We were initially asked to test the effectiveness of the existing bill with customers, and, depending on the outcome of our research, modify or completely redesign the bill. Our research showed that customers could only use the bill to find and understand 43% of the information that it contained. As a result of this low performance, we were asked to produce a totally new bill design. After seven rounds of testing and refining the bill design was able to be used by customers to find and understand 100% of the information it contained.

After this bill went live Telstra’s call centres were flooded with calls from people complaining about the late fee, even though it had been on the old bill for 7 years previously. This is a common by-product of a re-design that is transparent and can actually be used by people.

The outcome for Telstra was an increase in the number of customers paying their bill on time. And, the bill won a distinction in the Design Effectiveness Award category at the 2005 National Biennial Design awards of the Australian Graphic Design Association.

Around 12 million customers around Australia have used our design (developed for Telstra on behalf of the CRI). According to Telstra’s quarterly Market Research surveys, customer satisfaction with the bill design reached 95% – its highest ever rating. Unfortunately, organisational changes brought with it a change to the way the bills were generated, resulting in a phasing out of this effective bill design.

We tested the Certificates to see how well they could be used. We found that customers could not actually use the information on the Certificates to find out what they were or what to do with them. It was also difficult to identify the payment options, or understand any discounts that applied to their premium. Customers also assumed they had a ‘grace period’ and would be covered even if their premium was paid late, when in fact they were no longer covered once the policy had expired.

Based on this research we developed a task-orientated Certificate that utilises a set of easy-to-follow steps on the front page to explain to customers how to use and understand the document. The information is presented in the order that a customer needs it, with contract details starting overleaf and flowing uninterrupted to any pages that follow.

The new Certificate design has radically changed consumer behaviour. Since implementation, negative criticism of the Certificate has dropped dramatically, with customers commenting on how easy the new documents are to use. The steps we introduced have helped to prompt careful scrutiny of the insurance contract, with many customers upgrading their level of cover after realising they were underinsured. Payment amounts, payment options and discounts on premiums have become more apparent. And fewer customers are paying their premium late.

The design was runner-up in the 2004 AGDA Design Effectiveness Award.

Old Certificate with ‘clutter’

Re-designed Certificate with ’steps’

We conducted three rounds of usability testing with Country Energy customers in the major regional centres of Bathurst, Queenbeayan and Port Macquarie. The findings from this testing provided invaluable information on which to develop the final bill design. We found that there was a need to simplify the metering information and graphs, and improve the navigation for customers so they could find their account number, the due date and the total amount due, and the contact information more easily.

The new Country Energy bill design, with its harmonious colour scheme, uncluttered base stationery and type hierarchy, and simplified presentation of electricity and natural gas meter information, clearly has the customer in mind. Key design and text components have been reordered so that customers can readily find and understand information that is important to them, such as the total due and when they have to pay.

Since the launch of the redesigned bill, Country Energy staff have reported a reduction in the number of customers making bill enquiries to their call centres, and a decrease in the number of overdue notices being sent to customers.