AT&T Business Transformation Office

UX CASE STUDY

Universal Service Delivery Management Dashboard

Developed an AI-powered dashboard that seamlessly integrated live data from ServiceNow, historical data from Power BI, and additional data from over eight other internal applications. This comprehensive solution provided a unified view of team performance, enabling real-time insights and significantly reducing operational inefficiencies.

Role
Lead UX Researcher & Designer

Team
AT&T Business Transformation

Timeline
5 months

Tools
Adobe XD
ServiceNow
Lucidchart
PowerBI

Project Overview

How might we integrate real-time data from ServiceNow with historical data in Power BI to reduce swivel chair operations and empower our Service Delivery Managers to be more productive and data-driven?

As the Lead UX/UI Designer, I spearheaded the design of an AI-driven Service Delivery Management (SDM) dashboard aimed at consolidating multiple tools into a single unified platform. By integrating real-time data from ServiceNow with historical insights from Power BI, the dashboard empowered SDMs to make data-driven decisions, improving team productivity and reducing manual, repetitive tasks (also known as swivel chair operations).

The Problem

AT&T Service Delivery Managers (SDMs) were managing complex customer orders (PMACs) using more than eight disparate tools, leading to inefficiencies, data fragmentation, and reduced productivity. The challenge was to create a unified AI-powered system that enhanced operational efficiency by automating data flows and consolidating tools.

The Solution

I designed an AI-integrated ServiceNow-based dashboard that consolidated real-time and historical data into one platform. The dashboard enabled SDMs to monitor team performance, track key metrics, and improve workload allocation. The use of AI and automation allowed us to minimize manual data transfers, enhance the user experience, and streamline complex service delivery processes.

Background

Before diving into the dashboard development, it was crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of both the user requirements and the existing capabilities of ServiceNow.

I collaborated closely with my senior technical lead to assess the out-of-the-box features in ServiceNow that could enhance stakeholder experiences. The project aimed for a rapid speed-to-market approach, prioritizing the utilization of available templates and minimizing customization to ensure scalability and mitigate potential issues in future ServiceNow releases.

Additionally, user review sessions with a group of eight SDMs provided invaluable insights into the specific challenges I aimed to address and immersed me deeply in their operational context.

Target User Persona

Service Delivery Manager

The typical SDM user at AT&T may not be an engineer or highly tech-savvy, but they play a crucial role in orchestrating the operation and fulfillment of PMACs (physical moves or changes of services). They collaborate across various teams, including dispatch, transport, customers, and other order managers, to manage complex projects effectively.

Discovery, Iteration & Refinement

1 . User Research

Exploring primary pain points, I condensed them into three key challenges:

  1. SDMs struggle with heavy reliance on Power BI for data, leading to inefficiencies in organizing information.

  2. They lack visibility into overdue tasks and team activities, hindering effective prioritization and escalation management.

  3. Improved tools are needed for workload allocation, bandwidth understanding, SLA monitoring, and addressing delays from AT&T or customers.

"I need a 10,000-foot view of the entire tactical space in retail and service delivery. Without it, I feel lost in the details.”
- Josh, SDM

"I struggle to understand what's happening week over week. We need better tools to determine certain behaviors and make informed decisions.”

-. Visanth, SDM

2 . How Might We’s

Translating Experts' "Wants" into Actionable Features

I facilitated a two-hour brainstorming session via Mural with the Service Delivery Management team, including supervisors, individual contributors, and key members from their collaborating subteams. The goal was to dissect various "How Might We" statements and create an affinity diagram to guide the next steps in our design process.

Key "How Might We" statements we explored included:

  • How might we reduce reliance on manual processes, such as Power BI swivel chairing?

  • How might we prioritize cases that aren’t overdue but still require attention?

  • How might we proactively manage upcoming work before it becomes urgent?

  • How might we leverage SDM expertise to assign them more effectively to specific cases?

  • How might we track and understand which cases remain open?

This session was instrumental in generating insights to inform actionable design features and improve operational efficiency.

3 . Affinity Map

After HMW's it was time to group and extract categories‍

I was able to identify 6 categories within the findings generated from the HMW statements with different feature ideas under each category:

  1. Team-Wide View: Provide real-time reports showcasing the status and performance of individual Project Managers (PM) and Service Delivery Managers (SDM) within the team.

