More and more I notice that the online systems of large organisations that don’t necessarily make money online are relatively poor. Just because those systems aren’t used frequently does not mean that they don’t require attention to details. Large organisations spend millions of dollars trying to create a great customer experience. However, it seems like online services get neglected sometimes.

Here’s the experience I went through with Medibank Pet Insurance. The reason I use their name publicly is because I would like them to fix it.

I received a letter stating that my premium is going up by around 27 percent. Reading that letter I realised that I needed to change the address, since I moved recently. Yes, I haven’t opened the letter for that long…

What the hell is a Login ID?

I go to their site. Find a section called “Login to Member Services”. The login box asks me for the Login ID. What the hell is a Login ID? I believe that this is a service that you don’t go to every day or week or even month. Therefore asking for something used twice a year is just silly, in my opinion. Under the Login ID input I see “Forgot your Login ID?”. I click it.

This next form is called “Get your login ID and reset your password.” Ha? I just want to know my Login ID! Ok, hopefully it gets me what I want. First things first, I need to identify myself. Text field number one “Membership number” and hint saying “Your membership number appears on your membership card.” I don’t have my membership card, tada!

I open the letter notifying me about the price increase and sporadically look for the membership number. I find “Policy number”. Thinking it has to be the same thing. It is presented in the following format AB1234-56789. This does not fit into the membership number input field. I remove the two letters and voila it fits! Populate other 3 fields with my details and boom “This information doesn’t match any records in our system. Please try again or call us on 123456 for assistance.” Calling…

After my call connects I’m presented with 5 different options. I pick the first one saying “If you are a member press one”. Pause. Wait for it… “We are currently closed”. But but but… no buts!

A simple procedure of changing address has failed miserably. I have no one to ask for help. An extremely frustrating customer experience.

So what have we learnt?

Why does a customer need to know 3 different things like “Login ID”, “Membership Number” and “Policy number”. In fact, why does a customer need to know any of those things. I have my email address. Log me in!

Here’s a simple suggestion. A customer should automatically be registered for online services with the email address provided. Full stop.

To access the online services email address and password should be enough. Just like any other modern web application. Forgot your password? No problems just enter your email address and an email is sent with an explanation on what to do. Once again, just like any other modern web application.

When designing user experience for your application think about the frequency of its use, the labels you use within your forms and most importantly pay attention to “what if a user doesn’t know”.