Better Bills

Characteristics of Different Types of Bill Readers

Different types of bill readers behave differently when reading and responding to bills. Table 1 shows some characteristic behaviors of the different types of bill readers.

Table 1—Different types of bill readers

	Skeptical Inspectors	Alert Scanners	Ignorers
Read a bill…	When they receive it	When they receive it or at a regularly scheduled time	Never or only after it is paid
Their reading style is…	Thorough and literal, so they are quick to notice errors or inconsistencies	Skimming and focused on the amount due	Similar to that of alert scanners—for those who do read their bills
Their interest in details is…	High	Moderate—and only when they notice a problem	Low
The likelihood of their calling customer service is…	High when they perceive there is a problem	Moderate when they notice a problem	Low—with the exception of those experiencing financial challenges, who may call to make payment arrangements
The likelihood of their paying is…	High	High	Varies

Nine Tips for Designing Better Bills

Following these basic tips can help you improve your company’s bill design. While these tips focus on the bill in its print and online forms, they also provide some guidance for their voice forms. (In some of the figures, I’ve obscured identifying information.)

Tip 1: Make the amount due and the due date clear.

Above all else, make the amount due and the due date stand out, so customers—especially alert scanners—can easily find this information. Many paper bills bury the amount due in a table with other numbers or in a sea of details. Figure 1 shows two bills: In the top example, the amount due and due date are fairly clear, but they’re hard to find in the bottom example.

Tip 2: In online bills, clearly distinguish between the amount currently due and the account balance, and plainly indicate payments received.

Now that customers can avail themselves of a tremendous amount of self-service online, it’s critical to distinguish between a bill or statement and a customer’s overall account information. A bill or statement records a moment in time and should remain static, while an account balance should always be up to date, with updates occurring in as close to real time as possible. The amount due is part of a bill or statement and should be static. The account balance should change to reflect payments, credits, and other account activity and should not affect a bill or statement. Therefore, when customers log in and view their account summary, the focus should be more on the account balance than the amount due. Even better, indicate the latest payment received.

I’ve seen customers become confused when these different types of information have inconsistent labels. One way to distinguish all of this information clearly is to use the labels that customers expect and use them consistently both on paper and online. The account summary in Figure 2 caused customer confusion, because it did not effectively distinguish between the account balance and the amount currently due, or charges, and did not show the customer’s most recent payment.

Tip 3: Ensure all forms of a bill are consistent and that customers perceive them as consistent.

Few things result in calls to customer service faster than inconsistency, whether real or perceived. Many customers with online accounts are still receiving paper bills, too. The paper bill is obviously static. The online bill is usually part of a larger account management application, with a wealth of information. The kinds of customer confusion I noted in Tip 2 can also lead to confusion about whether the paper bill and the online bill are consistent.

Distinguishing a bill or statement from other account information is key to clarity. One way of distinguishing these different types of information is to introduce visual consistency between the online and print bills or statements. In addition to displaying an HTML version of a bill online, providing a PDF bill or statement that looks exactly like the one in print can also help convey this consistency and help customers who are resistant to receiving their bills online feel more comfortable with it.

Tip 4: Don’t use gobbledygook text.

As much as possible, avoid providing information all in capital letters and describing the items and services for which you are charging a customer using funky codes that have meaning only within your company. Such gobbledygook text adds unnecessary noise to a bill and gives it a very impersonal tone. This tip may seem obvious, but in large, long-established organizations, billing systems may be old and have constraints that seem antiquated. Workarounds are possible, but may take time to implement. (See the challenges I’ve described in the section “Facing Reality: Implementation Challenges.”)

Tip 5: Don’t inundate all customers with detail—instead, provide a summary and access to more information.

The amount of information in an AT&T iPhone bill can be overwhelming, as shown in Figure 3. For most services, a bill that fills a box or a living room floor is inconceivable, but it’s still possible to overwhelm a customer with detail. Only skeptical inspectors relish reading the detail. Provide customers with options regarding the level of detail they receive and encourage customers to view details online.

