Goals
- Simplifying the myob invoicing process so it’s easier for customers to pay myob.
- Helping partners (accountants & bookkeepers) get paid for selling myob products.
- Helping partners (accountants & bookkeepers) get paid for selling myob products.
Environmental Scan
The first step of this project was to gather all qualitative and quantitative research and reports for analysis. This included filtered logs of support calls, prior research, community forum posts, finance team reports etc.
Environmental Scan Findings
Listening Tour
I then conducted a listening tour (contextual inquiry) with stakeholders to gain an understanding of the space and the current experience internally at MYOB and externally with our customers. The insights of the listening tour were analysed and synthesised and the output highlighted pain and delight points as well as opportunities for improvement.
Workshops with Key Stakeholders
A series of workshops were conducted with representatives from many areas of the business including Finance, Sales, Support, Product Marketing and others. The aim of the workshop was to socialise the current understanding and validate the findings from the listening tour. The central activity in one of the workshop was to understand and gain alignment from all stakeholders on the invoicing journey both internally and externally. In order to do this we ran a 'connect-the-dots' activity individually (as seen below) and later discussed this and mapped it out as a group to gain alignment and consensus.
Discovery Research
The internal view of the customer wholesale journey was then simplified to the following journey (see below) and used a framework for contextual inquiry. The journey was intentionally simple and in grey scale to establish with customers that it could be modified. The interview guide was broken into an introduction, the four phases of the journey and a proposed experience section. At each phase of the journey specific questions were asked to elaborate on the current experience. The interview was recorded and notes were taken using the 'rip and flip' method (see below).
The Wholesale Journey
Affinity Mapping, Analysis and Synthesis
The interviews were all captured on post-it notes. Every note from an interview forms a "clue". The clues, as can be seen below were then analysed and mapped out according to their theme and phase in the journey as well as broken into three swim lanes to highlight what customers are doing, thinking and feeling. Hunches were then formed about customer motivations to explain the clues. Further theming took place before insights were formed which also took other reports and research obtained from the environmental scan. Once that was done an opportunities were formed and reported back to the business.
Findings and Recommendations
The following were the findings and recommendations:
1. Simplified invoice
- Clear separation between charges for the practice and charges to be disbursed to clients
2. Format that is readable and easy to reconcile
- Clarity around line items and their meaning
- Ability to export and print in common file formats, for example Excel or CSV
- A partner’s internal client ID should be populated when provisioning a new client and flow through to the disbursement charges
3. Easy to access current and historical invoices
4. Simplified commissions and consistent payments
5. Simplified payment methods and clear payment instructions
- One payment for all charges
- Clear separation between charges for the practice and charges to be disbursed to clients
2. Format that is readable and easy to reconcile
- Clarity around line items and their meaning
- Ability to export and print in common file formats, for example Excel or CSV
- A partner’s internal client ID should be populated when provisioning a new client and flow through to the disbursement charges
3. Easy to access current and historical invoices
4. Simplified commissions and consistent payments
5. Simplified payment methods and clear payment instructions
- One payment for all charges
A series of workshops were then conducted with a cross functional team to sketch and design new processes and procedures for the billing and invoicing service as well as a billing centre (see below and InVision link) and improved invoice in both digital and physical format.
Lean Usability Testing
The next phase of this project involved lean usability testing with internal and external customers to validate and fine tune the MVP prototypes.
Implementation into the Business and Development
The recommendations were prioritised according to technical, business and customer needs. New processes and procedures were established and implemented within the business. The development team was engaged and an MVP was created. Work is ongoing in this space to ensure continuous improvement through quantitative analytics and qualitative research.