Redesign of the in-house customer system ONYXX
ONYXX
The ONYXX program is a CRM customer service system developed by Semmie, where all data of Semmie customers is stored. While primarily used by the customer service department, other employees also utilize it. With an abundance of data and daily usage, this system forms an essential part of the operations.
Goal of the project
Although the current platform serves its purpose, users have adapted to its limitations and have devised specific workarounds to achieve their goals. Recognizing its suboptimal design, a decision has been made to undergo a redesign aimed at improving both the user experience and the user interface of the system.
Field research
The target group and their wishes
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the program itself and the issues users encounter during its usage, I conducted individual interviews to get to the core of the matter. I did this with the customer service team members, as the first step of optimization focused on the pages they interact with the most.
By involving the stakeholders early in the process, I gathered relevant information to start with.
Interview results
The combined key findings from the various interviews include:
/ Implementation of a more comprehensive transaction filter, enabling users to filter transactions by year, month, and transaction type, thus facilitating smoother navigation and analysis.
/ Defaulting the transaction filter to an open state, thereby eliminating the need for an extra click. This feature is expected to be frequently utilized.
/ Addition of a download button for transactions, giving users the option to easily export data for further analysis.
/ Redesign of activity buttons to enhance clarity, incorporating titles and descriptions to provide users with better insights without the need for additional clicks.
/ Retention of the current activity filter option, which presents all filters at a glance, ensuring accessibility and ease of use.
/ Streamlining of irrelevant filters, displaying only those relevant to the activities associated with the respective account.
/ Implementation of alphabetical order for improved navigation and organization.
/ Introduction of clear task assignees, distinguishing between tasks assigned to the customer or Semmie, ensuring accountability and clarity regarding task ownership.
/ Prioritization of open tasks associated with a user account, as they are considered critical components. Failure to complete these tasks would prevent account access, underscoring their significance.
Iterations
First iteration
Processing the received feedback. This resulted in a following iteration that was tested with the same individuals as the previous test. The feedback I received there is as follows:
/ The 'Activities' widget is added above the aforementioned widget. This provides more overview, with a central block containing all relevant information about the outstanding tasks, activities, transactions, and portfolio of the customer. Within this block, the outstanding tasks are prioritized, as indicated earlier, so they are placed at the forefront.
Additionally, a subdivision by months is added for clearer overview and structure amidst the abundant data. This makes it easier to scan at a glance while scrolling.
/ The goal information is reintegrated into the list on the left side. It has proven to be less relevant.
/ The transaction filter is developed, and all relevant filters are determined.
/ A filter is also added to the tasks tab, allowing customer service to filter tasks assigned to Semmie or the customer.
/ The portfolio tab includes the portfolio and the risk profile, ensuring that this information is always visible to customer service.
Following this, several more iterations ensued, and all optimizations were also implemented on the other pages, after which the first version of the product was launched.
Redesign
Redesigning with the existing components
After compiling all the gathered information, I started working on the redesign. Initially, the existing components were used, and in some cases, they were adjusted based on the received feedback. This way, I considered the layout, followed by specific adjustments. For example, the 'Status and Checklist' has been incorporated under a button, as it becomes less relevant over time. The chart showing the portfolio's progress is now included in the account overview, along with the outstanding tasks. Certain data has been consolidated to prevent it from becoming a long list of information, such as transactions.
Testing
The first redesign was tested with various stakeholders, including the product owner, art director, and customer service representatives. From this test, several pieces of feedback were received, as follows:
/ The widget featuring 'Outstanding Tasks' and 'Portfolio' tabs will be expanded. The following tabs will be added: 'Transactions' and the user's 'Investment Goal.'
/ Various data will still be displayed on the page, instead of being 'hidden' behind certain buttons. While this works well for the above elements, it is not desirable for user data.
/ Additionally, it was found that overlapping opening of different pages in the current design is not perceived as pleasant. Therefore, 'tabs' with the same functionality as internet tabs have been added.
Next stage of the project
Next steps
Afterward, I didn't stay inactive and continued with the project. I began by reorganizing the information architecture, contemplated the need for an additional environment where relationship managers could perform their tasks, delved deeper into certain UX components, and also addressed the UI.
Integrating the new UI design
UI design
In addition to the dashboard page for relationship managers (and for other users as well), the new UI design must also be implemented on the other pages. It has been chosen to consolidate and highlight certain components. Previously, components were somewhat scattered on the page, lacking hierarchy. This has been addressed by creating widgets.
Furthermore, the tabs that were previously used in the 'Activities' widget have become separate pages with more detailed information that is relevant to both customer service and relationship managers.
Dashboard for relationship managers
Start designing for the relationship managers
It's essential that the relationship managers can operate within the same portal as customer service and other departments. They don't need access to the entire customer database and all functionalities but are only interested in information about their own clients.
Discussions with various relationship managers resulted in the following findings:
/ A to-do functionality is crucial. We want to be able to assign to-dos for ourselves and for colleagues. It would be helpful if we could categorize them for better organization.
/ An agenda for appointments, so we can have everything neatly organized in one place.
/ Email functionality for communication with clients.
/ A filtering system to filter different types of to-dos, such as those for today or tomorrow. This, combined with an overview of other relationship managers' to-dos.
/ Client overview and outstanding tasks for respective clients.