Designing a digital experience for
AGL payment arrangements

Designing a digital experience for AGL payment arrangements

Designing a digital experience for
AGL payment arrangements

Overview

The problem

Outcomes

Balancing priorities

Detailed design

Delivery

Services

Product Strategy & Innovation
UX + UI Design
UX Research
Team Augmentation
Design Ops

Company size

3000+ employees

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Overview

An AGL Payment Arrangement (APA) is a type of long-term instalment plan available to AGL customers struggling to pay bills - offering predictable payments by bundling current debt with the cost of future energy bills. APA’s are just one type of payment assistance that AGL offers customers - depending on the amount owning and their individual circumstances customers might also have access to bill payment extensions and short-term instalment plans to pay off an individual bill.

The problem

Outcomes

Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.

Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.

Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.
Increased APA adoption
The new experience provided users an additional self-service option to manage debt. After release, APA achieved one of the highest conversion rates within My Account.
Relief on assisted channels
The ability for users to set up APAs themselves resulted in a reduction in  calls and chat sessions relating to AGL Payment Arrangements.
Improved ways of working
During the initiative we collaboratively developed new ways of working within the scrum team, this model created efficiencies in the agile approach for use in future projects.

Balancing priorities

Good UX

Research and user testing had previously identified a range of desirable features, such live APA calculation breakdowns, however some were not technically feasible or were at odds with other business priorities.

Business objectives

Some business requirements around customer debt conflicted with the goal of providing a good experience to users under bill-stress. Expert stakeholder management and negotiation was vital to delivering a solution in this landscape.

Tech limitations

Existing API’s and the underlying payment arrangement logic had limitations which impacted UX. Creative workarounds had to be found since fundamental changes to how AGL Payment Arrangements worked were not within scope.

Detailed design

APA setup and review experience

Once co-design of the high level UX was complete, we proceed to UI design. We designed an APA setup experience, including various options for users to customise their arrangement. We also designed various screens allowing users to view and manage the existing arrangements in place across their AGL services.

Payment assistance portal integration

As an entry point for the APA setup experience, we designed an integration into the current ‘Payment Assistance Portal’ which currently featured payment extensions and short-term instalment plans. It was important to find a simple way to help users to the right type of assistance for them.

Delivery

Co-design and elaboration sessions

Tight delivery timescales meant that development needed to begin in tandem with design being completed. A whole team approach was taken to finalising UX design, with the Exo Digital consultant leading co-design and elaboration sessions on a regular cadence to co-ordinate efforts of the team.

Progressive development

The Exo Digital consultant was actively involved in planning the development approach. Backend functionality and layouts were implemented first, with final UI uplifts planned into subsequent sprints to avoid a bottleneck in build.

User testing

User testing of prototypes was conducted using Maze in tandem with initial development so that any improvements identified could be fed back into the solution design and planned into sprints prior to feature launch.