Mary Kahle



Experience and Service Design Consulting


Global Transportation and Logistics Client – Transforming the Customer Start-up Experience

Agile / Contextual Inquiry / Data Visualization / Design Research / Ecosystem Strategy / Cross-Functional Collaboration / Operational Modeling / Product Evaluation / Rapid Prototyping / Workshop Facilitation


Work type(s): Consulting – Transportation & Logistics, Technology, Data Management
Dates:  2022 - 2023


As a Design Researcher and Business Management Consultant, I collaborated with Fortune 100 companies and cross-functional teams, using human-centered design research to understand user needs, mapping the customer and employee  experience in the context of the work event, and deliver recommendations for business and technology strategies.

Early sketch/concept for high-level model. 



Design Research Methods Often Used:
  • Contextual Inquiry / Ethnographic Research
  • Behavioral / Cognitive Assessment
  • Workshops and Co-design Sessions
  • Agile / Rapid Solution Exploration
  • Operation Modeling
  • User Interface / Experience Design
  • In-context and Lab-based Testing

Types of Outcomes:
  • Problem Validation
  • Operational Modeling
  • Design-Driven Process Diagrams
  • Digital Tool Design
  • Product Evaluation
  • Capability Building


Detailed-view model/data visualization of the onboarding process. 


Project Background

As part of a cross-functional team, I researched the experience of customers and employees for a Global transportation and logistics client – exploring the intersections of data, technology, people, and business.

We addressed these challenges by understanding the current ecosystem complexities, identifying areas of opportunity for current and future states, producing E2E models, journey maps, and landscape analysis.

The team performed an onboarding operations assessment across 7 siloed departments (corporate and local offices) and 2 customer service types.

Remote & in-person in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed.


Client Needs

  • Conduct user research of customer start-up process through interviews, site visits, and observations.

  • Visualize the current state of customer start-up experience through complex journey mapping.

  • Identify transformative opportunities to improve the process.



My Contributions and Impact
High-level model/data visualization of the customer start-up process.

I led the creation of a comprehensive high-level operations model/visualization, used to pinpoint opportunities to align business strategy, improve operational efficiency, streamline processes, and enhance the customer experience.



What We Observed


Customer start-up experience stakeholder/process map.


Delays occurred due to communication and logistics issues of customer business decals.

Frustration regarding the clarity and communication of billing and invoices, including changes to billing cycles.

  • Customers desired clear and convenient payment methods.
  • Employees desired more transparency in tracking and billing status in Salesforce


Customers lacked awareness of digital tools and their capabilities.

  • Issues with timing of account setup creating problems with login later on in the onboarding process, deterring customer usage.
  • Webinars and tutorials for the app were not made clear to the customers.


Other Key Findings


  • Inefficient reliance on sales reps.
  • Fragmented processes causing repetitive interactions.
  • Poorly timed customer touchpoint leading to lower adoption and data loss.
  • Barriers in customer digital engagement. 




    Our Team's Impact


    Sites visited, employee and customer interviews.


    We performed an onboarding operations assessment across seven siloed departments (corporate and local offices) and two customer service types.


    • 7 departments interviewed.

    • 50+ in-depth interviews performed, coded, and themes extracted.

    • 25+ locations covered.

    • 1 workshop with high-level stakeholders to challenge preconsieved notions and align business priorities.




    Recommendations

    • Enhance customer experience through start-up process visuals and educational modules tailored services.

    • Adopt an employee portal, standardize billing systems, and workflow management.

    • Implement master data management strategy needed to facilitate proactive services.

    • Increase sales productivity through automatic tasks vs. manual tasks. 

    • Champion the voice of local hubs to collectively share best practices across locations.

    • Develop a singular customer view for the entire engagement lifecycle.

    • Conduct further research to derive indispensable knowledge of customer information from the sales associates through sharing local best-practices and regional associate interactions.




    Further Questions for the Client

    How can we help customers to learn and understand more information about the process in their initial onboarding sessions?

    How can the client provide more frequent, timely, and targeted training for customers using the digital tools?

    How can we reduce delays in decal and set-up related processes?



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    © Mary Kahle, 2024