Customer portal
UX and UI design
The challenge
A new legislation was being introduced on 1 Jan 2025 and a new portal needed to be created for customers to register and pay their taxes through.
However, the legislation had not passed yet and the requirements were being drip fed to the team along with the timeline for the project being very short.
As this was a new legislation it was also unknown what the volume of customers and customer types will be.
Research
We knew of 2 types of user as these were defined in the legislation; owner and booking platform. However we did not have the data on how many of each user type we expected to register or how many of these users were owners, joint owners, companies or trusts.
I looked into an existing revenue line with similar customer types to give us some data on each user type and what user journeys to prioritise in the short timeline.
I worked with the product owner and based on the number of users in the other revenue line we decided to prioritise the following user types:
- Owner individual and company
- Booking platform individual and company
I then created user personas to further understand and convey the goals, motivations and frustrations of the customers.
I collaborated with an external research company to conduct some initial research to understand customers pain points.
I found out that:
- Customers had little to no knowledge with it being a new legislation.
- Customers found other government websites not user friendly and using language that was not everyday person friendly.
- Customers were worried that they would not have enough resources to provide all of the required data to comply with the levy.
As I knew the business requirements for the portal would not be given all at once due to the legislation not being passed yet, I wanted to get an understanding of the whole portal and how customers would use each area of the portal. To do this I created a service blueprint, I collaborated with the product owner and then with developers to understand what functionality the systems would have in this portal.
This allowed me to keep in mind the functionality of other areas whilst designing one area at a time which helped to create a cohesive portal design for the customers.
UX design
I started by creating lo-fi wireframe to quickly turn business requirements into a customers journey. I collaborated closely with the team to ensure my designs met both business and technical requirements. Through continuous feedback I iterated the designs until they met the needs of the user, business and the systems.
Lofi wireframes also allowed me to easily identify where the main customer pain points were and work with the team to resolve these.
This was a challenge because the main system used is a legacy software and this determined a lot of the user experience. I worked with the developers to ensure the most user friendly solution was designed whilst keeping to the constraints of the system. This meant regular check ins with the developers to get their feedback and iterate my designs.
Design system
When it came to designing the high fidelity UI, I noticed that there was no design system which would reduce my efficiency and consistency when designing.
I began working with other HCD team members to build out the design system at the SRO so that we would all be using the same components when designing and making the next stage, hi-fi designs, a lot more time efficient.
You can read more about my design system process here.
Usability testing
Due to the sensitivity around the new tax, I collaborated with an external vendor to conduct usability testing.
The majority of users found the registration and lodging a return process simple.
However, we found that trying to register a joint ownership was very confusing to customers. This was due to the UI trying to explain the back end processes to the customer.
I decided to remove any explanations of the processes in the UI and keep it simple for the customers.
“Why is it just me? Am I the one they’re gonna chase in the end if I don’t pay them?” – P4
Initial design trying to explain the joint owner registration to customers.
Updated design after usability testing which removed any unecessary explanations and pre-filled and customer data poissble to speed up the process.
The solution
The solution to the short time frame was to work extremely closely with the product owner, BA’s and developers to understand what was technically feasible and to ensure all designs met the business requirements.
I designed a solution that utilised similar UI components and UX patterns from other SRO portals so that they could easily be developed and that the UX was similar for existing customers.
The impact
Reducing calls by 64%
Compared to other revenue line registrations by simplifying the registration process.
Improving security
By introducing a ‘Manage users’ feature that allows booking platforms to create multiple portal accounts rather than sharing one. This is a new feature that no other SRO portal currently has.
Increased compliance
With the simplified registration and returns process, customers are now finding it easier to register and lodge a return compared to other revenue line portals which helps customers meet their tax obligations.
Linking accounts
Allowing customers to link their joint ownership properties in one account so they do not need to create multiple logins. This feature will also be used for future SRO portals.
Reducing customer confusion
By simplifying the ‘lodge a return’ screens and reset password functionality which in turn is reducing calls to customer service and improving usability.