Abatement
Introduction
This project aimed to enhance the user experience for clients reporting their work hours and streamline the payment process through automation. Known as the abatement project, it represented a significant step towards improving the service efficiency within the self-service portal in MyACC.
Challenge and Opportunity
We identified an opportunity to provide clearer information and improve website navigation for our clients. By addressing these areas, we aimed to reduce the volume of support calls, enabling faster payments through automation. This initiative would not only benefit our clients but also allow our call centres to focus on more complex client needs, ultimately leading to smoother case handling and an improved overall interface.
Outcomes
While we initially lacked comprehensive analytics, the implementation of Microsoft Clarity provided valuable insights into our progress. Encouragingly, we observed a decrease in the number of users struggling to report their hours. This improvement highlighted the positive impact of our changes and also revealed areas for further enhancement, particularly in page navigation.
Research
To build upon previous design work, we engaged in a series of productive workshops with subject matter experts and business owners. These collaborative sessions helped us identify key areas for improvement, ensuring we met the needs of both frontline staff and clients. Additionally, we conducted insightful one-on-one user testing sessions, observing participants as they navigated our prototype. This hands-on approach provided invaluable feedback for refining our design.
Our research uncovered two primary challenges: difficulties in website navigation due to evolving platform usage, and insufficient information in forms. These findings provided a clear direction for our improvement efforts.
Design changes from feedback
While we recognised navigation as a crucial issue, we strategically prioritised improving the hour reporting process. This decision sparked important discussions about the broader redesign needs of the project, setting the stage for future improvements.
Stepper Header Improvement
We redesigned the stepper header to provide users with more comprehensive information about each page. This update offers clearer context about the form and the specific time period for hour entry, replacing the previous long, difficult-to-read heading with a more user-friendly format.
The comparison between the old (on the left) and new stepper designs (on the right) clearly demonstrates the improved clarity and information presentation in the updated version.
Enhanced Summary Page
Our updated summary page now prominently features the work hours submission process on the main page, significantly reducing user confusion. It provides a comprehensive overview of previously submitted hours and offers a convenient location for adding new workplaces. This redesign addresses the issues caused by the previous layout, where the summary page appeared later in the process.
The side-by-side comparison of the old (on the left) and new summary pages (on the right) highlights the improved user experience in the updated design.
Valuable Lessons and Future Directions
This project reinforced the importance of user-centric design and appropriate project scoping. Moving forward, we recognise the value of conducting thorough discovery phases to validate the necessity of proposed changes. Additionally, this experience highlighted the benefits of collaboration within the design team, demonstrating how seeking input from colleagues can broaden perspectives and lead to more innovative solutions.
In conclusion, this project successfully improved the user experience for clients reporting work hours and streamlined the payment process. Through collaborative research and thoughtful design updates, we addressed key issues in website navigation and form clarity. While we faced challenges in measuring the initial impact due to limited analytics, the subsequent implementation of Microsoft Clarity revealed positive trends in user behaviour. This project not only delivered immediate improvements but also laid the groundwork for future enhancements, demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement in serving our clients.