Streamlining Customer Service Through Intelligent Dashboard Design

Project Overview

Client: United Airlines
Duration: February 2018 - December 2018
Role: Lead UX Designer
Team: Collaborated with 2 UI designers, 4 developers, and United's customer service leadership

Business Challenge

United Airlines' customer service operations faced significant business challenges:

  • Extended Resolution Times: Customer service agents spent an average of 12 minutes per case navigating between 13 different legacy systems, resulting in approximately 240,000 hours of lost productivity annually

  • Training Complexity: Onboarding new agents required 4 weeks of system training at a cost of approximately $6,500 per agent

  • Customer Satisfaction Impact: Extended resolution times contributed to a below-industry-average CSAT score of 72%

  • Agent Turnover: Frustration with complex systems contributed to a 28% annual turnover rate among service agents, with replacement costs averaging $25,000 per agent

Process & Approach

1. Discovery & Research

I led a comprehensive research phase to understand the full scope of agent challenges:

  • Conducted 16 contextual inquiries with customer service agents across different experience levels

  • Shadowed agents for 40+ hours to document workflows and pain points

  • Analyzed system usage data from all 13 legacy platforms to identify critical functions

  • Created journey maps highlighting inefficiencies in the current resolution process

Key Insight: Agents were spending 60% of their time searching for information and only 40% actually resolving customer issues.

2. Information Architecture & Workflow Design

Based on research findings, I developed a strategic framework for the consolidated dashboard:

  • Created task flow diagrams that reduced 37 common workflows to 12 optimized paths

  • Developed a unified information architecture that prioritized frequently accessed data

  • Established design principles focused on efficiency, clarity, and context-awareness

  • Facilitated workshops with agents and IT teams to validate the proposed structure

3. Dashboard Design & Prototyping

  • Unified Interface: Designed a single-screen solution that eliminated system switching

  • Context-Aware Panels: Created dynamic information panels that adapted to the current case type

  • Quick Actions: Implemented one-click access to common resolution paths

  • Intelligent Search: Designed a unified search function that retrieved data across all systems

  • Status Visualization: Created clear visual indicators for flight status, customer tier, and case priority

4. Testing & Refinement

To ensure the solution would deliver real-world benefits:

  • Conducted 3 rounds of usability testing with 24 agents using interactive prototypes

  • Implemented A/B testing of key workflows to optimize efficiency

  • Created a measurement framework to track resolution times and agent satisfaction

  • Developed comprehensive documentation for development and training teams

Results & Business Impact

The dashboard consolidation project delivered transformative business results:

  • 250% improvement in resolution times reduced average case handling from 12 minutes to 4.8 minutes, reclaiming approximately 144,000 agent hours annually (valued at $4.3M)

  • Training time reduced by 65% from 4 weeks to 10 days, saving approximately $4,225 per new agent

  • Customer satisfaction increased from 72% to 89% following implementation, exceeding industry benchmarks

  • Agent turnover decreased from 28% to 17% within six months of launch, reducing annual replacement costs by approximately $2.75M

  • Error rates in compensation calculations dropped by 92%, reducing costly adjustment processes

  • System maintenance costs decreased by 40% through consolidation of technical infrastructure

Lessons Learned

This project reinforced several key insights:

  1. User involvement throughout the process was crucial to creating a solution that addressed real needs

  2. Data-driven prioritization helped focus the design on highest-impact improvements

  3. Cross-functional collaboration between design, IT, and operations teams was essential for success

  4. Measuring business impact helped secure additional resources and executive suppor

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