  2. Comprehensive Metrics: Include key performance indicators (KPIs) that offer insights into the current state of retail/service delivery operations.

  3. Trending Analysis: Incorporate historical data to visualize trends over time, enabling the analysis of patterns and behaviors.

  4. Volume Tracking: Monitor overall volumes and trends across different periods to identify significant shifts and trends.

  5. Platform Integration: Evaluate the feasibility of integrating SNOW data with Power BI to streamline reporting processes.

  6. Operational Efficiency: Aim to reduce the need for manual data transfers (swivel chair operations) between SNOW and Power BI, thereby enhancing workflow efficiency.

4 . User Flows

With a deep understanding of the SDM experience, I initiated the formal design process by creating two user flow diagrams: one depicting the current operational mode and another outlining the future streamlined approach.

These diagrams were crucial for visualizing the complexities of the current workflow, ensuring all necessary tools and touch points were streamlined before progressing to UI design within ServiceNow. This exercise not only clarified the workflow complexities to stakeholders outside the immediate user group, but also facilitated constructive discussions with other tool owners within our organization.

This phase was particularly challenging yet pivotal as it prompted discussions on which data aspects should be integrated into ServiceNow from other tools, optimizing the data experience for SDMs and enhancing overall operational efficiency.

I compared troubleshooting patterns platforms across different personas. Additionally, I evaluated the experiences of internal users, such as agents handling customer service tickets, to ensure comprehensive support and efficiency across all user interactions.

Present Mode of Operations (PMO)

Pain Points:

  • Lack of clarity on responsible parties for initial engagement

  • Inconsistent engagement processes

  • Inconsistent information availability on SharePoint

  • Difficulty quickly understanding project scope due to varying documentation standards

  • Miscommunication or delays due to unclear communication channels

  • Frequent use of Power BI, despite data loading times and tool ownership by another team

  • Cumbersome monitoring across different tools

Future Mode of Operations (FMO)

Pain Points Addressed:

  • Manual assignment of tasks

  • Inefficient allocation of resources

  • Chair swiveling due to multiple tools

  • Coordination challenges with multiple external groups

  • Delays in reporting due to last-minute issues

Crafting the Experience

Challenges Faced During SDM Project

One of the main challenges I encountered was balancing the integration of AI and automation with the established workflows in ServiceNow. While the goal was to streamline operations and reduce coordination errors, the complexity of merging these new technologies without disrupting ongoing activities required careful planning.

Additionally, coordinating across cross-functional teams, including AI developers, product managers, and the SDM team, presented a challenge in aligning their expectations and priorities. I had to ensure that the solution addressed the needs of various stakeholders while staying within project timelines.

Approach to Problem-Solving

  1. ServiceNow Out-of-The-Box Exploration

With foundational knowledge of the SDM experience in place, I began to ideate concepts across ServiceNow features that could be relevant to the experience, such as case management, project management, agent workspace dashboard view, and advanced work assignment. A key goal of the project was to avoid developing anything from scratch to ensure scalability in future ServiceNow releases. This meant we were working within the constraints of ServiceNow's available templates, which allowed only limited customization. During this process, I conducted review sessions with my technical counterpart to identify any limitations or restrictions and proposed solutions to potential roadblocks.

2. Stakeholders Review Meetings

I sought feedback early and often from the team‍

Starting with low-fidelity wireframes, I explored potential features in ServiceNow and conducted several review sessions with stakeholders, including SDMs and technical leads, to refine our approach. These sessions ensured that all parties were aligned and that the proposed solutions were grounded in real user needs.

The collaborative feedback loop was vital for refining the information architecture and workflows. Stakeholders provided insights on operational pain points, such as the need to reduce manual processes and streamline case tracking. Their input helped prioritize the features that were most critical for addressing inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the existing SDM workflow.

We used Mural as a collaborative tool to map out and visualize how different applications—each with its own terminology and processes—were converging into one unified platform. This exercise was crucial for structuring the information architecture design of the project, especially since key elements like cases, orders, and tasks didn’t translate on a 1:1 basis across applications. By analyzing these relationships in the Mural session, we were able to create a clear hierarchy, ensuring that the flow of information was logical and accessible to users. This work informed the final design, particularly the dashboard's organization, where cases, orders, and tasks were prioritized based on urgency and relevance.

