Whitney Speck
Shelby Moulton
Wesley Starnes
Joe Lopata
Transforming Rocket Companies' Help Center .
Scalable, User-Centered Solutions for 15,000+ Employees over 100 companies
Challenge: Rocket Companies' Help Center users struggled to find the information they needed. This led to a reliance on the technology hub, which often experienced high call volumes, with an average wait time of ~20 minutes to connect with a representative.
How can we: Improve the user experience of accessing Help Center information, increase the channels available to request help, and reduce Help Center call volumes?
Solution: Help Center Redesign Added Features
- Search Bar: Enabled users to search the Help Center for faster information retrieval.
- AI Chatbot & Ticketing System: Provided alternative methods to access help beyond phone calls and onsite visits.
- Improved Information Architecture: Reorganized help categories based on card-sorting research findings.
- Centralized Help Request Submission: Streamlined 15+ separate forms into a single, unified form.
- Resource Hub: Created a centralized collection of resources tailored to user job roles.
- FAQ Section: Organized frequently asked questions by topic for easier navigation.
- Quick Hit Popular Topics/Chips: Introduced dynamic chips reflecting trending search queries to surface relevant content quickly.
UX Team
Role / Contribution
Lead UI/UX Designer
Lead UX Researcher
Lead UX Researcher
Tools
Figma, Lucid, Microsoft Teams
Duration
09.23 - 04.24
Additional Context
- My internship was originally supposed to end in December 2023, but I was given an extension into my next semester
- My mentor Shelby, the Senior UX Designer for my team, left for maternity leave during my internship. She guided me for the first half of my internship, and for the second half I took over her Senior UX Design responsibilities
Product Demo
Desktop Prototype
My team, The Pulse Product Strategy, was tasked with improving the user experience of Rocket Companies' internal Help Center. I led both the UX Research and Redesign efforts, culminating in the high-fidelity prototype shown above as my final deliverable.
UX Research
Help Center Tree Map
When analyzing the Help Center, I identified how difficult it was for users to locate information due to poorly organized help topic categories.
To address this, I created a tree map to visualize the current structure and propose an ideal state. Key improvements included:
- Introducing a Chatbot: To provide users with immediate support.
- Centralizing Help Requests: Streamlined the submission process by consolidating over 15 separate forms into a single access point.
Card Sorts + Synthetization
To reorganize the Help Center topics, my lead recommended a card-sorting activity. My goal was to align information architecture more closely with user needs.
Process: I conducted 15 one-on-one interviews, each lasting 35–45 minutes, where participants grouped 60 Help Center articles into categories that made sense to them.
Participant Selection: 15 Participants were carefully chosen from across Rocket Companies to ensure diversity in role types and experience levels - 5 with less than 2 years of experience, 5 with 2–5 years of experience, and 5 with more than 5 years of experience.
15 Collected Card Sorts
Participants completed two rounds of card sorting activities:
- Round 1: Participants grouped the cards in a way that felt most intuitive and assigned names to their created categories.
- Round 2: Participants condensed the groups from Round 1 into smaller, more focused categories.
Throughout the sessions, I took detailed observational notes, including direct quotes and points of confusion expressed by participants, to better understand their mental models and pain points.
Synthesizing Card Sort Information
To analyze the card sort results, I compiled the group names assigned by participants and organized them by similarities. The final list below reflects the categories created, ranked by popularity:
1) Benefits, 2) Technology Support, 3) Talent and Professional Development, 4) Workplace, 5) PTO and Leave, 6) Team Member Support, 7) Security and Parking, 8) Legal Guidelines, 9) Compensation, 10) Workday, 11) HR, 12) Misc
Note: These list names were not intended for external use; they represent findings from my research.
Common Confusion Points
To deepen my analysis, I created a data table highlighting common confusion points observed during the card sort interviews. Key findings include:
- "Legal Stuff Reference Guide" and "CTI Support" were the most confusing cards for team members (TMs).
- Many TMs struggled to differentiate between software names like CTI, Avaya, and Calabrio Support. Quote: “If you’re familiar with it, then you’re comfortable with the name. But if you’re a new TM, you wouldn’t know what this is.”
- Brand-named cards (e.g., Amaze) were often unclear. While TMs recognized the names, they found them ambiguous and uninformative.
My Card Sort + Recommendations
I created the card sort above based off of my findings, and it was used to inform the information architecture for the redesign. Additional recommendations:
- When categorizing the resources, strongly consider these groups (names/concepts) and adjust as needed. Create only 4-7 main groups of these. Sub-groups can be housed within them. 1)
- Rename cards so that they are easily identifiable and clear by their title. Providing context will reduce the cognitive load it takes for users to recall what a specific name is.
