additional case studies
USAA
MOBILE BANKING AND PERSONALIZATION
Business goal: revised customer retention strategy, servicing a newer, evolving segment with mobile banking, customer engagement strategy, new product and service offerings and personalization.
2016
New Z-Gen Customer Funnel
ROLE: CREATIVE PRODUCER ENTERPRISE UX
THE CHALLENGE
When member-based insurance provider USAA began creating its 3-year mobile and customer retention strategy around servicing a newer, evolving customer base, we began a process of research and cross-team efforts for developing mobile banking ads and personalization.
Role: Creative Producer, Enterprise UX.
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discovery
We gathered key performance metrics, pursued daily feedback from the marketing team and data analysts, re-defined the new customer personas and explored and tested various new paid and owned digital media channels.
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To gain a wider understanding and unbiased view on the product users; we measured both the quantitative and quality of experience. The combined methodologies are cyclical and iterative, so with Agile approach for example, we ran hypothesis testing, S&G and design validation phase concurrently with metrics reporting to gain a full picture.
DESIGN
SOLUTION
We combined metrics with revised user personas, prioritized issues and fed these reports into the next iterations or releases. We also applied updated technologies to the marketing teams data analytics applications.
Newer data analytics gave us a clearer picture of this segment, it’s customer journey, KPIs and behavioral metrics.
results
A simpler, one-step product-services search and personalized contextual ads within the mobile banking app resulted in greater mobile usage and reduced calls to customer service by 35% in the first few months.
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Through owned media, SEO, contextual ads and personalization, program marketing, and by creating a sense of tribal culture and customer feedback through social media – all contributed to growth and retention of the newer customer base.
SHARK DIVER
MARINE CONSERVATION TOURS
Business goal: Increase customer engagement by leveraging unpaid
marketing media channels.
challenge
Shark Diver LLC, a small specialty SCUBA dive operation wanted to minimize its digital marketing budget. The operation hosts a limited number of boat cabin spots for 1-5 days to and from various dive sites for eight weeks on the Mexico coast, six weeks in the Caribbean and 4 weeks in the Fiji Islands.
discovery
The current campaign that relied on social media, email, word of mouth and direct email was not filling the open spots quickly enough to justify advanced costs of operations; however the bigger challenges were: limited marketing budget during the operation’s early stages of growth, inability to secure full commitments in advance, at cost of around $3,000 for a 5-day trip; maintain the no-refund policy, and Major goals were three-fold – to maintain cost per new customer acquisition at almost zero, maintain cost per sustained customer at almost zero and to build a trusted brand around it’s fundamental mission of marine life conservation.
DESIGN
We created a digital marketing plan for maintaining almost-zero-cost marketing through content driven marketing, social media, partnerships with other dive operators and 2 marine life conservation programs; a new mobile app for checking availability and booking spots up to a year in advance; SEO/SEM, profiling the company’s core mission through stories, conservation blogs, and partnerships with other eco-tour and adventure diving operations. Results: For some market segments, the ‘tribal’ or emotional connection, convenience, the customer’s likelihood to commit to terms, and their ease of use/experience, often turn out to be the most effective draw for new customers.
results
Instead of selling a boat dive trip, we connected with them through community and sharing imagery, videos, and meaningful stories, as well as Increased exposure to a wider audience of scuba divers and those with a passion for endangered species and marine life conservation, since this was the true and sustainable market and the core mission of the company.
MANZAMA
ADD A WARM MESSAGE TO WELCOME VISITORS
Business goal: Create a hi-performance search and research platform that enables business professionals and researchers to query across multiple, high-density, industry-focused media streams.
2015
DATA DENSITY CONVERSION
ROLE: LEAD UX DESIGNER
THE CHALLENGE
Oregon-based start-up Manzama LLC wanted to enhance it’s new product performance and ease of use. for search across high density data, trade publications, relative cases, product defects and recalls, product studies, and professional journals.
discovery
We applied user-centered design principles and expertise to evaluate the customer journey, run usability testing; re-face / re-architect the primary user interactions.
We conducted user research and initiated a new round of user stories around redesigning the flow for categorizing, querying, and creating customized page views. She also redesigned the content organization for ease of use, to enable simplicity in displaying query results, improved readability and discoverability.
DESIGN
SOLUTION
Created new technical specs, product requirements and user stories around redesigning the flow for categorizing, querying, and creating customized page views. Redesigned content organization for ease of use, improved hierarchy and simplicity in displaying query results, improved readability and discoverability.
results
Vastly improved user flow, new responsive framework, new design system for maintaining continuity and brand, and greater ease of use in gathering, viewing and categorizing complex research data. The subscription-based model was released within a year of completing 100% of user-centered design requirements.
