KAREN CHRISTOPH

Work

Play

About

Contact

KAREN CHRISTOPH

KAREN CHRISTOPH

Work

Play

About

Contact

Political Data Inc - Phone Banking for Campaigns

Political Data Inc - Phone Banking for Campaigns

Political Data Inc - Phone Banking for Campaigns

product design
research
user/stakeholder interview
information architecture
wireframing
interactive prototypes
usability testing
visual design
Redesigning the phone banking experience for progressive campaign candidates, organizers, and volunteers
Redesigning the phone banking experience for progressive campaign candidates, organizers, and volunteers

about

Political Data Inc (PDI)'s primary focus is on voter data for campaigns. PDI helps campaigns understand who their voters are, where they are, and helps them make smart, data-driven decisions. PDI also has a suite of political software tools to help campaigns with voter outreach, fundraising, and CRM.

Political Data Inc (PDI)'s primary focus is on voter data for campaigns. PDI helps campaigns understand who their voters are, where they are, and helps them make smart, data-driven decisions. PDI also has a suite of political software tools to help campaigns with voter outreach, fundraising, and CRM.

overview

overview

overview

I joined this project to help redesign PDI's phone banking tool. Phone banking is a form of political canvassing where campaign organizers and volunteers make calls to talk directly to voters, recruit other volunteers, and organize events. Fundraisers and candidates dial for dollars. Supporters call their friends to identify their support, persuade the undecided, register voters, inform them about voter registration deadlines, and get them to the polls. Although seemingly antiquated, phone banking remains an important way to reach voters, especially older ones and is a core aspect of nearly every campaign vertical.

Each of PDI’s present and future product lines had some kind of call tool requirement. The existing call tools on the market that could be used by campaigns lacked clarity and functionality.

Our goal was to design a volunteer-facing online phone bank that allowed for multiple modes of calling in one interface. We’d build a method for campaign staff to configure the phone banks and their scripts. Later, we’d design for analyzing the phone bank data and performance.

I joined this project to help redesign PDI's phone banking tool. Phone banking is a form of political canvassing where campaign organizers and volunteers make calls to talk directly to voters, recruit other volunteers, and organize events. Fundraisers and candidates dial for dollars. Supporters call their friends to identify their support, persuade the undecided, register voters, inform them about voter registration deadlines, and get them to the polls. Although seemingly antiquated, phone banking remains an important way to reach voters, especially older ones and is a core aspect of nearly every campaign vertical.

Each of PDI’s present and future product lines had some kind of call tool requirement. The existing call tools on the market that could be used by campaigns lacked clarity and functionality.

Our goal was to design a volunteer-facing online phone bank that allowed for multiple modes of calling in one interface. We’d build a method for campaign staff to configure the phone banks and their scripts. Later, we’d design for analyzing the phone bank data and performance.

research

research

research

competitive research

I analyzed the phone banking tools on the market most commonly used in the democratic political space (Call Evo, Thru Talk, etc.) and phone banking tools used by a wider range of industries. I looked at weaknesses and areas for improvement in each, as well as their well-executed features.

I analyzed the phone banking tools on the market most commonly used in the democratic political space (Call Evo, Thru Talk, etc.) and phone banking tools used by a wider range of industries. I looked at weaknesses and areas for improvement in each, as well as their well-executed features.

User Interviews

I interviewed phone bank volunteers, campaign organizers, and campaign admin to uncover what people appreciated about the pros and cons of existing phone banking tools. I spoke with them about how they conducted calls, interacted with their calling tools, and the feelings calls evoked throughout the process. I learned about campaign staff's needs and pain points using admin tools for phone bank set up, management, and analysis, as well as problems they often encountered with volunteers.

I interviewed phone bank volunteers, campaign organizers, and campaign admin to uncover what people appreciated about the pros and cons of existing phone banking tools. I spoke with them about how they conducted calls, interacted with their calling tools, and the feelings calls evoked throughout the process. I learned about campaign staff's needs and pain points using admin tools for phone bank set up, management, and analysis, as well as problems they often encountered with volunteers.

users

We landed on four main users for PDI's phone bank (image below). I needed to consider the often older users of this tool by making sure I designed for clarity, simplicity of use, and larger text accessibility options.

Someone's first time phone banking could often be a stressful, anxiety inducing experience. People might feel nervous for their first few calls and those on the other end of the line are not guaranteed to be kind, therefore we wanted to create a sense of supportiveness and ease in the UI. This included enabling callers to be as prepared as they'd like before initiating calling, knowing what to expect, and providing them with all the tools to make the calling experiences as stress-free as possible.

vision

vision

vision

The vision was to redesign the current phone bank, admin phone bank creation and management, and phone bank script creation flow. We'd prioritize ease of use, simplifying flows, reworking confusing affordances, and incorporating new visual design.

The vision was to redesign the current phone bank, admin phone bank creation and management, and phone bank script creation flow. We'd prioritize ease of use, simplifying flows, reworking confusing affordances, and incorporating new visual design.

team

I worked with a team of three product mangers, two internal stakeholders, and two developers. I was the main designer on this project. I collaborated with and receive feedback from other PDI designers.

design

main phone bank page

On the lefthand pane of the screen, users can view of all contacts in a household and their info. Users can toggle between different contacts based on who they are speaking with on the phone.

In the header, users can toggle between different script views. One view is "branched script", which operates like a tree where different responses and questions will be revealed based on the answer selected. The second is "linear script" where the entire script and its possible paths can be reviewed on one page. We learned that the ability to preview the entire script before calls helps users feel prepared and more at ease. With the buttons in the header, users navigate calls by either skipping the household call or initiating, ending, then moving onto the next household call. If the user does not reach the person they are calling, they select from a list of "outcomes" which tag the call with a result, then they move onto the next call. 