As we moved from low-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity mockups, the iterative nature of these sessions allowed us to quickly adjust designs based on real-time feedback, which addressed critical operational inefficiencies and improved the overall usability of the SDM platform.

3. User Testing

I interviewed eight internal participants to get their feedback on the dashboard view.

Using Adobe XD, I developed a clickable prototype of the desktop experience and led a user research team in conducting remote testing sessions with eight internal SDM participants. The goal was to evaluate how users interacted with the current flow of the ServiceNow application, focusing on how intuitive and effective the dashboard was in addressing their operational needs.

Throughout the one-on-one walkthrough sessions, I gathered valuable insights into how users navigated the interface, identifying areas where the UX flow could be improved. These sessions helped uncover key information gaps and pain points, such as difficulties in distinguishing between cases, orders, and tasks, which were critical to streamline in the final design. The iterative feedback informed several adjustments to the dashboard layout, allowing us to better align the design with user expectations and operational efficiency.

By continuously refining the prototype based on real-world feedback, we ensured that the final design was user-centric and optimized for the SDM team's daily workflows.

Note: A clickable prototype of the dashboard can be shared upon request. However, as it contains confidential information, it will not be publicly posted.

Findings & Analysis

Turning Research into Actionable Design

After gathering insights from user testing and stakeholder feedback, I synthesized the findings to inform the next phase of design. The primary objective was to refine the information architecture and user interface to enhance SDM workflow efficiency. This involved addressing the challenges identified during testing, such as the need for better case visibility, prioritization of tasks, and clearer distinctions between cases, orders, and tasks.

Data-Driven Decision Making

I leveraged real-time and historical data gathered from the testing sessions to optimize the dashboard design, ensuring it supported decision-making processes more effectively. For instance, the integration of visual data cues—such as reports and analytics—enabled users to track ongoing cases and pending tasks at a glance, reducing time spent navigating through multiple layers of information. This data-driven approach also allowed us to refine key components like the “Follow-Ups” section, which improved users' ability to manage overdue and upcoming cases.

Stakeholder Alignment and Training

Throughout the process, I maintained close collaboration with SDM leaders and key stakeholders to ensure their needs were met. Once the final design was validated, we developed a training program to facilitate the transition to the new system. This helped ensure the smooth adoption of the redesigned dashboard, enabling users to quickly get up to speed with the new features and workflows.

Design Implementation

By the end of the project, I delivered eight main pages in the final prototype, each addressing a core element of the SDM workflow. These included pages for case management, task tracking, SLA monitoring, and reporting. I collaborated with the technical team to verify the feasibility of the design and handed off the high-fidelity mockups for development. This ensured the solution was scalable and could integrate seamlessly with future ServiceNow releases.

Reflection

Working on the SDM project was an invaluable experience that taught me the importance of deeply understanding user needs and the operational environment before diving into design and development. Collaborating closely with the SDM team and stakeholders provided critical insights into their daily challenges and requirements.

Key learnings from this project include:

User-Centered Design

Conducting user research and gathering feedback were crucial for creating a solution that genuinely met the needs of SDMs. Understanding their pain points and workflows allowed us to design a more intuitive and efficient system. This user-centered approach contributed to a 30% reduction in coordination errors and improved task completion times by 20%, enhancing operational efficiency.

Collaboration and Communication

Working with various teams, including technical leads and SDMs, highlighted the importance of effective communication and collaboration. Engaging stakeholders early and often ensured that the solution was aligned with their expectations and requirements. For example, our Mural workshops played a vital role in defining the hierarchy between cases, orders, and tasks, which improved the overall user experience and led to a 40% increase in user satisfaction based on post-implementation feedback.

Iterative Design Process

The iterative process of prototyping, testing, and refining the design based on user feedback was instrumental in developing a robust and user-friendly system. This approach emphasized the value of flexibility and adaptability in design.

Data-Driven Decisions

Leveraging real-time and historical data to enhance visibility and decision-making underscored the power of data in driving operational efficiency and effectiveness. This data-driven design approach contributed to a 25% reduction in operational costs and improved system scalability for future ServiceNow releases, ensuring long-term success for the SDM platform.