Create a holistic experience where content is open and conversational in tone, where the system is pro-active in its drive to solve user needs and is brought to life by an architecture that simplifies the tasks at hand.
Problem Statements
- Inconsistent user experience due to complex and diverse infrastructure
- Poor discoverability limiting the customers’ ability to quickly reach the right resolution
- Limited ability to resolve wider number of incidents online leads to elevated call volume
- Limited ability to adopt a more proactive and contextual self-service approach due to current technology infrastructure
- Limited ability to broaden appeal to wider customer segments due to legacy tools and content strategy
Project Objectives
- Increase accessibility of content beyond the desktop
- Increase relevancy/personalization of Support Site to users
- Increase the online support web site share of total support resolution from X% to Y%
- Meet the needs of a wider, less technical customer audience
- Enable customers to help one another via relevant and effective social mediums
Project Research & Insights
Primary Research
- User surveys
- Site metrics
- User testing
- Past usability studies
- Heuristic site evaluation
3rd Party Resources
Competitive analysis
Comscore Wave II & III studies
- Association of Support Professionals annual reports
- Quantcast data sets
Personas
Spectator
“I am passionate about gaming. It is about being able to
escape to another world.”
Demographics
Age:
25-40
Marital Status:
Single
Household:
Lives with roommate
Digital Comfort:
Super User
Devices/Gaming:
XBOX 360, PS3 / 16 Hours per week
Games:
Usually whatever the latest buzz is among his friends, Xbox community
Psychographics
Support Role:
Do it myself
Support Approach:
Support then forums
Domain Knowledge:
Knows Exactly
Social Role:
Joiner, Listener
Creator
“Gaming is my life. It is about sharing the latest title with my friends.”
Demographics
Age:
13-24
Marital Status:
Single
Household:
Lives at home
Digital Comfort:
Super User
Devices/Gaming:
XBOX 360, PSP / 24 Hours per week
Games:
Usually whatever the latest buzz is among his friends, Xbox community
Psychographics
Support Approach:
Forums then site
Social Role:
Critic, Creator
Domain Knowledge:
Knows Exactly
Support Role:
Do it myself
Collector
“I enjoy games and see it as entertainment.”
Demographics
Age:
18-34
Marital Status:
Single
Household:
Lives with partner
Digital Comfort:
Comfortable
Devices/Gaming:
XBOX 360, Wii / 4-6 Hours per week
Games:
Usually whatever the latest MMO or RPG is among her friends, Xbox community
Psychographics
Support Approach:
Support site, Call a friend
Social Role:
Joiner, Collector, Critic
Domain Knowledge:
Knowledgeable
Support Role:
Wants to learn
Heuristics Analysis
Firefox
Key Findings
- Firefox support is built and written in its entirety by the community of users
- Possesses extensive feedback capabilities all layered in a great way so that abundance of choice does not hinder participation
- Landing page utilizes a combination of search and surfaced popular articles / tasks to guide users towards a resolution
- Search UI on the landing page is excellent, as it is prominent, hints at popular topics, and utilizes color to act as its anchor.
How to Incorporate
- Leverage more fully the forum community to help solve support issues
- Allow user to post feedback that goes beyond ratings such as open ended comments
- Create a landing page that addresses both expert and non-expert users
- Utilize color to help users locate search UI throughout experience
Steam
Key Findings
- Even though a little deep, there well defined taxonomy allows user to glide through the level effortlessly
- Article lacked the media to make it engaging and had no feedback mechanism
- There was no other content types besides articles, no solution wizard.
- Expectation around case management are not met.
How to Incorporate
Surface taxonomy where possible to allow expert users to browse to solutions
Ensure that repair process information is clearly communicated prior to start and that important information like cost is surface and persistent throughout
Netflix
Key Findings
- Support content is behind the firewall and not accessible unless users login
- Support content consist of only FAQs and emphasis seems to be on routing an issue to the call center
- Support was very heard to find both due to poor surfacing of menu item and very poor labeling
How to Incorporate
- Ensure that majority of support resources and content is not behind a barrier/firewall (login)
- Create a new taxonomy that is flatter and is surfaced
Intuit
Key Findings
- Each product line has its own interface and structure
- Landing page headers are not clickable, requiring subtext "Learn More" links
- Content is easy to understand, but text-driven without screenshots or images
- Search results are either "Recommended Answers" or "More Answers." There is no way to refine results by category, helpfulness rating, or published date.
How to Incorporate
- Structure the experience to support a context and task taxonomy
- Ensure that content articles utilize rich media including video, images and diagrams where appropriate.
- Ensure that users can filter search results by trending and/or most popular
Amazon
Key Findings
- Support is self-service through search or browsing by topic. All sections and buttons are very clearly labeled to enable the user to find content quickly
- Search UI is excellent, and results are shown in a prominent, consistent manner with rich metadata like article hierarchy, headline, and summary.
- Surprisingly doesn't use ratings or feedback systems for articles.
How to Incorporate
- Create a landing page that addresses both expert and non-expert users
- Ensure that users can filter search results by trending and/or most popular
- Ensure that content articles provide users with an easy way to provide feedback
Apple
Key Findings
- Visually-driven selection model requires an initial product or service selection before linking to deeper subsections.
- Content is easy to find and read, due to a step-by-step, uncluttered approach with limited use of design elements and flourishes
- Global search uses auto-complete suggestions and product icons to help user find content
- Landing page is best-in-class, with site-wide consistency, and highlighted repair section that is not alarmist
How to Incorporate
- Incorporate the use of visually driven device selection as a way to facilitate context selection by users
- Enhance where possible content articles to utilize a more wizard approach to increase clarity of content and instructions
- Ensure that the homepage addresses both expert and non-expert way in a clean and uncluttered way
Nintendo
Key Findings
- Search is very basic, with results in an uncategorized list, making it difficult to browse additional, similar content.
- Content feels lengthy, despite callouts in red and multiple links to additional information.
- No content rating or sharing tools.
- Inconsistent navigation between product lines can be jarring to a user.
How to Incorporate
- Ensure that users can filter search results by trending and/or most popular
- Ensure that search results are consolidated and include both EDOS and user-generated content
- Ensure that content articles provide users with an easy way to provide feedback
- Ensure consistent navigation across the entire device family
PlayStation
Key Findings
- Articles are easy to find, but a new search or return to main page is needed to browse a different articles.
- No apparent search but persistent side navigation links to product main pages exist
- Content uses a trouble-shooting approach; many with videos animations. However, those with animations are not identified as such, so user can be surprised with either flash or static content result
How to Incorporate
- Ensure that context is known and that breadcrumb trails allow user to browse back to a specific step or section
- Ensure that search results are consolidated and include both EDOS and user-generated content
- Ensure that content articles not only use rich media but clearly label those assets as such so that user expectations can be met