We helped E-Plus, the third largest mobile network operator in Germany, to develop a new business support system. We developed and carried out a qualitative study to understand user behavior in the current IT system. Later, the results of the study will facilitate a benchmark with the future business support system. The knowledge that has been gained during this process was directly applied to the ongoing development process.
Händler-Shop
E-Plus Shop
Business support systems (BSS) support all business processes from the beginning to the end of a customer relationship: marketing, consulting, sales, processing contracts, billing and customer service.
E-Plus has an IT landscape that has grown organically over the years that is to be replaced by a new, consistent system in the near future.
Using a qualitative study of the most important user groups, we gained insight into the way users work with the current systems. A primary objective of the study was to identify the most important activity areas in order to compare them with a benchmark. The benchmark was designed to answer questions like: What has been improved? What has remained the same? What has worsened? What problems have been solved by the new system?
We used the results of the qualitative study to develop User Journeys (blueprints). These Journeys are important supplements to the business processes developed and depict the user perspective on the most important business processes in all areas. Interviews and observation are the ideal tools for gaining this conceptual insight.
For a better modeling of the new system requirements, we added facts about present user behavior and the requirements of the new system to the existing user personas.
E-Plus now has a snapshot of the current user situation as well as a reusable framework for a benchmark with new systems. The results of the qualitative study also help the development team gain a better understanding of the users, their target group and their requirements.
One quick win of the study were certain findings that could be used immediately to improve the existing system