Interface and method of designing an interface

• US 6,778,643 B1
• Filed: 03/21/2000
• Issued: 08/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Technology Resources, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pasquale, Theodore, Bushey, Robert R., Liddell, Gregory W., Martin, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Escalante, Ovidio
• Application Number:
  US09/532,038
• Time in Patent Office: 1,610 Days
• Field of Search: 345/762, 379/111, 379/112.01, 379/112.05, 379/112.06, 379/88.16, 379/88.18, 379/88.22, 379/133, 379/265.01, 379/265.02, 379/265.12, 379/266.01, 379/266.07, 379/134, 379/136, 705/10, 705/1, 705/9
• US Class Current: 379/88.18
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP

Abstract

A method of designing an interface system that allows users to map the representation of their task directly to the interface. There are three major phases to the Customer-Centric Approach to Interface Design (C-CAID). End-users'"'"' tasks are categorized to determine the frequency of reasons or tasks of why users interact with a particular system. These reasons and their relative frequencies are used to design interface options that emphasize the user'"'"'s task categories. Finally, the customer-centric interface designs are evaluated and compared with existing system interfaces using usability tests with actual users performing the tasks. The results from usability tests are used to pinpoint the task-option combinations that do not work well and which should be revised. Benefits of this customer-centric design are improved systems performance and increased user satisfaction.

Claims

1. A method for designing an interface system, comprising:

collecting from call centers reasons a user is interfacing with a system to define tasks;

determining frequency of task occurrence for each call center;

determining a call volume weight for each call center based upon a total call volume for each call center;

determining an adjusted task frequency for each call center by multiplying the call volume weight for the call center by the task frequency for the call center;

determining an overall adjusted task frequency by summing each call center'"'"'s adjusted task frequency;

categorizing tasks in accordance with the overall adjusted task frequency; and

utilizing the categorized tasks to design an interface system options menu.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein user relevant terms, obtained from the call centers, are used in the menu options.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising evaluating the performance of the interface system by use of an analytic scoring model.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein utilizing of the categorized tasks comprises grouping and ordering the menu options in accordance with the a overall adjusted task frequency.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the menu options are ordered so that higher frequency tasks are positioned higher in the sequence of options.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a prediction model based upon expected user task volume and task frequency is utilized to provide an indication of how the interface-system will perform.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein cumulative response time (CRT) and routing accuracy are used to evaluate performance of the interface system.

8. An interface system for performing tasks related to a user'"'"'s reasons for interacting with the interface system, the interface system including an ordered set of menu options, wherein the order of the menu options of the set of menu options is determined in accordance with overall adjusted task frequency and each menu option is defined in terms of customer relevant terminology based upon data collected from a plurality of users, the overall adjusted task frequency being calculated by determining a frequency of task occurrence for each call center, determining a call volume weight for each call center based upon a total call volume for each call center, determining an adjusted task frequency for each call center by multiplying the call volume weight for the call center by the task frequency for the call center, and determining the overall adjusted task frequency by summing each call center'"'"'s adjusted task frequency.

9. The interface according to claim 8, wherein the menu options represent tasks categorized according to the overall task frequency .

10. The interface according to claim 9, wherein the interface comprises an interactive voice response system.

11. A method for designing an interface system, comprising:

collecting user task statements from a plurality of users;

categorizing the statements into task categories to be performed by the interface system;

designing menu options based upon the task categories and the user task statements; and

evaluating performance of the interface system using cumulative response time (CRT), comprising a total time a user interfaces with the system, and routing accuracy that accounts for whether the user successfully navigated the interface system to a correct destination, whether the user navigated to an incorrect destination, and whether the user did not navigate to any destination.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising evaluating the designed interface system utilizing usability tests to optimize the interface system.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the usability tests compare menu options of the designed interface system with an existing interface system.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein evaluating comprises identifying ineffective task categories and menu option combinations.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein designing the menu options comprises utilizing a portion of the task statements.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the user task statements are mapped to an associated menu option.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the interface system comprises an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.

18. The method according to claim 11, further comprising organizing menu options by locating high frequency tasks earlier in the sequence of menu options.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein a prediction model based upon expected user task volume and task frequency is utilized to provide an indication of how the interface system will perform.