Bellhop

A consumer services startup within the moving industry aiming to make booking movers more efficient and stress-free.

Industry: Service startup - moving industry
Responsibility: UX, UI, and research
Team: Myself (sole UX designer & researcher), PM, Engineer, Data analyst

User Research: move shadow & stakeholder interviews

I job shadowed a move to better understand how the pre-move process works and how the Pros engage with the app during this process. Interviews with the Pros were conducted during and after the move.

STAKEHOLDERS:

• Customer service

• Operations (Pros, Market Managers)

• Product

• Data Analysts

PAIN POINTS:

• pre-move walkthrough rarely follows the same chronological order as app

• inefficiency of having to pan through many screens to jump to different sections of the walkthrough

• adding photos during the move is difficult, requiring many taps to find the correct upload location once move has begun

• awkwardness of using phone in front of customer following a script-like walkthrough

🚧 Opportunities being worked on

• Move day app flow

  • Resting screen redesign - creating better hierarchy and functionality, removing redundant UI

  • Walk-through redesign - creating more flexibility, allowing Pros to navigate in the order that’s most efficient and allows for better customer interaction; increase documentation - notably photo uploads of damage, etc.

• P2P screen redesign - to capture more nuances in feedback, both positive and negative feedback; increase number of reviews

• Booking flow redesign - creating paths to increase conversion, accuracy, scalability, etc

🔭 Future opportunities

• Options for opening up job board to allow for greater flexibility and for Pros to be able to take last minute jobs

• Communication tool - stable and efficient messaging to team as well as HQ

• Using P2P feedback to help create the best teams with more efficiency

• Training for Pros - built into app, onboarding documents, in-person/virtual sessions, etc

• Customer engagement - how to build repeat customers, encourage them to go back to dash, increase reviews, increase tipping, etc

design workshop

I led a design workshop where the product team could brainstorm ways to create a better overall experience for Pros and customers that would align with customer, business, and pro goals.

PROBLEMS:

1. How might we retain and reduce Pro churn?

   • Pros have different job goals (side hustle, flex schedule, students)

   • Pros do not know the growth potential

   • Pros need more support for upskilling

   • Need to keep Pros engaged even through busy season

2. How might we improve moves from the customer’s perspective?

   • Customers can be stressed and/or emotional about move

   • Customers want their items to arrive without damage

   • Customers do not surprise fees

GOALS:

1. Improve mover skillset

   • Better softs skills means better customer service to help alleviate, or at the vert least, not add more stress to the customer’s day.

   • Wrapping and packing properly is key in protecting large piece of furniture.

   • Loading the truck or container properly increases space efficiency and decreases damage. This helps keep the costs down for the customer if they do not need an additional truck or multiple runs. Damage helps keep the business costs down as claim rates decline.

2. Set customer expectations

   • Better booking and quoting system that’s more accurate and describes in detail what the customer should expect during the move, but also in the billing process.

   • Accuracy will help operations build the correct size team and truck, which decreases the rate of moves going above estimated time.

   • Clear and transparent communication using multiple channels to allow customers to have all the info they need at their fingertips.

3. Pro engagement and support

   • Providing relevant tips and tools to help Pros upskill.

   • Incentivize Pros to stay engaged through slow season to reduce churn. More seasoned Pros have be valuable in training newer recruits and have higher customer reviews. Retaining them creates a better workforce, better customer experience, and decreases recruiting costs for the business.

   • Incentivize Pros for ratings to encourage our workforce to give it their best and make sure they are not just thinking about the move, but also their soft skills.

UX improvements

priority 1:

Tackle low-hanging fruit with high impact for Pros and customers that are mid-low effort for product and engineering team.

solution 1:

Made adjustments to room inventory screen to increase customer input thus improving quote accuracy.

• Arranged typical rooms at the top of the screen for greater visibility

• Default selections based on type of property selected

• Real estate APIs for future phase for defaults

Worked with the data team to make tweaks to the quoting algorithm.

outcome:

Homes & Townhomes

+8% of quotes within 20% of estimation
+15% of quotes within 5% of estimation
-22% in total hours difference between quote (difference between estimate and actual)

Apartments & Condos

+11% of quotes within 20% of estimation
+4% of quotes within 5% of estimation
-47% in total hours difference between quote (difference between estimate and actual)

Priority 2:

improving the pre-move walkthrough

PROBLEM: current user flow too linear

Mapping out the current flow allows me to find the opportunities in a more granular manner. The current flow was chronological, but when shadowing Pros in the field, it was clear that customer walkthroughs rarely follow a consistent path. The new solution, therefore, must be more flexible for the Pro, allowing them to complete the walkthrough in the order that makes sense for the situation and less “script-like” to allow for better customer connection.

In the current flow, the Pros had to follow a move-day walkthrough of the customer’s home prior to actual movement of their belongings. The walkthrough is an important step in a successful move. Pros expressed that move days don’t follow the chronological order the app currently follows and it causes them to fumble around with their phone during the walkthrough, which they felt was unprofessional and awkward.

SOLUTION: pre-move dashboard

The proposed flow uses a dashboard model allowing the Pros to go in any order that makes sense. Pros felt the flexibility lets them fill in the report when they’re walking back to the truck and discussing the move plan with their team instead of in front of the customer.

See the new flow in Figma.