Smart Search

Postgraduate students at Loughborough University have been working with BT, a British multi-national telecommunications company, to become more aware of design within the context of business.

The Smart Search team called their new app TripTailor. TripTailor can improve users' travel experience greatly; it is like an adept tailor who only makes clothes for you, and to achieve this, users need to tell the app their interests before they use the smart search service.

Another innovation is that the app allows 3 kinds of input style. To be more specific they are; text inputvoice input and visual input.

Background

British Telecommunications (BT) provides leading communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. The principal activities of BT include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services.

Motivation

To be able to help customers that face problems with the products or services. BT provides a help service that customers can troubleshoot, check service status and search the BT community. However, the existing search engine has many problems, including the unreliable and irrelevant search results.

Target Users

The target users are BT customers that need assistance with troubleshooting and problem solving.

Aim

Explore new ways to optimise self-support for troubleshooting and problem solving for BT customers.

Objectives

  • Identify existing ways of optimising self-support.
  • Clarify potential drivers, benefits and limitations of the existing ways of self-supported problem solving.
  • Identify key aspects on how to deliver information to the consumer in a meaningful way.
  • Develop a simple solution to optimise the customers’ ability to help themselves answer their questions and solve their problems.

Project Scope

The project could be separated into either design a search engine or an app and they could be either integrated search or specific search focusing on BT products and services.

Client Deliverable

The project could be separated into either design a search engine or an app and they could be either integrated search or specific search focusing on BT products and services.

Academic Deliverable

The project will be delivered in the form of a formal presentation including other agreed deliverable (e.g. design boards, animations, models), including project booklet and a press release article. The project will also deliver a 4,500~5000 word written report and individual peer review feedback.