--- Update ---
As of September 2016 successful payments on the Collections system had increased since going live by 174%, "achieved through improved engagement and simpler customer journey."
Background
Barclaycard customers wanting to service their account online are able to log into the "mybarclaycard" website. However, customers who fall behind in their payments (Collections customers) are currently directed to a third party website. The purpose of the Collections project was to incorporate the third party website's functionality into the mybarclaycard site.
Collections customers will now see a bespoke landing page when logging into mybarclaycard. The main goal is to allow them to pay the outstanding arrears, and they will also receive tailored messaging, information and links to third party debt help, appropriate to the level of debt.
Approach
Rather than simply replicate the third party functionality on the mybarclaycard site, we looked at how we could incorporate Barclays' commitment to helping customers who are in difficult situations. A Money Worries website had just been launched, and so I used the research from this project to create a hierarchy of user's concerns. For instance, customers who have missed 1 months' payment are predominantly worried about their credit score, whereas customers with 4 months of arrears may be more interested in getting debt help.
The main challenge was in balancing tone of voice and content against these user needs. Through research, and somewhat counterintuitively, we found that a harsher tone of voice resonated more with customers in the early cycles of Collections, and a softer tone of voice was more effective on those whose arrears had built up over a period of time.
By working very closely with the copywriter and testing the language and content hierarchy, we created a tailored page which communicated the customer's situation effectively while offering help that is timely, relevant and, importantly, respectful.
Project documentation examples
User flows
I created these based on the requirements and process flows provided by the BAs, in order to separate out the customer-facing elements
Wireframes
I used Axure to prototype and test the experience, using the existing mybarclaycard designs as the template.
UI Design
Working collaborativey with the UI designer allowed us to evolve the design beyond the wireframe stage and incorporate later rounds of usability testing.
