Introduction
The National Design Academy wanted to enhance it's enquiry system to better serve prospective students. The existing system, while functional, was simple and lacked key features that could improve user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX). By improving the enquiry system I wanted to:
Problem Statement
The current enquiry system at the National Design Academy was basic and fragmented, featuring multiple contact forms that easily led to confusion. The system also offered no ability to receive user feedback, removing development opportunities. These factors led to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for improving user experience and monitoring staff performance.
3 key areas for improvement were identified:
Research Stages
The research phase encompassed multiple areas to ensure a solid understanding of the requirements and possibilities for the new enquiry system. The main activities included feature testing within the company's customer relationship management platform (CRM), primary research on user feedback, and reviews of the existing processes.
Active Campaign
Automation Capabilities: I tested automation sequences and functions to determine how enquiries could be efficiently routed and managed.
Form Design Options: I developed form layouts and field structures to find a simple and user-friendly approach.
Primary Research on User Feedback
I recognised the importance of user feedback in developing the enquiry system. I conducted a small sample survey to gauge user perceptions. The responses were varied, differing from what was found in secondary research. This variance highlighted the need for succinctness in the proposed feedback forms. Key takeaways included:
Keep it Short: Users prefer short and straight-forward forms.
Progress Indicators: Users appreciate seeing progress indicators to understand how much more information is required.
Clear Instructions: Informing users upfront about the information they need to provide enhances the response rate and quality.
Existing Process Reviews
Working with support team staff and marketing staff I analysed the current enquiry process to identify pain points and areas for improvement. I reviewed how information was routed to UK and international offices. These findings were in line with our expectations and further proved the enquiry system could be streamlined.
Design & Development
I redesigned the enquiry system to merge the four existing forms into a single, back-end-driven form. The automation process differentiated between UK and international enquiries using a 'country of residence' input.
Next, the automation determined whether the user was making a text-based enquiry or a call-back request. The forms only differed by the inclusion of the "preferred call-back time" field. By editing the HTML structure and making this field a required input on the call-back request form, I was able to accurately distinguish between enquiry types.
These checks, performed during the automation process, allowed me to consolidate the four previous front-end forms into just two, with one back-end form driving both.
Next, alongside the NDA's marketing manager, I focused on enhancing the user experience by developing email receipts that were automatically sent upon form submission. These receipts were tailored to the type of enquiry the user had made - either a text-based enquiry or a call-back request. The email receipts thanked the user for getting in touch and outlined the next steps in the process.
To further improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the support team, I implemented a staff notification system. This system relayed enquiry information to support team members' email inboxes. The feature included an immediate notification upon submission of an enquiry, providing all relevant details, and a three-day follow-up reminder to prompt a timely response to user enquiries.
A simplified overview of the automation journey following location checks is outlined below.
Course Interested In
Another significant improvement was the enhancement of the "Course Interested In" field. Previously, users could select only one course of interest, which limited the ability to tailor responses and marketing efforts. The new system allowed users to select multiple courses from the offerings at the National Design Academy.
Benefits to Users:
Benefits to Support Team:
Benefits to Marketing Team:
Testing
Comprehensive testing ensured the robustness of the new system. Edge case testing addressed scenarios like multiple submissions and changing request types (text-based to call-back and vice versa). As well as data backup, implemented to prevent data loss during multiple submissions within a short period.
Results & Impact
The redesigned enquiry system significantly improved UX and CX, improving workflows and quality of life for prospective students and staff. By making use of the new course interested system it is now easier for support team members to provide accurate and useful sales information to help inform prospective student's decisions.
Conclusion
The project successfully transformed the National Design Academy’s enquiry system, making it more efficient and user-friendly. By leveraging automations, user feedback, and comprehensive testing, the team and I created a system that met both user and organisational needs. Due to the nature of the NDA Foundation being a multi-brand organisation this system was rolled out to other two brands under the Foundation unbrella to similar success.
