Exploring Barriers to Digital Channel Adoption & Improving the Customer Support Experience

When an AT&T internet customer is faced with a service disruption, calling customer service is often an inevitable and dreaded step in the path to a resolution. AT&T Customer service call volumes have remained high in spite of increasing internet adoption and providing internet customers with digital support channels to facilitate self-service. It is assumed that this continued call volume is driven by a lack of awareness and adoption of digital support options as well as a large cohort of users who genuinely prefer calling. As a part of our continued efforts to improve the customer support experience, I launched a discovery research effort to explore the existing mental model of AT&T internet customers when experiencing a service issue, as well as identifying barriers to self-service and digital channel adoption. Through two remote, unmoderated diary-survey studies I examined customer troubleshooting behaviors in addition to customer experience with AT&T’s current digital support channels, including att.com/support and AT&T’s mobile apps. Based on responses gathered from 69 AT&T internet customers, I discovered that a clear majority of respondents would prefer to avoid calling customer service. Most of this sample are aware of AT&T digital support channels but often find them unhelpful. These findings indicate that content & usability, in addition to awareness and adoption of digital channels, are barriers to successful self-service.