Kathleen Naughton, Hewlett-Packard
I just bought a new printer—needing to get my [term paper, resume, wedding invitations, soccer team flier] printed like yesterday. I unbox the device, follow the single-sheet “how to” instructions and I’m good to go. But wait! My PC can’t find the printer on my wireless network. My security software keeps giving me pop-up notifications and warnings. And now I have gotten a fatal error from the installer! On the third attempt and assistance from the “dreaded” call-center technician, I am finally ready to print that essential paper that initiated this adventure into technology setup and configuration frustration and aggravation.
This scenario is more common than we as technology companies want to admit. It is an especially challenging experience in the consumer and small business marketplace where our PC and network environments are not managed by IT department policies and processes. At HP, we have categorized call-center calls to help us monetize the cost of install failures in the field. We knew the data – at one point 70-75% of calls were categorized as “install” calls. We developed tools to help us mine what the failures were, but we could not seem to effectively change the install call-center rates in the consumer marketplaces. That has been changing!
This paper will describe the design and development of a test lab that has been effecting change in the R&D requirements and development processes to reduce the install call rates while supporting the adoption of wireless technology advances in the customer segment. The paper will:
- Describe the process of aligning on a definition for install success
- Identifying factors that contribute to install success and failures
- How unactionable, field-found issues influenced test lab design
- How test lab design objectives drove executive sponsorship, development, and implementation of a whole new testing service
- How the whole process has driven changes into R&D requirements and deliverables
- Examination of recent call-center data to validate affects of these changes
2010 Technical Paper, Kathleen Naughton, Abstract, Paper, Slides
