Paycheck corrections
Helping QuickBooks customers fix paycheck mistakes on their own with clear content that saves time and reduces support calls.
The problem
QuickBooks full-service customers faced significant restrictions when trying to correct paychecks. When attempting to fix small errors, they were blocked by the product. This required them to contact customer care for assistance, consuming valuable time for both the customer and the support team. As a result, customers felt frustrated and upset that what should have been a simple fix turned into a time-consuming process.
The solution
We gave customers the ability to fix paycheck errors on their own, removing the need to call support. The content design objective was to create clear, supportive messaging that guided customers through each step and set the right expectations. By helping customers feel confident in what to do and what to expect, we aimed to reduce support calls and make the experience faster and less stressful.
My role
As the content designer on this project, my focus was on creating clear, concise, and user-friendly content to help customers navigate the process of correcting paychecks. I worked closely with my product designer, as well as our product manager, engineering, and legal and compliance partners.
Original experience
If the customer couldn’t make a correction, the product either hid the functionality or blocked the customer without any clear info.
Although this message gives a reason, it’s not really clear. It also doesn’t tell the customer what they should do next.
This message questions the user. It looks a little alarming and doesn’t say what will happen next.
This confirmation gives a lot of details, but it might have been helpful to know before they voided.
New experience
Customers can now make corrections in the product themselves as long as the paychecks don’t have tax implications. This provides more flexibility to the product experience, and allows customers to make key corrections without having to wait for the help of a care rep. If a customer can’t make a correction, we tell them the reason.
In the first 30 days of launching, we saved roughly 80,000 calls to the care team.
Now the customer always has the option to edit, delete, or void on the paycheck list or paycheck details page. We found out from customer feedback that they wanted to see these options, and if they couldn’t make the action, they wanted to know why. Having the options for some checks and not all, without any additional info, really frustrated our customers.
Instead of questioning the customer, I confirm their action. I also tell them what it means and let them know the consequences. I confirm with a toast message if they hit delete.
Just like with delete, I explain what it means to void a check.
If a customer can’t delete, but void is a better option, I explain why they can’t delete and recommend void.
I do the same if delete is a better option than voiding.
In this case, the customer can’t edit. I suggest voiding instead.
Sometimes, the customer simply can’t make their intended corrections because of tax consequences. I explain why and give them the option to contact us. If they choose that option, they can schedule a call back. Since they have the reason, it makes it easier for the care agent to help them.
Future experience
In the next release, we’re going to extend the flexibility of corrections even further to handle paychecks in more complicated scenarios. Right now, customers are still limited if they need to edit a paycheck because of tax consequences. We’ve been doing user research to find out the main reasons that they need to take this action. We plan on telling them the steps to edit their paycheck and handle tax recalculations. If they need to contact us for support, they can still do so, but we anticipate this will bring calls to care down even further.