Testing the phone menu
Sam Whitlock
What we did
What we already knew
Residents need to quickly speak to someone who can help resolve their issue.
Many call because they cannot resolve their issue online.
But they get frustrated by long phone menus, particularly disabled residents. They struggle to navigate them and often get through to the wrong person.
What we wanted to test
By simplifying our phone menus, residents will speak to the right person faster and easier.
What we did
We tested the phone menu for adult social care and then simplified it.
We then did the same test on the new menu and compared results to see if it’s easier and faster to use.
We tested it with 28 residents.
“A tree test evaluates a hierarchical category structure, or tree, by having users find the locations in the tree where specific resources or features can be found.”
Source: www.nngroup.com/articles/tree-testing/
Old phone menu
When we tested this, most residents did not pick the options we expected.
Having several layers made it more likely for the wrong option to be picked.
New phone menu
What we found out
Most residents choose the right option on the new phone menu
The overall success rate was 88%, compared to 27% on the old menu.
So more residents should go through to the right person when they call us.
Residents are confident that the option they choose is right
Options were picked without moving back through the menu 98% of the time.
So we can be confident that residents were sure of their choices.
Residents choose an option faster on the new phone menu
The average time to complete tasks was 11 seconds faster.
So residents should spend less time navigating the menu.
Some residents are confused by the term occupational therapy
One person was unsure what it meant and picked “Anything else”.
Updating this option might make it easier. Someone suggested “personal care”.
“The language was clear apart from occupational therapy. I had to think about that.”
What we recommend
What we recommend
We should test ideas for simplifying a popular and complex phone menu, such as repairs.
We can use a similar approach to the one taken for adult social care.
And place greater emphasis on removing the use of internal language in our messaging.
Thank you
Get in touch if you have any questions