5 Ways to Improve Your Contact Centre Interface

Justin Hamilton-Martin looks at how Apple and Google design their user experience and how these ideas can be applied to the contact centre.

Having just gone through a major review and redesign of the Ultracomms interface (in other words, the screen that is presented to users AKA a ‘wallboard’), usability of the agent desktop is something we’ve been scrutinising.

During the research phase, we looked at how consumer-facing brands – such as Apple and Google – have really pushed the boundaries in usability over the past few years. Our agency worked with us to conduct a thorough audit, not just on our existing interface, but learning lessons from the business-to-consumer world.

For instance, Apple arguably set the current benchmark in visual design, with its emphasis on elegant simplicity. Its metallic-effect icons with bright colours aid recognition.

Likewise, Google broke new ground with its ‘material design’ philosophy, taking inspiration from the material world (for example, paper). Its use of colour is also interesting too: complementary and contrasting colours draw attention, while cast shadows add a sense of visual dimension on flat screens.

Adobe has consistently taken a very graphic and often monochrome approach, which has a lot of impact and is instantly recognisable.
But what does all this mean in practice, and how can we apply these principles in the call centre?

1. A clean, elegant design – people don’t want to be presented with a cluttered screen. Simplicity of fonts and not trying to put too much on the screen at once is key.
2. Comprehensive – that said, the main view should present agents with fast and obvious routes to whatever they need.
3. Colour – the value of colour in business technology is often overlooked, compared to the consumer world. This is missing a big opportunity, because colour-coding is an excellent way to guide users.
4. Button icons – of course, they look good, but more importantly, they act as visual short cuts that users can quickly recognise.
5. Minimal clicks – the fewer the better to get to the right place.

Visual design is usually associated with brand ID – and of course, that’s a large part of its role – but equally, it can significantly enhance usability, as we have found.

Our recent redesign has been an excellent reminder of this: after all, since agents typically spend hours sitting in front of their computer screens, surely technology vendors need to do whatever we can to improve that experience?

With thanks to Justin Hamilton-Martin at Ultracomms