Preface
This project achieved its goal of boosting stakeholder buy-in through UI concepts. Although it didn't progress beyond research before my time at Pikl ended, I chose to present it. It held substantial business potential, making the concepts and research worth sharing.
To disclaim, the preface section is everything done after the concepts were made.
Preface /
The problem
Pikl's customer support team faces challenges with an unsuitable policy admin system for short-term let insurance. They rely on inefficient workarounds, leading to human errors, low morale, and tedious tasks.
Research
In Pikl's agile startup nature, quick insights were essential. I conducted competitor analysis, researched admin interface best practices, used existing documentation, and collaborated with the product owner to shape major decisions for each concept screen.
Research /
Secondary research insights
Optimise for speed
It's fair to assume staff are familiar with internal interfaces, this provides room for multiple elements per page.
Don’t hide information or rely on interactions too much
A low cognitive load is ideal for external user interfaces. Yet, internal ones with low information density used daily may lead to issues.
Automate and optimise workloads through bulk actions
Automating data entry and manipulation will help to reduce repetitive tasks found in the existing policy admin system.
Side navigation is easier to scale
The current policy admin system's large and complex nature makes side navigation with its tree/folder structure the optimal choice.
Use building blocks with a consistent structure
Two user types in the support team: operational and reporting. A consistent structure enables personalised, connected interfaces.
Structure
Before digging into the visual iteration, various content blocks were created with existing proposed documentation (content architecture, stakeholder insights). This allowed me to discuss the best structural approach for the dashboard and navigation with the product owner.
Structure /
Visual exploration and iteration
Based on structural findings, I experimented with layout, colour, and typography to determine the ideal starting point based on user task priority. Why invest in visually exploring concept screens? The primary goal is to increase stakeholder buy-in, with two key factors for achieving it:
Aesthetically pleasing UI
Aesthetic design elicits a positive response and fosters the belief that it performs better. This belief is critical to swaying stakeholders.
Significant business impact
Visualising improvements in operating efficiency, error prevention etc. makes convincing a redesign's business impact much easier.
Final concepts
Customer support (top) and reporting (bottom) dashboards
Deciding what to include on the dashboard was challenging without full knowledge of business and user needs. Intuition and existing information guided the content and layout.
For Pikl, quotes drive revenue and are a common task for customer support. So, quote-related elements are prominently placed. Task management is also included for scalability, but it may be redundant if users have efficient existing methods.
A secondary dashboard for reporting users was needed based on the proposed requirements. Less time was invested due to fewer users. Nevertheless, demonstrating a consistent card structure for personalised interfaces was beneficial for stakeholders.
Final concepts /
New quote
Quick observations of the customer support team revealed that the quote process is not linear due to various contributing factors:
Customers change their minds
Calls could be lost
Team members might need to intervene
Considering these factors, a scrolling flow of steps felt natural for the quote process, reducing friction and allowing users to move freely. However, manually marking each step as completed was necessary to prevent accidental progression.
Another major improvement idea is a guiding script that follows users through the quote process, showing relevant content and reducing cognitive load, memory strain, and wasted time.
Final concepts /
Quote results
To align the customer-facing and internal quote process and reduce confusion, the quote results page aims for maximum similarity. However, necessary exceptions are made, such as adding customer details for reference.
Final concepts /
Customers
As of early 2023, Pikl's product lineup used a colour-code system for customers. The main idea for this page is to follow this system for filtering customers, but additional filters may be needed for scalability.
Final concepts /
Customer details
Designing this screen was challenging due to subjective information varying with contexts. Accuracy wasn't critical yet, but being convincing was important. The activity feed idea helps customer support track changes, pending validation through usage metrics and a desirability study.
Final concepts /
Animating details
Animation can be used as a tool to enhance the static design and communicate effectively. The following animations showcase how various design elements reinforce user interactions.
Closing thoughts
Closing thoughts /
What did I find challenging?
Conceptualising without primary research
Conducting extensive primary research wasn't necessary for the initial project goals but it made creating the concepts extra difficult.
Persuasive communication for stakeholders
Translating ideas without my usual process was hard. However, conducting secondary research helped support my points.
Finding existing research on similar internal legacy tools
Finding research on internal tools was tough due to their privacy, therefore I pieced together my findings for informed decisions.
Closing thoughts /
What would I have done differently?
Spend more time learning about Pikl's insurance niche
As a newcomer to insurance, I had knowledge gaps. I did my best to learn, but more time seeking insights would have been beneficial.
Disprove ideas more with alternatives
Modular cards were made early on. It may have worked well, but I would have invested more time to ensure it was in the right direction.
Avoid asking users about an idea's usefulness
Asking users if an idea was useful during concept presentation was the wrong approach. I later learned that observing them first is better.
