Shifting from Utility to Experience
Verizon embarked on a transformative journey to redefine itself from a mere information utility to a customer-centric device powerhouse. Positioned at the forefront of the market, Verizon recognized the need to shift focus toward user-centricity in its home connectivity devices. My role was to guide this transition, aligning Verizon’s internal processes and culture with the genuine needs of its customers, amidst a backdrop of entrenched corporate culture and historically siloed work processes.
Journey Towards Customer-Centric Design
“I definitely want that new Verizon home wifi router!”
Services
Experience strategy
Accessibility design
Strategic planning
Contributors
John Phillips
Ella Thibodau
Eric Call
Mary Chimenti
Unraveling the Challenges of Legacy Processes
Legacy product development at Verizon was primarily driven by logistics and deadlines rather than user needs, with teams planning backward from shipping dates. This backward approach, compounded by hardware specifications governed by vendor recommendations, resulted in inconsistent experiences across devices and no unified priorities. This approach also delayed user testing until after manufacturing had begun, relegating customer experience (CX) and usability to mere afterthoughts—addressed too late through complex manuals and firmware updates.
Project deliverables
Device self-setup standards
taking ergonomic and technical needs into account to provide a more successful user installation experience
New product device complexity scoring
created the framework to predict and design user experiences for devices still on the drafting board
Accessibility guidelines for in-home connectivity
setting a new bar for cross-department collaboration to deliver more accessible devices
Comprehensive on-device indication guidelines
established a unified approach for how Verizon devices communicate with their users for the full family of home connectivity and entertainment devices
Customer Lead Process
To combat entrenched practices, we introduced the Customer Lead Process, a comprehensive framework that redefined goals, roles, and sequences. This new process integrated business units with industrial designers and CX experts early in the design phase, requiring cross-departmental sign-offs before advancing development. This ensured every device met our new customer-centric standards and brought the CX team into strategic roles from the start, allowing for early anticipation and mitigation of potential user issues.
Process design
User observations
Scenario planning
Reimagining Device Setup Design
A key initiative, the Setup Score, was developed to assess and enhance the setup design process, ensuring new devices met a standard for ease of use before final design approval. By involving device teams early in scenario testing, we fostered a shift from a technician-first to a customer-first mindset, significantly enhancing the unboxing experience. This tool, along with the Self Setup Experience Standards, aimed to improve first impressions and reduce customer frustrations, reinforcing the cultural shift toward empathy in design.
Device complexity worksheets
A Future of Empathic Design
This journey with Verizon has been more than a sequence of projects; it represents a profound shift towards empathic design. By centering the customer in every decision, Verizon is setting the stage for a future where their connectivity devices intuitively meets user needs. Our ongoing efforts to refine and expand these strategies ensure Verizon not only leads in connectivity but also in customer satisfaction and loyalty, marking a new era where empathy drives innovation.
