The Survey App

The Problem & Challenge

AT&T had recently acquired DIRECTV during this project, but stores were primarily showcasing AT&T products. Our director, Mark, tasked us with finding a way to promote DIRECTV offerings and inform customers about the acquisition. Mark also noticed that the in-store wait times were longer than normal, and customers appeared dissatisfied with the customer service. He tasked each of us to come up with a solution to improve customer service and promote DIRECTV products in-store. Each team member was to create a presentation within a few days.

To generate ideas for enhancing the in-store experience, I began by researching customer dissatisfaction with their store visits. Due to time constraints, I couldn't conduct in-store interviews, so I turned to Yelp reviews from nearby company-owned stores. The reviews revealed numerous poor ratings, with customers reporting excessive wait times of 40 minutes to an hour for basic tasks like bill payments.

Personas

I created 4 different Personas based on the in-store reviews and I separated personas based on overlapping reasons customers came into the store.

A Solution

Now that I had validated that there are customers unhappy with their in-store experience, I wanted to come up with a solution. I began to think about how kiosks at airports help expedite the check-in process and research further.

An article I found highlights that major stores like Bloomingdale's and Zara have incorporated kiosks to "quickly answer sales associate or customer questions about available sizes and alternate colors, as well as providing reviews and ratings by other customers."

The benefits of using kiosks include providing faster service, increasing sales, improving accuracy, offering incentives for customers to sign up for rewards, and being very affordable.

Kiosks provide “a wealth of information about who's shopping in their store, when, and what exactly they're seeking. This, in turn, enhances the shopping experience by allowing retailers to schedule staff accordingly, cross-promote products, ensure necessary stock is available, and further refine the customer experience."

Based on my experience with kiosks and research, creating a kiosk-like survey could significantly enhance the customer experience and help promote TV products in our AT&T stores.

Competitive Analysis

Through my research, I found that Sprint stores have begun using a kiosk system called Qminder. For more information about Qminder, you can visit their website. Since our competitor is already using this system, we need to differentiate our product and give it a competitive edge over Qminder. Below, I have listed the features Qminder offers along with additional features we could incorporate.

Sketches

Wireframes

I designed my wireframes to fit an iPad screen, enabling customers to interact with the iPad while waiting and moving around the store.

Based on our Competitive Analysis, I included the following elements in the survey:

  • To encourage participation, I created an incentive for a chance to win free DIRECTV for a year.

  • Ask how we can assist the customer. Knowing this allows us to categorize customers into different queues, improving efficiency and reducing wait times, which is a significant issue.

  • Provide alternatives to canceling their contract, helping to retain customers and save time by preventing store representatives from repeating information.

  • Inquire about the services customers currently have and their interests. Understanding our competition and target audience is crucial.

  • Include a sizzle reel feature to entertain waiting customers and give them a chance to experience our TV services.

  • Suggest trying out other products in the store, which can help promote our DIRECTV offerings.

This is the high fidelity design using images from our sports apps and the most famous TV shows that DIRECTV features such as Game of Thrones. Since our research showed people dissatisfied with the wait time, our survey app will also feature a timer that counts down the approximate wait time so that users can feel more in control of their time and entertain themselves.

Visual Design

In 2017, my Director, Mark Shurgot, assigned our team the task of improving the in-store experience. After visiting several AT&T stores, he noted that customer experience needed enhancement and that awareness of DIRECTV products was low. Our challenge was to promote DIRECTV products while simultaneously enhancing in-store customer service.

My Role

My role was to use the user-centered design process (UX) to develop a solution for this proof-of-concept project.

Tools

Pen and Paper (Story Boarding), Omnigraffle & Illustrator (Wireframes), Adobe Photoshop CC (UI Design).

Research On A Tight Deadline…