Call Center Learning Center Tutorial Series

IVR / VRU User Interface Design Best Practices

By Stephen Marshall, Vanguard Communications 

IVR applications succeed or fail based on callers' perception of how easy it is to use them. Subtle differences in how the user interface is designed can have a profound impact on the way the application is received. This article looks at how to design an effective, user-friendly interface based on world's best practice and avoid some of the common mistakes that plague far too many IVR systems.

What's so difficult about IVR?

In our consulting work, we typically encounter two types of reaction to voice response systems: people either hate them, or they wonder how they ever did without them. Yet these two systems which are generating such divergent opinions are virtually identical in terms of the technology that goes into them. So what's going on here? What's the difference?

A key element in any successful voice response application is giving callers choice and control. Typically, we find that systems that are in trouble become so because they force callers to use them -- either by using IVR to answer all calls, or not telling callers how to exit the system, or by offering choices that don't adequately describe what the caller is looking for.

Senior managers, in particular, seem to hold the view that customers don't like IVR systems and therefore the company shouldn't be implementing such technology. But the reverse is starting to occur. A growing proportion of callers now demand or expect to be able to business through an IVR system when they choose to do so. Importantly, people's needs change throughout the day depending on the nature of their inquiry and its urgency. While some calls are more suited to "live" interaction, at other times IVR may be more appropriate because it allows customers to complete transactions faster, at any time of the day or night, and without having to wait in queue. Responsive organizations need to give callers these options -- allow customers to remain in control rather than dictating to them when and how they should conduct their business.

How can we meet the challenge?

There are many reasons why companies should look at reviewing their IVR system:

• To improve customer use of the application
• To address caller complaints
• As a "sanity check" before implementing new applications

The following lists some of the best practices that we apply when developing voice response applications. They encapsulate what we've learned from working with hundreds of different systems and organizations around the world to design more effective user interfaces. To that end, they reflect our experience and perspective as consultants; they're not meant to be viewed as standards. We believe that standards serve a role in maintaining consistency and transparency across different systems. But simply adhering to standards doesn't ensure usability, because standards can't deal with design choices that are often highly dependent on the user's context.

Best Practice #1: Make the system as easy to use and familiar as possible.

• Emulate familiar methods and procedures.
• Keep prompts short and to the point.
• Permit prompts to be overridden, wherever possible.
• Limit the number of choices to a maximum of five options per menu. Giving callers more than four or five choices makes it difficult for them to remember all available options and can be tedious. Carefully examine your calling audience about this issue: feedback may tell you that you will only want to offer up to three choices at a given level.
• Provide callers with feedback and verification of their actions.
• Position the most commonly requested choices first on your menu.
• Callers should go down no more than 5-7 steps to complete their transaction.
• Use a voice that reflects your corporate image and that is pleasing to callers (consider holding focus groups to evaluate voice talent).

Best practice #2: Let callers feel in control.

• Blame mistakes on the system, not on your callers.
• Give callers an easy way to go back to the main menu and all submenus.
• Allow callers to repeat, pause and move forward and backwards as appropriate.
• Automatically repeat each prompt at least once if no action is taken.
• Always provide a way for callers to reach a live answer point by pressing 0 during business hours.
• Give additional guidance for complex or high-value transactions.
• Offer a demonstration option or tutorial showing how the system works.
• Don't confuse callers by changing the application frequently. In general, changes to call flow and logic should not be made more than once every six months, and unless there are compelling reasons, the Main Menu should almost never be changed.

Best Practice #3: Keep the user interface consistent.

• Phrase each activity in the same manner.
• State the action before the action key.
• Use keypad functions in a consistent fashion.
• Handle invalid entries and timeouts the same way at each menu level.
• Voice quality, including pitch and volume, should be consistent throughout the application.
• Use a single voice throughout the application: multiple voices tend to be jarring to callers.
• Don't look at your voice response system in a vacuum. IVR applications should complement Internet applications, customer materials, screens used by customer service reps, etc as part of the whole customer contact experience. This means using consistent phrasing, terminology, and content availability.

 Best Practice #4: Provide a number of ways into and out of the system.

• Always provide a way for callers to get to a live answer point, while at the same time encouraging them to use the application.
• Train customer support staff on the system - and keep them informed of changes and updates.

Best practice #5: Talk to callers - don't write to them.

• We speak very differently than we write. Scripts that sound like writing are stilted and frequently discourage callers.
• Always read your script aloud before it is recorded and test it with a mix of people.
• Use a natural, high quality, intelligible voice.
• Time prompts and options to reflect normal conversation.
• Test concatenated prompts to make sure they sound natural.
• Avoid using acronyms or technical jargon that your average caller may not understand.
• Limit concatenation wherever possible by recording phrases, rather than stringing together single words.

Best Practice #6: Use technology to personalize your callers' experience.

• Identify callers through account numbers or other methods in order to offer options that are tailored to the caller, and/or the caller's value to your organization.
• Provide dynamic menus, wherever possible, that are tailored to the services available to the caller.
• Don't offer callers options that are not available to them under their specific service level.
• If callers transfer out, provide the answering point with information about the caller and where the caller was in the system.

Why do callers choose voice response?

Customers will use IVR if:

1. They are educated about the system.
   Use bill stuffers, point-of-sale materials or special promotions to advertise and instruct callers on how to use the system.
2. Their expectations are set in advance.
   They are prepared to be answered by an automated service rather than a "live" operator.
3. There is real or perceived value in using IVR.
   It's quicker - no hold time. 24-hour access. Customers get reduced rates or rebates.
4. Customers do not get better service if they choose not to use the system.

Whether you are planning to implement voice response or you already have a system in place, take a moment to consider what sort of experience you'd like your customers to have. If reality falls some way short of the ideal, it might be time to consider how improvements in the user interface will help you deliver better service and increase system utilization. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about!

Stephen Marshall is Director of Vanguard Communications (Asia-Pacific) Pty Ltd, one of the world's foremost consulting firms to concentrate on innovative customer contact solutions. Founded in the US in 1980, Vanguard helps corporations improve how business operates through the design, development, and implementation of communications technologies, such as voice and call processing, voice messaging and response, and CTI in workgroup and call center applications.

For more information contact Vanguard at vanguard-info@vanguard.net,
or call (973) 605-8000.

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