Creative Design Solutions
-
In my previous role, I worked for an organization that specialized in gifting. Users would receive a "Gift page" filled with options provided by their employer. They could select a gift, enter their address, and then wait for the gift to arrive, all at no cost to them.
In customer service, it's essential to track user inquiries, as each outreach reflects an underlying issue.
I collaborated with stakeholders, including the product team and gift suppliers, to identify and address these issues effectively.
While some factors impacting user experience, like carrier delivery times, were beyond our control, there were also controllable elements that needed further investigation.
-
During my first the Holiday Season, the majority of customer inquiries were related to tracking their gifts.
Initially, I assumed that impatient customers were reaching out, but my own experience with tracking revealed that the process was confusing.
The tracking link was located on the confirmation page, accessible only by returning to the original email. Many users assumed the link was no longer clickable after selecting their gift!
-
I analyzed ticket data and found that over 25% of inquiries were about the tracking link.
I noted user feedback explaining their confusion about the process.
I recorded my own experience searching for the tracking link, comparing my expectations to the actual process.
-
I presented the data I collected and advocated for the prioritization of this issue.
After receiving their gifts, recipients typically received an email asking about the condition of the item. I proposed using this same email mechanism to present the tracking link. This email would be sent one week after the recipients make their selection. It would automatically pull the tracking link from our internal system, where vendors input the tracking information, so users can know when to expect their gifts.
-
The tracking email provided an additional opportunity to set expectations. Recipients often contacted us to say their gifts were taking too long to arrive. Since we sourced items from various vendors, delivery times could vary. I worked with the Product team to include a message stating that delivery might take up to 14 days, encouraging recipients to reach out only after that period. This also reduced the volume of inquiries to Customer Experience.
This proactive approach helped manage customer expectations and decreased the number of tracking-related inquiries.
-
This was a rewarding project to work on because it showed me the power of good design. Our satisfaction score increased from 95% to 97% and our ticket volume decreased.
It emphasized the importance of data-driven decisions and cross-team collaboration.
One Step Further: Delight Through Anticipation
Proposed Enhancements:
I knew that we had average delivery times for each vendor, and each item was tagged with the corresponding vendor information. With this data in mind, I suggested implementing a pop-up message during the ordering process to inform recipients about estimated delivery times. For example, the message could say, “This product takes approximately 1 week to ship and will most likely arrive in time for Christmas.”
This way, if receiving a gift by or before Christmas was a user's top priority, they could choose a different item from their gift page that would arrive more quickly.
A thorough understanding of our product enabled me to make precise recommendations, while careful data collection helped prioritize necessary changes.
This rollout was effective because it was included in various thank-you messages and responses. Typically, less than 10% of people respond to emails requesting a satisfaction rating. Therefore, receiving multiple positive comments about the new feature was a significant highlight for me!
Through our first tracking link iteration we were able to satisfy users. With our second round of changes we were able to reach the emotional core of the problem and anticipate how users might want to solve it for themselves (picking a different item).
I firmly believe that cross-team collaboration leads to the most effective solutions, and I actively seek opportunities to work with different teams.
During the following year's holiday season, my manager and I analyzed feedback from the previous year's dissatisfied users to identify trends.
Since we addressed expectations about when to expect their gifts and provided users with the ability to track their orders themselves, we were left wondering who remained dissatisfied.
We discovered that dissatisfaction was not solely linked to defective gifts or the tracking links. It also stemmed from concerns about timely delivery for the holidays, with users particularly anxious about whether they would receive their items in time for Christmas.