Hillarys Account Area
THE PROBLEM
Research revealed significant gaps in the Hillarys post-purchase experience. Customers had no visibility of when their order would be processed or fitted, no way to track progress, and were expected to pay over the phone through the call centre. There was no retention programme in place and no way to bring customers back after their first purchase.
THE APPROACH
I identified that a dedicated account area was the right solution to modernise Hillarys' approach to customer service across all of these issues in one connected experience. With no innovation budget available I ran research using existing known Hillarys customers, focusing on getting maximum evidence as quickly and cost-effectively as possible to build the case for client investment. Stakeholder interviews, customer interviews, and journey mapping informed the concept, which I then designed and prototype tested with hundreds of users to get a quantitative view of the UX before any build commitment was made.
THE OUTCOME
Delivered a compelling, evidence-backed concept that demonstrated the commercial case for a retention-focused account experience — designed to bring customers back and reduce reliance on the call centre.
THE LEARNING
No budget doesn't mean no research. With the right approach you can gather meaningful evidence quickly and cheaply — and that evidence is what unlocks the investment to go further.