Mobility Renewals

A new self-serve mobility renewals experience

Client

TELUS Digital

Year

2020

Role

Product Designer

Following the closure of all TELUS stores during the pandemic, customers have increasingly resorted to contacting the call centre. This surge in calls has led to longer wait times for assistance. To offload calls, the My TELUS App team created a self-serve solution to renewing mobility plans.

Success Metrics

Within a 3-month timeframe, we aimed to offload renewal calls by 30%, drive pre-registration results with a 20% of digital results, and an overall digital share of 12% of renewals.

Research

Our research process started with setting a clear direction with these key questions we aimed to answer:

What challenges do users face when interacting with in-store, web, and call center experiences?
What entices an user to renew their mobility plans?
How do users currently navigate workflows in the My TELUS app?
What information do users need to know to make a decision?
What aspects of the in-store and call centre experience do users like?
Which service providers did users have before using TELUS?
What do users do when they know their plan is up for renewal?

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To answer these questions, we employed the following research approaches:

Stakeholder Interviews

Conducted interviews with cross-functional stakeholders from marketing, web experience, and call centers to gather perspectives and ensure alignment on the project’s goals.

Customer Surveys

Sent out surveys to identify user behavior patterns and preferences for in-store, web, or call center experiences, complementing the insights we have from user interviews.

User Interviews

Conducted interviews with users to understand their needs, challenges and preferences across the different touchpoints, helping us understand their overall user journey.

Data Analysis

Analyzed mobility renewal entry points and success rates throughout the billing cycle, comparing them to the performance of marketing campaigns. Also used this data to identify drop-off points in the current web experience.

VoC Analysis

Reviewed customer feedback from our feedback bot to uncover recurring themes and pain points.

Pain Points

Outdated Processes

In the past, it was common for customers to call the call center to access special mobility plans (retention plans), but this practice is no longer viable. Long wait times and lack of satisfactory offers often frustrated customers.

Lengthy Process

The web experience had multiple decision points, leading to information overload. Significant drop-offs occurred within the first two steps, particularly after selecting a phone and plan.

No Offers

The “Offers” section in the My TELUS app often remained empty, disappointing users who frequently tapped into it.

Key Insights

Based on the research I conducted, we were able to distill our findings into some key insights:

Users Prefer a More Guided Experience

Users value the guidance provided in-store and through call centres. The perception was that this information from a person provided personalized recommendations and helped them navigate information easier, empowering them to make decisions easier.
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Recommendations:

Display phone and plan recommendations based on the user’s current device and plan
Provide one primary recommendation with options for customization

Lack of Personalization

Users typically make a choice to renew their plan based on offers at the time, but find that the most marketed plans are directed to new customers. leaving existing customers feeling neglected.
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Recommendations:

Display personalized offers in the My TELUS App’s “Offers” screen

Device Loyalty

80% of users remain loyal to their current device operating system, often choosing the latest version of their existing device.

Recommendations

Use new phone launches to create personalized renewal offers
Send native notifications for pre-order sign-ups and updates, generating interest while marketing the renewal offer at the right time

Cognitive Overload

Too many steps and decisions in the web experience workflow cause users to feel overwhelmed, leading to drop-offs and choice fatigue.
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Recommendations:

Present essential information at each step, with drilldowns for additional details
Streamline the My TELUS App experience by bundling phone and plan recommendations

Users are Suspicious of Pricing

Users find pricing breakdowns unclear, particularly with device repayment, plan combinations, and "$0 upfront" options, fostering distrust in the company and its practices.

Recommendations:

Provide clear, concise pricing breakdowns
Provide necessary information at each step with optional drilldowns for more detailed information

Process &
Solution

Based on our insights and recommendations, I started to put some ideas together for the experience.

Ideation

Various ideas and layouts were explored through sketching. Brainstorm sessions with the cross-functional team were essential to create a cohesive experience across web and app platforms. Idea prioritization workshops were conducted to establish current and future implementation strategies.

Tools & Design Documentation

Early-stage wireframes and user journey maps were created in Miro to visualize and share concepts. Mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes in Sketch, were tested for usability.

Collaboration with Teams and Stakeholders

Collaboration was a critical component of this project, as we faced a tight deadline for the iPhone 12 launch. Aligning with Apple’s requirements added complexity, requiring regular touchpoints and close teamwork across product, engineering, GTM teams, marketing, and design.

Notifications and Offers

For the launch, push notifications prompted users to pre-register and later directed them to a Offers page. The Offers page was redesigned and was now structured in tiers to feature personalized pre-orders, bundles, and accessory deals. Insights from user research informed the decision to suggest the latest version of the user’s current device, making the process feel personalized and relevant.

Phone and Plan Selection

The phone and plan selection flow simplified decision-making by suggesting the latest version of the user’s current device and the most popular plan, while still allowing customization. While users could explore other options, this design reduced drop-offs by guiding them through the most straightforward choices.

Pricing Breakdown

The pricing breakdown addressed confusion by presenting clear payment details and allowing users to drill down for more specifics. This component was designed with variables in mind, like unpaid balances on previous devices or applied discounts. The design presented a clear breakdown of monthly payments, term lengths, and upfront costs, allowing users to see how adjustments affected the price. This transparent approach built trust and empowered our users to make decisions.

Results

During the first 3-day pre-registration period, the app achieved 16,000 pre-order registrations, surpassing the web’s 7,700 registrations. The 21% click-through rate (CTR) exceeded our target of 20%, demonstrating the success of our push and in-app notification strategy. This marked the first use of these methods at TELUS, prompting interest from other teams to adopt them for marketing initiatives.

Within a month, the renewals experience facilitated 200 successful renewals, achieving a 17% digital share—exceeding the initial goal of 12%. Additionally, call center inquiries decreased following the launch, though the overall impact was not fully measured before my departure, as results are typically reported annually.

Lessons Learned

The project highlighted valuable opportunities that shaped the results and guided my approach in the future

Importance of Cross-Functional Collaboration

This project highlighted the critical role of cross-functional teamwork and planning in ensuring success. Regular communication and active stakeholder involvement kept the project on track and aligned across teams. This experience shaped how I approach collaboration in future projects, emphasizing clarity and alignment from the start.

Multi-Channel Strategies

Improving the app experience alone wasn’t enough; leveraging external factors like push notifications significantly enhanced the project's impact. Although not initially in scope, recognizing and advocating for these opportunities allowed us to deliver a more cohesive user experience.

After Launch Improvements

At launch, we saw a big group of users start the experience, but we saw dropoffs after the pricing breakdown screen to the cart. While this could have been seen as a misstep of the design, further investigation revealed that the load times were quite significant, resulting in drop-offs. Quick iterative improvements were done after luanch from the design and engineering side to address these issues.