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nMetric
MANUFACTURE SCHEDULING
Business goal: Create a new platform for managing productivity, orders, workflow and scheduling in the manufacturing sector.
product hypothesis
ROLE: UX DESIGN LEAD
nMetric, going on its fifth year as a start-up was challenged with identifying and responding effectively to high-complexity product requirements, diversity of user roles, co-facilitation, production scheduling, and customer order tracking for it’s manufacturing industry clients.
discovery
We reviewed the company’s strategic plan, interviewed SMEs, product sales and engineering teams to define the core mission for the product. She brought the development team, BA’s and project managers together for mapping and storyboarding sessions to encourage collaboration and integrate UCD and Agile development.
DESIGN
In my role as UX designer, I spearheaded the heuristic analysis of the current product, with focus on the increasing transparency of primary actions, breaking down complexity of the scheduling decision, managing risk and uncertainty, and the ability of the scheduler to directly control the schedule.
Additional sales analytics lead to extending product usage perimeters to a wider set of personas, and validating a shift in application archetype from a simple timeline to a resources management and productivity focused workflow model,
RESULTS
Greater clarity of product and objectives and the consumer requirements, improved cross-team collaboration, a fresh visual design; commitment to design and style standards, new responsive-mobile framework, cyclical process to enable ongoing evolution and validation of the design; and extension of user personas from the one-dimensional shop floor manager to the plant managers, parts, procurement and order tracking, sales, customer service and strategic planning.
LAB CORP
HUMANIZING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Business goal: Expedite processing, delivery, and accessibility for lab test
results and improve the quality of patient care.
CHALLENGE
ROLE: UX Design Lead, UX Writer, Producer
Lab Corp, the nation’s largest provider of diagnostic laboratory services sought to expedite test results turnaround and productivity and integrate order entry, pathology and delivery systems, as well as decrease the patient wait time, typically 2-3 weeks.
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discovery
Through the initial interviews and feedback received from healthcare providers, doctors, pathologists, phlebotomists, and SMEs and in partnership with the product managers and business analysts, we established a company-wide collaborative effort for creating a full-cycle suite of integrated lab test results delivery system.
DESIGN
Within a year the UX design team grew from two to ten, and we established a collaborative-agile dynamic, which enabled representative users and subject matter experts to walk through and approve proposed concepts as well as join the design and development team conversations around requirements, user stories, goals and objectives. We also partnered with the user experience and integration teams at Microsoft and Microsoft HealthVault™ to design and implement and joint-creative vision for the patient portal experience.
Consulting
LabCorp was the first in its industry to create a full cycle, seamless system for medical lab test resulting through integrated tools for pathologists, for generating reports and billing; for healthcare provider order entry and results; and direct-to-patient electronic lab test results delivery. Pathology case productivity and ease of use was significantly improved, and as a result we drastically shortened the timeline from test order to delivery, and ultimately, the ability for healthcare providers and physicians to provide quality care to the patients they serve. LabCorp continues to evolve in it’s customer-oriented propositions, measure lifetime value, and monitor and strengthen it’s mobile customer relationships.
GOLDS GYM
ADD A WARM MESSAGE TO WELCOME VISITORS
Business goal: Expand the brand globally recruit new franchisees, provides acquisition as will as community and resources for optimizing facility operations.
branding operational best practices
Success metric:
Paperless application for potential new gym ownerships thereby reducing volume to call center operations by 100%
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Role: UX Designer collaborative effort with the Marketing team.
discovery
Research and create new methodology for promoting brand to potential new franchisees; streamlining the new franchise application process and also reduce the high call volume of new applicants. First we conducted interviews with the brand manager, franchise operations managers, general managers, and fitness consultants from better-performing Gold’s Gym facilities. These interviews established a basis for the franchisee onboarding experience and outlined the procedures ranging from club operations, to sales, to back office and hiring practices, to setting up fitness programs, marketing campaigns and retaining members.
DESIGN
A new self-guided portal site for potential new franchisees and owners, designed for scaleability. Initially it began as a secure online application wizard where those seeking a franchise could apply and submit relevant background and financial information. Later the site expanded to full-service space for all franchises and owners to access digital guides and manuals, operations standards and procedures, brand materials, annual conference info, and implement training programs through Gold’s Gym University.
results
The new intranet portal reduced the flood of calls to the operations group and became the benchmark of the organization’s franchise recruitment, resources and training programs, resulting in a pipeline of over three hundred gym facilities worldwide
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