A community forum redesign to create an engaging and intuitive experience for the SOTI customers seeking helpful product support.
UX Design | 5 min read
Overview
SOTI Central is a platform for customers where they can join the support community, to be a part of open discussions about their challenges and look for possible recommendations regarding SOTI ONE products. It also offers the latest updates from the world of technology and digital market trends.
The Problem
The platform was not popular amongst customers. They did not find it helpful and engaging.
Key Persona
Primary - SOTI ONE Customers | Secondary - SOTI employees.
User Goals
The community members wanted to access all product-related support in one place which included Help & Documentation. Also, the ability to quickly browse product-related assets and downloads for ease of use. They wanted to be part of a support community where they could learn more about SOTI ONE products and get expert advice on any challenges.
Technical Needs
The technical team was required to integrate the help & documentation section into the Central website and link other SOTI portals such as blog and social media websites, which required changes in the code structure. There was a strong demand for a CMS (content management system) so that writers could make changes to the content in the help & documentation section, without getting the technical team involved.
Business Needs
To create an engaging product support system which would offer user need-based product support along with other helpful material that any customer needs to successfully run their business with the help of SOTI ONE products.
Major Pain Points
I interviewed a few customers and Soti employees who visited SOTI Central regularly and found out the major pain points that they experienced.
-The existing main page did not provide an overall view of the product, making it difficult for users to familiarize themselves with its features.
-The messaging system throughout the user journey was fragmented, and the user experience was neither intuitive nor engaging.
-There was no clear 'Call to Action' to engage users.
-While there was a lot of information available in the marketplace and news section, it did not effectively cater to the users' needs
Google Analytics Data Results
I also analyzed Google Analytics data to gain clarity on website traffic and usage. I discovered that while 80% of the visitors were new users, the retention rate was meagre at 17%. Overall engagement was around 25%, with North America accounting for the majority, followed by 10% or less in other countries. There was an opportunity to make the website more useful and engaging.
Competitive Analysis
I looked at similar support platforms which included Apple Community, Workday Community and Adobe forums.
Some Key Observations
All these websites have an engaging landing page where users can quickly get familiar with the features and choose the right direction to move forward
Each section guides the user about the benefits it offers to match their needs.
The layout has many interactive elements, which makes the experience quite engaging.
Customer Journey Experience
After conducting thorough research I created a detailed customer journey map highlighting the different routes users take to visit the forum and identified the potential touch points that could drive more traffic to the forum.
Additionally, I created a product map with a newly proposed user flow which would help to make the forum more useful and engaging.
MID-FIDELITY Wireframes
Based on the research and customer journey I created wireframes that focused on creating an engaging experience and customer retention.
User Testing
I created a clickable prototype and tested it with internal stakeholders and a few chosen customers. Key findings of the test revealed:
- The new landing page created a big difference in user experience. The users found it engaging and wanted to click on the call to action to explore further.
- The idea of adding brief information about each page on the home page made the forum more interesting and useful
Overall, the forum was considered a major improvement, emphasizing a quicker issue logging process and better categorization of information. Consequently, traffic increased rapidly following the launch of the new version.