Snooze feature in underwriting tool

Project Summary

Snooze was an internal tool at Capital One designed to streamline the workflow of agents assisting customers. The primary goal was to allow agents to temporarily "snooze" a customer's account, effectively removing it from their active queue for a set period. This functionality was crucial for situations where a customer needed time to gather information or complete a task before proceeding with their interaction.

Problem Statement

Agents were struggling with a high volume of customer interactions and a lack of tools to manage their workflow efficiently. When a customer wasn't immediately available to continue the interaction, agents had to manually track these accounts and follow up, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors. The existing system lacked a formal way to temporarily pause or "snooze" an account, resulting in:

• Increased workload for agents
• Higher risk of missed follow-ups
• Longer wait times for other customers
• Frustration for both agents and customers

Design Process & Solution

As the lead product designer, I was responsible for the entire design process, from initial concept to final implementation. This involved close collaboration with product managers, engineers, and customer service agents to ensure the solution met both business needs and user requirements.

User Research

I began by conducting extensive user research, including shadowing agents, conducting interviews, and analyzing their existing workflows. This helped me gain a deep understanding of their pain points and identify opportunities for improvement. Key findings included:

• Agents needed a way to remove accounts from their queue temporarily.
• The "snooze" duration should be flexible and customizable.
• Agents needed a clear way to see snoozed accounts and when they would return.
• The process needed to be quick and easy to use, without disrupting their workflow.

Ideation & Prototyping

Based on the research findings, I developed several design concepts and created interactive prototypes to test with agents. I explored different ways to integrate the snooze functionality into the existing agent interface, focusing on ease of use and minimal disruption.

Key design decisions included:

• A simple "Snooze" button within the customer account view.
• A dropdown menu to select pre-defined snooze durations (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours) or enter a custom time.
• A dedicated "Snoozed Accounts" queue, visible to the agent, with a countdown timer for each account.
• Visual cues and notifications to remind agents when a snoozed account was about to return to their queue.

Usability Testing

I conducted multiple rounds of usability testing with agents, iterating on the design based on their feedback. This iterative process ensured that the final solution was intuitive, efficient, and met the specific needs of the users.

Final Design & Implementation

The final design was a seamless addition to the agent workflow. Agents could quickly snooze an account with just a few clicks, and easily manage their snoozed accounts through a dedicated queue. Clear visual cues and notifications kept agents informed and ensured no accounts were missed.

Results & Impact

The implementation of Snooze had a significant positive impact on agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. Specific results included:

• Agents reported a 30% reduction in workload related to managing paused customer interactions.
• Missed follow-ups decreased by 50%.
• Average customer wait times decreased by 15%.
• Agent satisfaction scores increased by 20%.

By providing agents with a simple and effective way to manage customer interactions, Snooze helped Capital One improve its customer service operations and enhance the overall customer experience.

Key Takeaways & Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of user-centered design and the value of close collaboration with users throughout the design process. Key takeaways include:

• Deep user research is essential for understanding user needs and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Iterative prototyping and usability testing are crucial for ensuring a design is intuitive and effective.
• A simple and well-integrated solution can have a significant impact on user efficiency and satisfaction.

As the lead designer, I was proud to have played a key role in developing a solution that not only met the business needs of Capital One but also significantly improved the working lives of our agents and the experience of our customers.