FT.com
August 14, 2013 4:04 pm
By Clare Dowdy
Swedish telecom operator 3 wanted to reduce calls from
customers who did not understand the charges on their bills. Queries included
what they were being charged for when they had gone over a pre-set limit of
data, texts and voice.
3 asked London-based design company Fjord to create My3, a
phone app that would help customers understand their usage and thereby what
they would be charged for, thus avoiding “bill shock” when a monthly bill
arrived. The app also had to work for 3’s 200-plus types of subscription.
Fjord chose to depict the information, such as actual
amounts spent and units consumed, in quick-to-grasp graphics, rather than
numbers. For example, a ring – labelled a doughnut by Fjord – represents the
prepaid total for each service, with usage so far shaded in. Data, messaging
and calls are represented by coloured circles, with units used so far appearing
in the centre. Unlike many other operators’ apps, My 3 gives up-to-the-minute
analysis of usage.
About 40 per cent of 3’s smartphone customers have
downloaded the free app since its launch in October, with 70 per cent of those
using it every month. In a survey, 50 per cent said they called customer
service about their bill less often.
No comments:
Post a Comment