The client's customers needed an easy, digital way to see information about error codes occurring on the client's products. This type of information was only previously available through a phone call to the client's support team.
This system allows anyone to troubleshoot their own products (which typically have simple fixes) and alleviate the strain on the client's Customer Service team.
Requirements
- Shareable Links
- Responsive
- High Performance
- Feedback Options
Tools
- Javascript
- JSP & Java
Step 1
Process and Optimize the Data.
The client's engineering team already used a database system to track the product error codes. An issue we quickly ran into is that the error code language was not very user friendly. The client hired a technical writer to review each item and work as the liaison between the engineering team and the customers.
Once the initial data was taken and rewritten, we implemented a new process where the engineering team would track each update they made to an error code and would sent that specific change to the technical writer. This allowed them to quickly implement new error code language into the Error Code Lookup app.
The end data was stored in an Oracle table with a GUI system for the technical writer to access. Any changes made would be pushed live over night through an automated build system created in Azure DevOps.
Step 2
Build the UI.
The app design was meant to be simple, and as frictionless as possible. Error code goes in, instructions come out. The error codes were relatively short so an autocomplete system was not added to this project.
Along with the instructions on how to fix, some error codes had additional instructions on how to clear the error once the problem was corrected.
At the very end of the page, an option to provide feedback was created so that users could let the client know if the solutions were effective. This feedback mechanism was built in Google Analytics and was setup to automatically export a report on a weekly basis to be reviewed by the client and their technical writer.
Step 3
API for error code listing.
The total number of error codes and content was under one-hundred so including everything in a fetch request on load was trivial. The URL is updated using the window.location.search API so that links can be sent out and shared. A customer service rep or a marketing email can directly link to error code pages without the overhead of building multiple pages.
Step 4
Review
Since the launch of the tool, the decreased service calls have overwhelmingly saved the client time, money, and customer frustration. The new technical writer position they filled has more than paid for itself with the launch of this tool and they are excited to continue to improve on it using their customer's feedback.
Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.
Finito! (The End)
Thanks for reading!