Tip 6: An exception to Tip 4: When a bill changes from the norm or there are extraordinary charges, briefly explain why in a summary and provide access to more information.

A customer may be accustomed to paying the same amount each month for a service. If skeptical inspectors or alert scanners receive a bill for a different amount than is usual, they will want to know why. Even some ignorers may want to know why after they pay. Providing some explanation in a summary can help allay immediate concerns, and offering access to more detail assures customers that a change or difference is not an error. The key to customer confidence is ensuring the brief explanation and the more detailed explanation are consistent with one another.

Tip 7: Subtly and concisely remind customers of a service’s value.

When skeptical inspectors and alert scanners are reading a bill, their financial state of mind may lead them to assess whether they need a service. This is the perfect time to remind them of your service’s value. Well-written descriptions of what they’re paying for can emphasize the value of a service. Also, concise reminders of how much they’ve saved, rewards they’ve earned, or other benefits help reinforce the judgment that the service is worth the amount due.

Tip 8: Rarely include marketing or upsell information—and if you do, make sure it’s highly relevant.

In the research I have seen, marketing materials companies have inserted into an envelope containing a paper bill do not perform well. Adding marketing or upsell information to an online bill adds complexity and can cause usability problems—just as it can to an interactive voice version of a bill. Customers, especially skeptical inspectors and alert scanners, are focused on what they owe and likely feeling the pull on their purse strings. Asking customers to buy more intensifies the sensation of that pull. Instead, follow Tip 7 and focus more on easing the pull, by reminding customers of your service’s value.

Tip 9: Promote self-service billing and payment options.

One great promotion to include with a paper bill is the benefits of self-service billing and payment options. Self-service benefits both customers and businesses alike—not to mention the benefits to the environment of reducing paper use. Self-service is also highly relevant to the bill. Concisely explain ways to access and pay the bill online. For online or voice versions of a bill, provide quick access to payment options. Also, if an automated payment option is available, promote it both online and on the phone to reach the appropriate ignorers.

Facing Reality: Implementation Challenges

Designing a bill isn’t easy, because it as an intricate part of the larger customer experience. Along the way, you may encounter some implementation challenges that seem daunting, but you can overcome many of them with persistence.

Technology and Data Challenges

Billing systems in many organizations are old. They also tend to interconnect with or provide the foundation for many other systems using newer technology. Such a complex foundation can limit the parsing and presentation of information online—such as having to provide information in all caps or using cryptic codes. Also, making billing information available through multiple channels adds another layer of complexity, which can make achieving consistency in the information across the channels difficult. For instance, account balance updates may reach the IVR faster than the Web.

Organizational Challenges

A company’s billing system is, in many ways, sacred, and tinkering with it is serious. The IT side of the business may resist questioning even seemingly superficial issues such as whether the data presentation can change, and they may be resistant to efforts to address such issues. Furthermore, billing touches many other parts of a business, including customer service, legal, and finance. Also, marketing often wants to put information inside or in proximity to a bill. Balancing all of these stakeholders may not be easy.

Despite these challenges, I am confident UX professionals can have a positive impact on bill design. One approach is to start small, perhaps working on only a part of the bill. For instance, I rewrote and redesigned a charge explanation for a bill. That small victory, coupled with a strong executive advocate, soon led to the opportunity to do a more comprehensive redesign.

Conclusion

Surprisingly, the bill—one foundation of the customer experience—does not always get the design attention it deserves. I find bill design particularly exciting, because of the scale of this design issue—it reaches every customer. UX professionals can make a difference in the billing experience by understanding how customers read bills, following some simple guidelines, and starting with small improvements. Such efforts likely will reduce customer service costs, increase payment timeliness, reduce churn—and make life for your customers much easier. 

References

Design Council. “T-Mobile: Making Monthly Communications More Effective.” Design Council, June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2008.

Szuc, Daniel, and Gerry Gaffney. “E-Bill Usability.” UPA Voice, 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2008.