In the center pane, the user finds the script. When they reach someone on the phone, they reference the script that callers navigate throughout their call which includes text, questions, and answers.  

In the righthand pane, the user can take additional actions, such as scheduling the contact for an upcoming event or volunteer shift, leaving a comment about the conversation, editing contact info, viewing where they rank in phone bank performance compared to the rest of the campaign team, and sharing the phone bank (image below).

On the lefthand pane of the screen, users can view of all contacts in a household and their info. Users can toggle between different contacts based on who they are speaking with on the phone.

In the header, users can toggle between different script views. One view is "branched script", which operates like a tree where different responses and questions will be revealed based on the answer selected. The second is "linear script" where the entire script and its possible paths can be reviewed on one page. We learned that the ability to preview the entire script before calls helps users feel prepared and more at ease. With the buttons in the header, users navigate calls by either skipping the household call or initiating, ending, then moving onto the next household call. If the user does not reach the person they are calling, they select from a list of "outcomes" which tag the call with a result, then they move onto the next call. 

In the center pane, the user finds the script. When they reach someone on the phone, they reference the script that callers navigate throughout their call which includes text, questions, and answers.  

In the righthand pane, the user can take additional actions, such as scheduling the contact for an upcoming event or volunteer shift, leaving a comment about the conversation, editing contact info, viewing where they rank in phone bank performance compared to the rest of the campaign team, and sharing the phone bank (image below).

phone bank flow

The happy path for the phone bank starts with a user connecting to the phone bank then initiating the call on the screen. If they reach someone on the call and are able to initiate a conversation, they proceed by following the script while answering questions, which populates the next script item. They follow the script all the way through to the end. Once a user completes the call, they have the option to try to speak with the next person in the household or they can end the call.

If the user is unable to initiate the script with a household member, they instead record an outcome (i.e. no answer, wrong number, not home, etc.), then move onto the next household call.

The happy path for the phone bank starts with a user connecting to the phone bank then initiating the call on the screen. If they reach someone on the call and are able to initiate a conversation, they proceed by following the script while answering questions, which populates the next script item. They follow the script all the way through to the end. Once a user completes the call, they have the option to try to speak with the next person in the household or they can end the call.

If the user is unable to initiate the script with a household member, they instead record an outcome (i.e. no answer, wrong number, not home, etc.), then move onto the next household call.

CALLING TYPES

We created a system to support four modes of calling. Each calling method has slightly different flows.

  1. Browser calling - users make calls through their browsers from a campaign generated phone number.

  2. Manual calling - users make calls from their phone and use the phone bank screen to follow along with the phone bank script.

  3. Power dialer - system automatically dials a phone number right after a call is completed. As soon as the user is finished with a call, the power dialer calls the next contact on the list for them. This is considered a more efficient form of calling.

  4. Predictive dialer - the system uses algorithms to predict the ratio of people likely to answer the call. Based on that ratio and the number of callers present, the system initiates the right amount of outbound calls to connect people to callers instantly.

All calling methods generally operate the same way in the UI, aside from how they connect to the phone bank and move from one call to the next.

We created a system to support four modes of calling. Each calling method has slightly different flows.

  1. Browser calling - users make calls through their browsers from a campaign generated phone number.

  2. Manual calling - users make calls from their phone and use the phone bank screen to follow along with the phone bank script.

  3. Power dialer - system automatically dials a phone number right after a call is completed. As soon as the user is finished with a call, the power dialer calls the next contact on the list for them. This is considered a more efficient form of calling.

  4. Predictive dialer - the system uses algorithms to predict the ratio of people likely to answer the call. Based on that ratio and the number of callers present, the system initiates the right amount of outbound calls to connect people to callers instantly.

All calling methods generally operate the same way in the UI, aside from how they connect to the phone bank and move from one call to the next.

scripts

On the other side of the phone bank system, the campaign admin create scripts by generating a series of conditional "script segments". A script segment can be text or a question with answers. Each text segment and question/answer segment can be linked to another segment within the script or can be a place where the script ends.

On the other side of the phone bank system, the campaign admin create scripts by generating a series of conditional "script segments". A script segment can be text or a question with answers. Each text segment and question/answer segment can be linked to another segment within the script or can be a place where the script ends.

set up wizard

In addition to scripts, I designed a wizard flow for campaign admin to create and configure phone banks. This is a six step process:

  1. General details - Naming the phone bank, selecting calling method, hours of operation, etc. 

  2. Universe - Selecting or creating a universe (a list of people to call) and further narrow the targeting of that universe.

  3. Script - Selecting or creating a script for the caller to follow during their call.

  4. Event - Optionally, the user can select an event. This feature is useful for phone banks with event RSVPs and volunteer recruiting initiatives. 

  5. Display - Making selections about what information will display to the users and what can be edited by the users.

  6. Confirm - Confirming a summary of all previous steps, then creating a phone bank link that users will share with callers. 

In the previous phone bank set up, users were required to exit the setup flow to create scripts and universes (targeting lists of people to call) which resulted in a clunky experience. I added a means for admin to create new universes, scripts, and events via modal without leaving this flow.

outcome

User testing and the beta rollout proved we removed most of the hangups people were getting caught in on the phone bank UI. Call completions for campaigns shot up significantly.

The admin flows for creating scripts and phone banks tested positively. We experienced more than double the engagement of the tool after the new designs launched.

User testing and the beta rollout proved we removed most of the hangups people were getting caught in on the phone bank UI. Call completions for campaigns shot up significantly.

The admin flows for creating scripts and phone banks tested positively. We experienced more than double the engagement of the tool after the new designs launched.