PROCESS
We used a process loosely based the double diamond structure.
Telia's history as a telecommunications provider traces all the way back to 1853 when it was founded as Telegraf-Werket.
Today it is Swedens largest telecom provider in revenue, customers and coverage. It's network covers 100% of Swedens population and 75% of Swedens landmass.
Telia Mass Customised Online is a B2B e-commerce project with an estimated development time of 7 years. The goal is to enable self ordering online for all business customers.
When Mass Customised started, the existing solution for Telia's business customers with frame agreements was that they either called/emailed a Telia sales representatives or, for their biggest enterprise customers, used a legacy web portal which doesn't meet todays standards.
Due to a complicated web of legacy systems and the size of operations at Telia, building a webshop that meet today's expectations and standards is a challenging operation.
Lack of first hand insights and knowledge about the needs of the target group. Lots of business requirements based on assumptions about the needs of the target group. Legacy systems and reliances.
A growing design system with some components but no patterns for B2B. Dedicated stake holders open to a design thinking process and a great design team.
I joined the project in the beginning of 2020 together with two other UX designers. After about a year I was the sole UX designer assigned to the project handling both research and design. In my role I also contributed to and improved parts of the Telia enterprise Design System.
In 2021 we were three B2B UX designers at Telia - even though assigned to different projects we frequently collaborated and helped each other out with both research and design.
I collaborated most frequently with three distributed development teams, the IT Product Owner, the Project manager and a group of Business Analysts and IT Architects.
We used a process loosely based the double diamond structure.
At the start of the project we had physical workshops at Telias headquarter in Solna but the Covid pandemic changed that.
Switching from physical workshops where some team members would call in, to online workshops in Miro and Figjam was a game changer. It levelled the playing field for everyone and increased our collaboration.
I've worked a lot with remote user research over the years but during this project I've had the opportunity to both interview and do Lookback tests with the same people many times over which was interesting.
In the fall of 2021 we launched the new webshop to a subset of frame agreement customers enabling self ordering of mobile subscriptions and mobile phones.
Based on qualitative research the new design is appreciated by customers and performing so well that the next step is to adapt it and open it up for mass market B2B customers without frame agreements.
When talking to customers the most mentioned description is that the new interface/experience is "smooth" and that it have had the desired effect - they rather self order online than order in-store or via phone/email.
After finishing this project I've spent three years as a consultant at Telia. Things I've improved at during this time:
I've spent half my time designing remotely in Figma with other UX designers. Being more used to being the sole designer on a project, co-designing is something I really enjoy and I hope to work in more collaborative projects in the future.
Even though I'm experienced before - I've definitely improved and have become more confident in both leading and contributing to online workshops.
Constructive design critique discussions is one the most rewarding parts of working as a UX designer. To gain the perspective of other designers experiences always improves. At Telia I've become better at formulating my critique and ideas in a constructive way in larger groups.
I have spent more time prototyping and doing pixel design in this project than I have in many years. There were a few years when I was doing more research and strategy projects but I've realised now how much I love it and for future projects I will look for more projects with a balance of strategy, research and UI design.