Disclaimer: This project summary is de-branded to align with NDA compliance.

[Telecom] Digital Ecosystem

Designed an innovative, cross-device experience that allows customers to remain connected in calls across various devices, while upholding safety and preventing disruptions.

ROLE

User Experience (UX) Designer

TIMELINE

August 2023 to November 2023

TEAM

1 Associate Creative Director, 3 Designers, 1 Customer Experience Manager, Client Stakeholders

SKILLS

Cross-team Collaboration, Figma, Figjam, Information Architecture, Personas

Can customers maintain one, safe experience across multiple devices?

UNDERSTANDING THE ASK

The client, [Telecom Company], is well-established brand with a respected reputation for their telecommunications services. Though, seeking to move the brands’ services forward, they asked Publicis Sapient to support them in envisioning a unique, abstract, visionary idea. Similar to how the idea of talking to someone in a different time zone on a hand-held device that fits in the palm of your hand seemed bizarre in the 1950s, yet is one of the main ways people of today maintain their relationships, the client sought to explore a concept similar in nature to propose to the higher level executive team at their company.

The client wished to explore the bounds of a digitally connected ecosystem. Can a customer transfer a call or communication to another device of a different brand without ever hanging up? Can a customer prevent disruptions on electronic devices other than their phone, such as on smart tvs and gaming consoles? Can a customer protect their privacy regardless of the medium?

Despite the client initially feeling unsure, yet hopeful, my Publicis Sapient team received the green light to imagine and bring to life a futuristic, interconnected digital experience that supports cross-device continuation, disreuption prevention, and safety.

💭 How might we implement an interconnected, cross-device experience that supports synchronicity and privacy without disruptions?

I began transforming the client’s conceptual, visionary idea into a tangible experience by first identifying the target customers. I sought to further understand what the customers value and need. Referencing the data provided by the client that detailed [Telecom Company] customers’ demographics, highlighted reviews, and complaints, I narrowed down the audience to three customer types. I created a Persona to represent each customer type, allowing each character to represent a different, yet realistic, combination of pre-defined “Desires” (Control, Reach, Location, Privacy) also provided by the client.

I used these personas as a guide throughout the design process to help myself and my internal Publicis Sapient team implement the opportunity areas in a way that satisfies each type of customer’s needs.

Identify segments of target customers.

UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER

ENVISIONING THE CUSTOMERS’ EXPERIENCE

Understand the customer’s perspective and identify opportunities in the experience.

I continued grounding myself and the team by creating a future state Customer Journey Map for each of the scenarios provided by the client. In the journey maps, I made logical assumptions (queued for validation via User Research) about a specific type of customer’s emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Through the journey maps, I envisioned a customers’ (assumed) perspective, and I identified areas of opportunity for removing customers’ friction points related to the client’s vision of enabling continuous calls across devices.

I then brainstormed multiple (horizontal) Information Architectures (IAs) to conceptualize how the clients’ proposed features relate to one another. In multiple iterations, I explored how customers expect to navigate the management side of the experience to adjust controls for features and how customer categorize terminology associated with the proposed features.

Brainstorm the structure of the digital ecosystem and its controls.

UNDERSTANDING HOW THE USER THINKS

ASSESSING THE PROPOSED ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE

Test the ecosystem structure using customer scenarios.

After incorporating feedback from client stakeholders and narrowing down to one Information Architecture (IA) diagram, I mocked up 15 written scenarios given by the client and highlighted the steps customers would take (in a happy path) in the Information Architecture to achieve their intended goals. I identified gaps and dead-ends in the Information Architecture draft and recognized areas of opportunity to reduced the number of clicks needed to achieve tasks.

Scenario 1: A customer receives a call on their cell phone, but would like to answer their call while watching tv.

Scenario 2: A customer frequently calls during their private streaming time. The customer wants to silence unwanted calls, but receive calls from important contacts.

I iterated through the Information Architecture again, resolving gaps and dead-ends discovered through the internal scenario-tests. The final version of the Information Architecture supports each scenario, especially the clients’ focused use cases of transferring calls across device and preventing disruptions. The artifact visualizes the connections between the clients’ ideal features and the levels a customer will navigate to interact with controls for those features.

Update the Information Architecture with findings from internal testing.

ITERATING THE ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE

Visualize the clients’ visionary concepts.

DEMONSTRATING THE PROPOSED STRUCTURE

After finalizing the proposed Information Architecture for the digital ecosystem, I mocked up applicable examples of the concepts in action. Ultimately, I successfully:

Transformed an abstract, visionary, ambiguous idea into an organize, coherent, concrete concept, expressed through personas, customer journeys, and an Information Architecture (IA).
Designed an interconnected, cross-device experience that balances warranted continuity and upholding boundaries.
Handed-off coherent deliverables for the client to present their idea to higher level internal stakeholders.