Iterations
Original Help Center
This was Rocket's Help Center at the time of my internship.
Features my team wanted and I to readdress in the redesign:
- Lack of a dedicated search function for Help Center articles (the top search bar connected to all Rockworld resources).
- Non-intuitive help topic categories, making navigation difficult.
- Limited access to support, as users could only call "The Guy" or visit onsite.
- Accessibility improvements, such as underlining "Help Center" in the Rockworld top navigation bar.
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Round 1: Initial Design Concepts
Order: Shelby (My Senior UX Design Mentor), Valentina (Rockworld's Senior UX Designer), and my designs.
Round 2: Added Card Sort Findings
Our primary focus shifted to creating an information architecture that aligned findings.
Topics were reorganized into clear main headers and subheaders to improve navigation and usability.
Round 3: Final Design
I created this design after my mentor left. The FAQ section was moved under the main subheaders, the Resource Hub became role-specific, the "Contact Us" section was expanded for better accessibility, + improved visual design.
Final Redesign
Added Features
- Search Bar
- AI Chatbot & Ticketing System
- Improved Information Architecture
- Centralized Help Request Submission
- Resource Hub
- FAQ Section
- Quick Hit Popular Topics/ Dynamic Chips
How Can We Encourage Buy In?
The Story
I surveyed 30 team members across RKT Holding's HR to understand their experiences with "The Guy" - the Help Center team that handles help calls. The survey confirmed long wait times, averaging over 20 minutes.
To present my redesign solutions and research, I crafted a story showing how my recommendations would address key user pain points. Though my internship ended before completion, this is the groundwork for the process.
Current State
8:50am | Monday
TM (Team Member) arrives at the office and starts work.
TM (Team Member) arrives at the office and starts work.
8:55am
TM remembers they need to call "The Guy" to request help with downloading Figma, due to lack of admin access.
TM remembers they need to call "The Guy" to request help with downloading Figma, due to lack of admin access.
8:56am-9:05am
TM finds a quiet space to call.
TM finds a quiet space to call.
9:05am-9:05am
TM logs into Rockworld to find "The Guy's" phone number.
TM logs into Rockworld to find "The Guy's" phone number.
9:07am
TM calls and is put on hold.
TM calls and is put on hold.
9:35-9:50am
TM is off hold and works with "The Guy" to download Figma.
TM is off hold and works with "The Guy" to download Figma.
Outcome:
TM spent 28 minutes on hold, missed their stand-up meeting, and had to notify their Lead.
TM spent 28 minutes on hold, missed their stand-up meeting, and had to notify their Lead.
Ideal State
8:50am | Monday
TM (Team Member) arrives at the office and starts work.
TM (Team Member) arrives at the office and starts work.
8:55am
TM remembers they need to call "The Guy" to request help with downloading Figma, due to lack of admin access.
TM remembers they need to call "The Guy" to request help with downloading Figma, due to lack of admin access.
8:56am-9:05am
TM finds a quiet space to call.
TM finds a quiet space to call.
8:58am - 9am (Ideal)
TM submits a Help Request through Rockworld's AI Chatbot.
TM submits a Help Request through Rockworld's AI Chatbot.
9am-9:10am (Ideal)
TM connects with "The Guy," who resolves the issue remotely via chat.
TM connects with "The Guy," who resolves the issue remotely via chat.
Outcome:
TM received help from their workspace and were able to attend their stand-up at 9:30am.
Even if the chatbot session overlapped with the meeting, they could still participate while messaging "The Guy" quietly on the side, or message back at another time.
TM received help from their workspace and were able to attend their stand-up at 9:30am.
Even if the chatbot session overlapped with the meeting, they could still participate while messaging "The Guy" quietly on the side, or message back at another time.
So What's Next?
I collaborated with my Team Leader, Team UX Researcher, Team Content Strategist, Help Center owners, and other UX Designers.
Before my internship ended, I met with two Senior UX Designers to review my prototype. They approved the work but suggested trying an alternative layout with stacked cards. We discussed key factors for both layouts:
- Which layout has less visual strain for users?
- Which layout is easier to develop?
- Is condensed info with less scrolling or more spread-out info with more scrolling easier for users?
I left my internship before the redesign could be launched. My work was in the final review phase with the Help Center owners and the management team. After final adjustments, the Help Center Redesign was set to be developed in late 2024.
