Speeding up the Mona Lisa with Amazon Connect

Every second counts – especially on cloud contact centres

The cost of a call is directly related to how long agents spend handling it. For cloud based contact centres such as Amazon Connect, every second counts and every second is charged for. Average Handling Time (AHT) is the KPI that contact centre managers watch constantly.

The cost of a poor UI

A poorly designed user interface (UI) can slow your agents down, so pushing up AHT and the cost of each call.

Amy Harvey, the Principle Software Engineer with IDD Inc, writing in “Usability Geek”, said: “A great UI is so seamless that we don’t even think about it – we just use it, get what we need, and move on.”

Here are 3 key factors to look for in a well-designed UI

It is built around the agent workflow:

Using interfaces such as an agent desktop for Amazon Connect, your agent will pick up a call and speak to the customer. Maybe she will put him on hold or even transfer him. If not, she will finish the call and wait for him to hang up before entering a wrap up code, then make herself ready for the next call.

This sequence should be reflected in the agent’s controls. The right controls should appear at the right time, saving her vital seconds hunting for them because they are too small or placed in an odd corner.

Familiarity breeds speed:

Jakob’s Law is one of the UX designers’ “Ten Commandments”. It states that what the user is doing should “be familiar”. Interfaces should resemble processes familiar to users, so they can learn how to use it faster.

Most UIs are designed to be read from left to right like a page of text. Many websites have their menus on the left, and key action buttons running across the top. The logout button is on the extreme right. It’s the final action the user will take.

Not too many decisions at once:

Have you ever looked at a TV remote and wondered why they have so many buttons?

Hick Hyman’s Law states too many choices dramatically increase a user’s decision time.

When an agent comes to a decision point, they should have only two or three options, so that the choice is clear.

Being beautiful like the Mona Lisa is not enough for your UI, it needs to be something your agents can use quickly, otherwise your AHT will wipe the smile off of your face.