Context

This feature was designed and developed as part of a development cycle within the Receeve company. The project was carried out by a dedicated team consisting of one designer, one project manager, and a group of engineers. What is detailed here focuses specifically on the design process, outlining the considerations and strategies employed to shape the feature.

Receeve is a comprehensive collection and recovery software, serving as an all-encompassing solution for diverse management needs within the industry. Tailored for different personas involved in debt management, this specific feature is aimed at collection agents, who are the primary point of contact with debtors.

TIMELINE

3 weeks

TOOLS

Figma

The challenge

MY ROLE

Principal UX & UI designer

Receeve currently supports both automated and manual communications. However, agents currently have no effective way of quickly tracking or accessing this critical information. The data, while available, is buried within a cluttered diary, making it nearly impossible for agents to efficiently evaluate how responsive an account is to different communication channels.

SCOPE

UX & UI design

DELIVERABLES

Feedback session insights

User flows

Concept development

Low-fi wireframes

Hi-fi wireframes

Prototypes

Final design

Final feature

Quick overview

🌈 Visual communication summary: agents can now view a color-coded widget that provides a quick, visual summary of the debtor’s responsiveness across various communication channels (e.g., email, phone calls, landing page visits).

📬 Track engagement per channel: the widget displays the status of each communication type, allowing agents to see whether emails were opened, calls were answered, and landing pages were visited.

🔍 Communication's insights: instantly determine which communication channels are working best for each debtor, helping agents decide on the most effective way to reach out.

⏱ Real-time status updates: communication status is updated in real-time, giving agents the most up-to-date information to guide their decisions.

Target personas: Collection agents

The communication status widget, available within each account, gives agents a quick, real-time overview of debtor interactions across multiple channels. This intuitive tool allows agents to easily track communication effectiveness and debtor engagement, helping them make informed decisions with minimal effort. Key features include:

Understanding the problem

Key problems

Feedback gathered from current clients during interview sessions emphasized the frustration agents experience due to the lack of a clear and accessible way to monitor whether emails were opened, calls were answered/made, or letters delivered for example.

Inefficient workflow: the current system requires agents to manually sift through extensive logs, wasting time on searching for and interpreting communication data instead of engaging with accounts.

Missed opportunities: without a clear overview, agents may overlook crucial insights into account responses to communication channels, leading to lost engagement opportunities.

02

03

01

Information overload: the current system stores valuable communication data, but it's buried within a cluttered diary, making it hard for agents to quickly find what they need.

Translating findings to user needs

By analyzing user feedback, I could pinpoint key themes and pain points, turning them into specific needs.

01

Quick overview: agents need rapid access to a summary of the best contact method for each debtor.

Easy read: agents need an intuitive element showing communication status across channels.

Efficient access: they need an easy access to communication data without navigating a cluttered diary

03

02

Informed decisions: agents need the ability to make data-driven decisions about further engagement or account management.

Engagement insight: agents need a clear view of the debtor's overall engagement level.

04

05

User stories

By identifying the agents' needs, I gained a clear understanding of their workflows. This made it easier to define relevant scenarios and create user stories that align with their tasks and goals.

As an agent,
I want a clear view of the debtor's overall engagement level,
so that I can assess their responsiveness and adjust my strategy accordingly.

As an agent who needs to contact a specific number of debtors each day,
I want an efficient way to access essential information about each debtor,
so that I can quickly prepare for each contact and manage my daily tasks effectively without spending time navigating through complex systems.

User story # 2

User story # 3

User story # 1

As an agent,
I want, I want to quickly get an executive summary of the most effective way to contact a debtor
so that I can make an informed decision on how to reach them effectively..

Ideation & Design

Designing the solution

I aimed to simplify how agents navigate the data generated across various communication channels—emails, messages, letters, and calls—all of which generate multiple events, like an email being "clicked," "opened," or having a "failed delivery."

To make this information easier to digest, I implemented a color-coding system where each color corresponds to a specific event type. However, since the same color can represent different events depending on the communication type (e.g., red can indicate "email failed" or "email unsubscribe requested"), I’ve added subtitles for each event to provide further clarity. This dual approach of color and text ensures agents can quickly and accurately interpret the data.

1. Mouse over the (i) next to “communication status”: a tooltip appears

2. Mouse over any colored indicator and a label appears

Each debtor is linked to an account where all relevant information is stored, which serves as the central focus for agents. Because of that, our new color-coded system into a widget that clients can customize and position wherever they prefer within the account screen.

To simplify the view and manage information effectively, we will initially limit the displayed communication events to the five most recent ones. This approach will be evaluated over time to determine if adjustments are needed in the future.

Final design

Adding the communication widget to the account screen

Communication widget in use within the account

The communication status widget has significantly streamlined the process of analyzing communications and debtor interactions. Previously, agents had to sift through cluttered logs to gather insights, which was time-consuming and inefficient. Now, agents can quickly access all relevant communication data in a clear, visual format, saving valuable time in their day-to-day tasks. This allows agents to focus more on strategic decision-making and debtor engagement, ultimately enhancing productivity and performance.

Overall, the widget enhances agent performance by:

• Streamlining workflows: eliminates the need to manually search for communication data, reducing task complexity.

• Improving decision-making: provides immediate insights into debtor responsiveness, leading to more effective contact strategies.

• Increasing productivity: frees up time for agents to engage in higher-value tasks, boosting overall efficiency.

• Enhancing debtor relationships: enables agents to tailor their approach based on debtor engagement levels, potentially improving recovery rates.

By addressing a significant pain point, the Communication Status widget empowers agents to work smarter and achieve better outcomes.

Conclusion

Next steps

We will monitor how agents use the widget and evaluate the need to expand its functionality by adding more communication channels, statuses, and customization options, such as color preferences. We also plan to introduce customization options, allowing agents to personalize the widget's states and colors to suit their preferences.

For the initial launch, we kept the widget simple to avoid overwhelming users and to give agents time to familiarize themselves with the feature. As we gather feedback and usage data, we'll make necessary adjustments and enhancements.