the first phase of the project.

Approach
For the initial phase, we conducted a variety of activities to understand the problem space. We conducted a diary study and follow up in-home sessions with new customers and remote interviews with 1 year+ customers to understand their process. We also went on ride-alongs with technicians and listened to customer support calls, which helped the team experience what happens during these touchpoints first-hand, and gain a point of view from both the customer and frontline staff. Through a variety of synthesis activities, we developed customer journeys, guiding principles, and an updated set of personas. For the prototyping phase, we developed a set of scenarios and storyboards that outlined key chat experiences, after which our process was twofold: customer and operational. For the customer experience, we prototyped and tested our solution, iterating as we received feedback. Understanding the operational aspects of implementing chat and its impact on the customer experience was also crucial. We conducted a variety of brainstorming and feedback sessions with frontline staff customer care teams, to understand their process and help us validate/invalidate our concepts.

Outcome
We delivered a cross channel online chat strategy, with a set of detailed customer focused and operational recommendations, which our stakeholders used to guide requirements, implementation and future initiatives for customer support. Online chat has successfully launched and the company has seen increases in customer satisfaction as a result. From a process and tools perspective, this was the first time we developed storyboards, which were an extremely effective tool that we continue to use, and that others throughout the company have since adopted. We also initiated a working relationship with frontline staff, helping us gain a more holistic view of the customer experience, and we continue to collaborate with them on other projects.