Bell Bill Redesign

Overview

As the leader of the Bell Consumer Bill Redesign team, I navigated complex challenges to significantly improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency for over 10 million users. This redesign was integral to an initiative overhauling Bell’s backend billing systems, enabling a comprehensive update of this crucial interface. My design innovations have significantly enhanced customers' ability to self-serve and quickly access needed billing details, which in turn has led to a minimum 6% reduction in billing related calls.

Most notably, I am proud of my success in persuading company executives—backed by extensive research—that significantly increasing billing transparency would strategically reduce call volumes and improve customer service. Since launching the new bill, billing-related calls have markedly decreased, validating our approach. This strategic shift, as anticipated, has proved highly effective, aligning with Bell's goals and significantly enhancing customer interactions.

Needs Analysis

The diversity of Bell’s customer base, featuring widely variable account configurations and individual preferences, posed substantial design challenges and opportunities. One set of key bservations indicated that customers typically reviewed their online bills prior to payment and whenever there seemed to be an unusual variance in their monthly total (due to such things as one-time charges), they'd want to understand why. Customers found doing so exceedingly difficult, which typically then led to tense calls to the Call Centre. To address this, one of my main objectives for the Bill Redesign was to develop a transparent, easy-to-understand bill format that proactively highlighted discrepancies, provided clear explanations, and empowered customers to manage their bills independently.

Design Solution

My approach involved thorough research and analysis, complemented by extensive usability testing (both moderated and unmoderated) that spanned hundreds of hours. I led multiple design review sessions, working closely with senior Bell executives given the project's high stake on customer touch-points. Launched in 2023 to an initial cohort, the redesigned bill simplified navigation, enhanced clarity, and addressed other key pain points effectively. We introduced an upfront display of billing variances with clear explanations and enhanced self-service capabilities, which significantly cut down on billing-related customer inquiries. Designed with inclusivity in mind, the project also focused heavily on accessibility, ensuring all users found the new design user-friendly, informative, and empowering.

Post Launch

The redesign's impact was both immediate and profound, leading to a decrease in billing-related calls by over 6%, which translated into considerable annual operational expenditure savings for Bell. In addition, there was a notable increase in customer satisfaction metrics, improved brand sentiment, and a higher likelihood of customer recommendations. This successful overhaul highlighted the critical importance of transparency and user-centric design in billing processes and demonstrated how effectively integrating design innovation can align with business objectives.

Key Learnings

This project underscored the importance of transparency in billing design and the efficacy of robust self-service options in enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiencies. It also illuminated how strategic design decisions, like those implemented in the bill redesign, can ripple through a company's digital ecosystem, influencing user interaction and engagement positively. The learnings from this project have since informed further design initiatives across Bell, proving the value of our user-centered design philosophy.