BTC BTC is the primary telecommunications provider for the Bahamas; headquartered in Nassau, New Providence. It is partly government owned and offers telephone, internet and wireless services. The BTC app was designed to reduce the number of phone calls from Bahamas Telecom customers to top up their mobile phone. This system had to integrate with their current systems for BTC while being easy and quick to use for the customer. What The BTC app project was worked on in collaboration with Lokulus (then Numero) who provide and curate their own software solutions. Lokulus requested our support on building a bespoke app to sit alongside their software. The app was built in PhoneGap and our skills in UI and Development were required to deliver the project within a tight 4 month time frame. Hybrid UX Development We worked closely with Lokulus to turn high level wireframes into functional and usable designs so that BTC could again work through the process and see the “app” working before any build phase started. This allows all stakeholders a further chance to state any specification requirements that have not been previously addressed in earlier workshops and is a great chance for everyone to understand the look and feel of the app. From here development could begin. The main functions of the app allowed BTC’s customers to sign up to services with BTC, undergo credit checks on customer accounts, make payments and transfer charges between accounts. The app in isolation was a standard PhoneGap project but there were several integrations with the Lokulus platform and BTC’s existing telephony systems that normally surround an app build of this type. Why Following our discovery process we concluded that the appropriate technology to power the app was PhoneGap for several reasons. The app has a sister webportal and by building the app in PhoneGap, a web based hybrid technology, we could use the same interface for both parts of the project. This, in turn, led to another major benefit which helped us keep costs down for BTC. Instead of having to invest in a two part app and web solution we could offer efficiencies through avoiding duplication of effort between the two presentation layers. Intergration Functionality Cost Saving A significant problem BTC were encountering with their existing solution was the inability to react to individuals wanting to support multiple accounts such as family groups. This in turn was one of the main reasons for the high volume of calls to the call centre. Our UI team created a completely new user journey for this user case, allowing members to top up accounts other than their own. This led to a high adoption rate outside of the apps previous audience. A further reason BTC were keen on implementing a new solution in place of their existing one was many users would make a single top up and never return. The addition of the credit checks were important to BTC to stop this type of user which was highly associated with criminal activity. This meant that they could monitor user behavior for strange patterns and get more background information on their users through their credit control and fraud prevention systems. Wow 18 Countries Supplied 6 million Customers Serviced 10/16 Mobile Leadership BTC were extremely happy with the app and it surpassed their expectations in terms of user engagement with a 31.5% uplift in users following its release. The primary focus of the app was to target a specific segment of their user base however BTC saw adoption across their entire consumer base. This successfully reduced the number of calls to the contact centre concerning top-up and bill payment enquiries by 27% due to the fact their customers could now easily “self serve.” They’re fast, responsive, and always fair with their feedback. They always tell us if we’re asking too much of them. They won’t commit to something they can’t deliver. Mark Chamberlain - Lokulus BTC The App Consultation Having worked alongside Lokulus on previous projects we already had an excellent working relationship with their team. We were brought in early to support their in-house team with their wireframes and we consulted and supported them through the process of designing the solution required. UX Our team of in-house designers turned these wireframes into demonstrable designs. These are key when there are several different stakeholders all of whom have slightly different ideas on a project. The ability to deliver designs that allow clients to “use” the app before build gives everyone a chance to see and feedback on the app. Development Working in an Agile development methodology worked for both us and Lokulus. This allowed them to let go of the reigns of the project while still receiving regular feedback and communication on the progress of development. The other advantage of the Agile development process was that we were able to react quickly to further requests while still working to deliver the app within the timeframe given. What we do Learn more
