Overview
This project case study provides a summary of the steps I took to redesign the software application know as RMS. "RMS" is an outdated application used by T mobile employees to process transactions, view customer bills, and add features to customer accounts. Many employees are finding difficulty navigating through RMS to assist customers.
Problem Statement
T-Mobile sales reps are not able to perform their tasks efficiently due to tedious and lengthy steps in addition to the platform being very slow. The longer it takes employees to complete a task the longer it will take that employee to service a mobile customer.
Potential Solutions
Reduce the steps required to complete a task while working with engineers to attempt to increase the speed of the system.
Challenges
Finding the balance between too many steps and simplification
Increasing the speed of the system is reliant on engineering resources
Redesigning a system without a drastic learning curve
Personas
I created 2 personas based on the feedback from the interviews to represent 3 different user types. Each persona helped with recognizing the different needs and expectations the users of RMS have.
I decided to make a persona for an individual in the sales rep role and an individual in the management role. I did this because the goal of a sales rep when using RMS is different from that of a manager and vice versa. Sales reps have a much more hands on experiecne than managers thus their frustration would be more related to RMS as a application where as a managers frustrations would be more towards the effect RMS being slow and outdated has on transaction speeds and customer satisfaction
Affinity Map
By utalizing an affinity map I was able to summarize the main pain points of users gathered from my research. The reocurring frustration were
The layout is very cluttered and non user friendly
It is easy to get lost/not know what step in the process you are in
There are too many steps involved to complete even the simplest of task
User Flow
This user flow lays out an RMS user’s movement through the software. It maps out each and every step the user takes; from entry point right to the final interaction. The purpose of creating this diagram was to discover which flows would be more frequently used and identify areas where the flow of RMS could be changed and improved.
Wireframes
I created multiple wireframes to confirm whether or not my design was headed in the correct direction. I had many ideas that I initially thought were a great choice to add to my design. After wireframing, I realized that those ideas were not practical and could cause usability issues. I learned what worked for my design and what didn't before having to invest a lot of time and resources.
Home Page
With the previous system, when a user logged in the fist thing they saw was a new customer application. This of course is no help to a user who wants to assist a customer with purchasing accessories, for example. With the new design my goal was to make easily accessible the most important tasks users expected to complete within a given day.
Customer Account Page
I wanted to tackle the convoluted layout of the previous design. The user was greeted with too much information which could be jarring for new users of the system. They were confused on where to begin or what they were even looking at. With my redesign I wanted to simplify the layout and create clear call-to-actions while trying to add more of a visual appeal.
Feature Select Page
The feature select page is a derivative of the previous customer log in page. In the previous design it was a small section that contributed to the confusing layout. In the new design I made it a separate page to provide users the information in a more easily digestible format. By doing this it will enable employees to complete their task more efficiently. An example of how this new design improves the interaction between employee and customer is the added transparency of how changes made here could potentially increase or decrease a customers bill.
All Screens
Below are all screens for this redesign
Takeaways
In my initial prototype I included elements that weren't indicative of what a user of this system would actually see. An example of this were the inclusion of images of customers once an account has been verified and accessed. As aesthetically pleasing as it may be, the need for pictures of customers are not only unnecessary but also unrealistic.
The impact product design can have on day to day employee satisfaction.
There are many ways to achieve the same result of improving a system and although this may be one of them. I understand there is still room for improvement or alternative directions I could have taken.