INBOX TRIAGE
AT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY
Comp Consult setting up our affinity wall for our class presentation.
CHALLENGE: FINDING THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Our client, an inbox team in a government agency, expressed their frustration at having too many emails and not enough time to answer them. The team responded to questions from all over the world, about many topics. They wanted to spend less time on emails, send their email responses faster, and maintain their relationship with the public.
Skills
Interviews
Affinity Diagram
Solution Scoring
My Role
UX Researcher
Client Contact
Duration
1 semester
Group
Lauren Elbaum
Ting-Wei Wu
Xuenan Xu
Zhiyi Ma
OUR TEAM'S PROCESS: CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
Observation
Our team observed an inbox team meeting. We observed group dynamics, team members expertise, and their email delegation process.
Semi-structured Interview
Our team interviewed five members of a government agency’s inbox team. Each interview lasted approximately 90 minutes yielding qualitative data.
Interpretation Session
We played the audio recordings of the interviews and transcribed key facts that surfaced in each interview.
Affinity Diagram
We put our key findings on sticky notes. Then we grouped those findings and then, like pieces of a puzzle, made meta groupings. These meta groupings echoed the overarching themes that the inbox team experienced.
Meta Groups:
Unclear email questions
FAQ page design needs improvement
Current work process of email response: Delegation, Tracking, Responding
Organizational constraints: Security, Lack of Resources, Technical constraints
Ideation
After creating the affinity diagram, we brainstormed possible ways to address these challenges.
Scoring Solutions
Then made a rubric that scored solutions based on the needs of our client. The items with the highest scores became our recommendations.
THE ACTUAL PROBLEM
Rather than having too many emails, we determined that our client spends too much time on ambiguous and redundant emails.
Quotes from our Client:
"Last week I spent two to four hours on a dead end question."
"I often receive questions where the answers are already on the FAQ page."
"We spent 10 hours on a question that turned out to be user error—it was a rabbit hole."
"Maybe people are not aware of the FAQ page."
RECOMMENDATION #1 REDESIGN THE INQUIRY FORM
Original Inquiry Form
Redesigned Inquiry Form
This solution cuts down on ambiguous emails by:
Allowing users to self-classify their questions, making it easier for the inbox team to delegate responses.
Users can state their organization and title, allowing the inbox team to prioritize responses.
RECOMMENDATION #2 EMAIL FOOTER LEADS TO FAQ PAGE
This solution cuts down on redundant emails by:
Leading people to the FAQs, especially about the current trainings.
Currently the FAQ page is three layers deep on the website, an email footer.
IMPACT
Our recommendations were well received. The inbox team started using the email footer and plans to talk to their webmaster about changing the inquiry form. See below for their new footer in use.
