The case study details the user experience strategy employed by a telecommunication company undergoing a merger with two additional companies, focusing on integrating their systems while ensuring user satisfaction and operational efficiency. Key decisions included consolidating communication systems and creating a unified intranet, which resulted in 98% of over 100,000 users registering within three days of the merger. Additionally, continuous usability testing and user engagement strategies were critical to the project's success, leading to effective system implementation without requiring outsourced support.

1. USER EXPERIENCE CASE STUDY
WHEN THE CLIENT DOES NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT OR NEED
This telecommunication customerwas in the processof acquiringtwoadditional companies. The
combined employee base wasover 100,000.Whilewaiting forthe long and trying government
approvals, they needed to be ready for whatthey called ‘Day One – Deal Close’. Onthat day, all
companies hadto become one companywhile still maintaining some of their different systems.
We were broughtin to bringclarity to the dauntingprocessahead. There were many questionsand few
answers.There were assumptions,butone can never assume a gooduser experience. Inthe
background,wewere also conductingusability testing to ensure the systems couldsuddenly handle the
burstof users.There were many issues to consider,includingprivacy andHR issues, customer
experiences, and tominimize the amountof ITHelp Desk calls.
THE IT DEPARTMENT WAS THE NUCLEUS TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT
There are somany differentroles played by IT departments in large corporations.Multiple teams
formed to considerthe many different applications and areas impacting all three companies. The team
decided:
 All companies woulduse oneemail and communicationssystem
 External customer solutionsremained the same forminimum of90 days
 Intranet wouldgofrom three to one – immediately on Day One
 IT SupportHelp Desk used fromone companyonly
 Knowledgebase documentsupdatedto keep supportcalls low;however,company outsourced
additional supportdesk help justin case
 Successrated by numberor percentage ofeligible users registered and volume ofsupport
issues
We worked withan outside UXconsultingcompanyand completed the following flow charts.The
remainder in this case studywere created withoutthe outside UX consultingcompany.
Please note that because ofthe NDA and the sensitivity ofthe data, veryfew graphicsare included in
this case studyand any confidential information is blurred.

2. THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK IS WHY?
When consideringwhatconstitutes a gooduser experience, the most important question toask is
‘why’? Ifyou canbegin yourprojectwith that question,the creative juicesflow,the ideation grows,the
brainstorming and debate continues,and the projectcreates a life ofits own.
We need personas. We need to studyhuman behavior. What dothe users currentlydo and is there a
more effective way tohandle the process?Is it all about colorand interactivity or is there more to
success?Whichcolorsshould weuse and whatdo the colorsmean? Isthe design intuitive? Isthe design
able to be usedby those with andwithout disabilities? Isthere a processflow that makes the process
more logical; however, is that perceived logic also a goodhuman experience? The list goes onand on as
we drill downintothe many questionsone answersduringthis process.
THE 50,000 FOOT VIEW
Those experienced in user experience design andresearch realize that what is included here is nothing
buta small snapshotofthe process,diagrams, andwhat ultimately becomes the finished product.
The following are a few screen capturesof differentdeliverables.

3. It wasimportant to plan and execute the testing ofpriority systems to ensure they workedproperly.

4. Measuring the use ofthe different pages and applications were an important piece ofthe projectand
actually helped to make the projecta success.Analyticswere tracked in the intranet page, ITSupport
page, and in individual Knowledge-base ‘how to’ articles. We were able to determine if the user actually
visited the different sites, if they difficulties and abandoned the processat any stage, and whatwe
coulddo in real time to correctanything.

5. Changesto the home page of the IT Supportportal were made. Althoughit was notultimately whatI
considered tobe the best design approach,it waswhat the customerwanted.
TELLING A STORY IS PARAMOUNT TO SUCCESS
Becauseof my backgroundintraining/instructional design as well as user experience andcontent
strategy, a story is an important piece to a successfuluserexperience. Users must be engaged. They
need to read and see what is important and understandwhyit is important.
Inthis project,I designed a series ofscenarios depictingwhat a sample employee orcontractorfrom
CompanyA,B, or Cshall expectduring the merger.

6. INTRANET PORTAL AND IT SUPPORT PAGE

7. This is the intranet portal page on the first day ofthe merger. There were variousplaces for the new
users toexplore. There were videos fromkey executives towatch.The next screen showsthe IT
Supportpage. We designed it in an accordionstyle and suggestedthe logical steps toview the
documentationand install the programs.We also created more than 100 Knowledgearticles.

8. This processalone realized a highly successfulexperience.Ofthe over 100,000 users,98%registered
within the first 3 days.The Knowledgearticles were sosuccessfulthatthe additional outsourcedhelp
desk supportwas never utilized!
SUMMARY
This is justa brief example ofwhathappens during a typical project.Thevariables and methods of
surveying,research, and implementation are always different.Continuoustesting is critical. Each
campaign orprojectis a ‘living project’and needs to have constantattention. Each projectorcampaign
is unique andthere is no‘one size fits all’ approach.
The customerbudgeted 3 monthsforthis projectandwe completed it in 2 months!Now that the
merger is complete, they are now examining duplicate resources,determining the priority ofthe rollout
expected to take 2 years and when/how theyneed our services again. They realize their previous use of
a very expensive consultingcompanydid not bring the value they paid for the services andwe will be
broughtin again to complete new anddifferent initiatives includingStyle Guides and best practices.