Elevating User Experience for a Legacy System

In response to operational inefficiencies and user frustrations posed by their legacy desktop application, a leading consumer-facing business enlisted PMC to transform their legacy application.

The Challenge

Breathing Life into an Aging System

A leading consumer-facing business faced on-going challenges with their legacy desktop application. This system had been the cornerstone of their Contact Centre operations for years, handling everything from sales and management of products, and reservations. However, as technology advanced, the need to evolve into a modern, robust, and scalable web application became apparent. The application was limited in features, and not user-friendly. Customer Service Advisors (CSAs) struggled with its inefficiencies, leading to delays and frustrations for both staff and customers.

The limitations of the system weren't just operational; they posed a challenge to improve customer experience. The system was not designed to handle the increasing volume of customer interactions. In a world where customer satisfaction is paramount, these shortcomings became a pressing issue for the company.

Recognising the need for a radical overhaul, the company approached PMC to transform their legacy system into a modern, robust, and scalable web application.

Approach

PMC employed a comprehensive approach to overhaul the legacy system, ensuring it met modern standards of efficiency, usability, and security:

  • Phased Approach: Implemented a phased strategy, starting with replicating essential features and subsequently enhancing them based on user feedback. This approach minimised disruption and facilitated continuous improvement throughout the project.
  • Keeping Lights Green: Ensured the legacy application was fully understood and kept live whilst technology modernisation took place. This operational assurance was a key requirement of the customers.
  • Development Technologies: Leveraged latest technologies and a robust architecture, to build the new application that is future proofed.
  • Agile & Iterative Methodology: Embedded an agile cross-functional team within the client’s team, facilitating collaborative development aligned with user requirements. The use of two-week sprints for delivering regular feature demos proved highly effective for managing the migration process.
  • Robust Testing, Security & Integration: Implemented rigorous testing and security measures throughout the development process to ensure accelerated release cycles and pre-emptive issue detection.

Outcomes

Breathing New Life into Operations

The transformation from the legacy system to the replacement application was a resounding success. The first release was met with enthusiasm from the Contact Centre. It provided key functionalities like viewing, amending, and cancelling products, issuing refunds, and reserving products, all within a more intuitive and efficient interface.

Key features it enhanced:

  • Enhanced Product Management: Simplified processes for booking, amending, and cancelling products, significantly reducing the time required for each transaction.
  • User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive design that minimised training time and improved overall user satisfaction.
  • Ancillary Sales: The ability to sell additional products, such as gift vouchers directly through the system.
  • Comprehensive User Management: Tools for adding, modifying, and deleting users, ensuring better control and security.
  • Security Enhancements: Introduced the retail gateway, an advanced security layer that detected and mitigated vulnerabilities, safeguarding customer data and ensuring compliance with modern security standards.

Ongoing Success

Since its launch, the new application has undergone 20 successful updates, continually enhancing its features and performance. The adoption of the latest technologies has ensured that it remains a robust and scalable platform, capable of handling the growing demands of the company's operations.


Transforming the legacy application wasn’t just about adding new technology; it was about improving the daily experiences for the everyday system users and ultimately the customers. By working closely with the customer and prioritising their users’ needs, we’ve transformed a legacy burden into a modern asset, setting the stage for smoother journeys and happier customers.

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