Silencing nuisance calls for good

“My phone used to work for me. Now it works for telemarketers and criminals. What do I have to do to get my phone back?”

ONCE IT WAS SAFE TO ANSWER YOUR PHONE
Now it’s a crapshoot.

  • We ignore more phone calls than we answer.

  • Over half of robo callers are scammers faking their identity.

  • The more we ignore our phones, the more robo callers call. —MarketWatch

BIZ IS BOOMING FOR TELEMARKETERS
Robocalling to sell anything is illegal, but telemarketers find loopholes (they robo dial, then connect to a live person the instant you answer.)

CRIMINALS GONNA CRIME
The instant new tech emerges, unscrupulous opportunists put it to work for them.

SCAMMERS PREY ON OUR FEARS
Regardless of how prepared we are for a scammer, panic strikes when we hear:

  • We believe your credit card has been compromised.

  • This is an automated call from Google security. We have detected over 25 suspicious login attempts in the last 24 hours.

  • The IRS is investigating your previous tax return.

  • There’s a warrant out for your arrest for missing jury duty.

HOW CAN UX DESIGNERS HELP?
How do unwanted calls affect our customers? What can we do to get their phones back?

 

How do unwanted calls affect our users?

June_2.25_blue.png
quote_june.png
 

occupation
HR exec

home life
Single mom with 2 kids

life priority
Quality time with her kids

phone habits

  • Answers every call because it could be an urgent situation with one of her kids.

  • 95% of her unidentified callers are a nuisance.

complaints

  • Nuisance calls eat into her Mom time.

  • Her kids don't like sharing their mom with her phone.

solution

A filter that rejects nuisance calls

quote_brett.png
 

occupation
Scientist, tutors on the side

home life
Lives with roommates

life priority
Saving for grad school

phone habits

  • M-F, 8-5 never answers his phone, as lab work requires his full attention.

  • 5% of his unidentified calls are parents answering his ad on Craigslist.

complaints

  • Misses out on potential tutoring gigs.

  • By the time he returns the call, the parent has often engaged another tutor.

solution

A filter that rejects nuisance calls

quote_sam.png
 

occupation
Head of Sales & Marketing

home life
With partner, brand new homeowners

life priority
Taking care of his new home

phone habits

  • Sometimes answers unidentified calls, but not when he’s in a meeting.

  • A mere 10% of his unidentified callers are people he wants to talk to.

complaints

  • Misses calls he wants to take because he can’t risk taking a nuisance call.

  • Too many numbers to keep track of.

solution

A “heads up” for return calls

 

A TYPICAL SCENARIO FOR JUNE

Family time is tainted with nuisance calls

It’s Saturday morning at Golden Gate Park. June is teaching Abbi to ride a bike. Older daughter Jo is at the Exploratorium with her friends and their parents.

June holds the bike steady as Abbi climbs on.

June’s phone rings; there's no caller ID. When both of her kids are with her, June ignores unidentified calls. But Jo is across town right now.

“It’s probably a telemarketer, but what if something is wrong with Jo?” She must answer. It’s an offer to lower the interest rate on her credit card. She hangs up, exasperated.

Abbi struggles with the bike on her own. "I'll be right there, June tells her.

“Mommy, you’re always on the phone.”

A TYPICAL SCENARIO FOR BRETT

Brett loses out on a new client

Brett is almost at his monthly savings goal for grad school. Just two more tutoring gigs would do it. This Saturday is wide open.

When he walks into work, his boss asks him to perform an experiment by 5:00. It’s a tall order, but if he’s laser focused, Brett can do it.

He silences his phone. He’d like to keep his phone on for people answering his tutoring ad, but 95% of the calls he gets are scammers.

At 4:30 he finishes the experiment, and checks his phone.

At 10:00 an unidentified caller left him a VM. It was a parent looking for a tutor this Saturday.

Brett returns the call, but the parent has already made an appointment with another tutor.

A TYPICAL SCENARIO FOR SAM

Sam misses the calls
he really wants

As Sam is leaving for work, he notices water flowing out of his dishwasher. He hops onto Yelp and finds “Spiffy Appliance Repair” with 37 five-star reviews.

He calls and leaves a message. Sam dashes off to work to prepare for his 8:00 meeting. He forgets all about his dishwasher.

At 8:20 he gets an unidentified call. “Ugh, scammers.” He ignores the call.

Four hours later he finally has a break and checks his VM. That unidentified caller was Spiffy.

Sam calls Spiffy, but the soonest they can get to Sam’s house is next week.

If Sam had answered the call at 8:20, he could have booked Spiffy for the next day.

 

HOW THE APP HELPS JUNE

June and Abbi take off the training wheels

HOW THE APP HELPS BRETT

Cha-ching! Brett gets
a gig this Saturday

HOW THE APP HELPS SAM

Sam’s dishwasher and meeting are good to go

June gains control over which calls she takes.

Brett’s dual income streams keep flowing.

Sam never falls behind
at work or at home.

 

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