CLIENT: USAA
Conversational Experience Research
ROLE
Lead UX Researcher
TIMELINE
12 weeks
TEAM
2x Product Manager
1 Digital Director
CHALLENGE
The team needed to understand how members use and perceive conversational channels (virtual assistant, IVR, search) to design secure, seamless, and trustworthy experiences.
RESULT
I led mixed-methods research uncovering channel roles, pain points, and expectations. Members wanted quick info from search, guided support from VA, and efficient escalation via IVR — but faced friction with authentication, lack of continuity, and unclear menus.
IMPACT
The research insights shaped USAA’s conversational strategy, driving improvements in authentication, AI optimization, and channel integration — enabling more intuitive, trusted, and human-centered experiences.
Key Takeaways
Channel Roles are Distinct
Members see each channel (Search, VA, IVR) as serving a unique purpose: quick info, guided help, or efficient escalation to a person.
Abandonment Happens When Stuck
“Phone jail” loops or missing answers lead to frustration and drop-off; search is more resilient but abandoned when results feel incomplete.
Keep Menus and Results Short
Keywords work better than full sentences, and members prefer 3–5 options max across menus and search results for ease and clarity.
Self-Serve First, Escalation When Needed
Members prefer self-service but expect seamless escalation to humans when tasks are complex, urgent, or when systems fail.
Context Must Carry Across Channels
Members want to switch between channels (e.g., chat to phone, phone to SMS) without repeating themselves or losing progress.
Balance Innovation with Comfort
Successful conversational experiences require blending new technologies with members’ trust, ease, and expectations.
Themes
We can improve the conversational experience by leveraging right level of technology to..
Theme 1
Protect
Keep my information safe without locking me out
Secure Me
Members are highly aware of hacking threats and want strong protection.
Trust companies’ security steps but don’t need detailed explanations.
Prefer alternatives to personal security questions (feels invasive).
Less trust in AI handling sensitive data vs. humans.
Make it Unique to Me
Security feels strongest when unique/personal (Face ID, PIN).
Passwords seen as secure but disliked (too many, too complex).
Voice ID not trusted — feels unreliable, hackable, and unfamiliar.
Remove My Barriers
Frustration when asked to authenticate for public info or re-authenticate mid-session.
Prefer continuity across channels (no need to re-verify with same rep).
Split on 2FA: older members prefer extra steps, younger members prefer fewer.
Theme 2
Navigate
Help me find what I need without friction
Use What Exists for Me
Expect USAA to know their products, history, and prior steps.
Want access to past VA transcripts for reference.
SMS strongly desired: familiar, low-barrier, multitask-friendly, and convenient for channel switching.
Don’t Give Me Extra Information
IVR often feels like a “black hole” (loops, wrong transfers).
Expect clear ways to escalate when bots fail.
Backup login methods needed if preferred method fails.
Lack of direct path to human support = frustration and feeling undervalued.
Navigate and Guide Me
Expect direct links to tasks/info (avoid clunky navigation).
Menu options should balance general vs. specific (funnel down logically).
By 3rd IVR round, expect clear resolution or connection to human.
FAQs, suggested keywords, and autofill improve self-service.
Don’t Leave Me Stuck
Overload (too many results/options) overwhelms and slows them down.
Avoid jargon and long descriptions in IVR/VA.
Members want clarity and brevity for faster decisions.
Theme 3
Iteract
Give me useful, human-like, and capable support
Help Me Self-Serve
Members want to resolve issues themselves when possible.
IVR/VA perceived as limited, but members open to more self-service if reliable.
Desired VA tasks: multi-step actions like forms, transactions, personal info updates.
Desired IVR tasks: simple, quick tasks (status checks, balances, payments).
Converse with Me
Split views: some want systems efficient and robotic, others want human-like tone.
Best balance: polite, brief conversational elements (“hello,” “please,” “thank you”) without unnecessary fluff.
Be My Interpreter
Current systems only work if members use the “right” terms.
Desire for flexible language recognition (map user terms to company terms).
Want ability to bypass menus with keywords/phrases when they already know what they need.
Opportunity Spaces
Reduce Authorization Requirements
Limit Re-Authorization - Skip authentication when channel switching with the same person, or again while still in the same channel.
Open Access to General Info - Avoid authentication for general, public information, especially in search.
Maintain and Access Context
Maintain Context After Logout - Allow a conversation to continue from where it was disrupted after an app or website logout, ideally with priority re-queue.
Allow Channel Switch with Context - like VA to call or VA to text or VA to email when members can’t continue, and maintain conversation context.
Add Ability to Pause Chat - Allow for members to leave a synchronous chat and come back to it while maintaining context, but once it starts again have it be synchronous like a live chat with wait times included.
Create Access to Previous Information - Have context of what the member was doing on website/app and past activities to provide relevant support, allow access to previous VA transcripts.
Add Text Capability - Add the capability to start or switch to the SMS channel to converse with a human, can show up in text feed but doesn’t have to be SMS.
Optimize Systems with AI
Include AI for Task Optimization - Utilize ai capabilities to help complete simpler tasks quicker, but do not give AI full access and functionality to personal data.
Increase Recognition Capabilities - Increase voice and written recognition to expand database and connections especially for top self-serve tasks.
Improve Menu Efficiencies
Reduce Results and Menu Options - Reduce search results to show 5 options . Revamp VA menus to offer no more than 3 selections at a time, and no more than 5 options for IVR.
Create Menu Bypass - Provide a hotline to a person for specific emergencies and allow to speak or type a request without requiring the menu system.
Add Back Button and Operator Capabilities - Have a back button or a way to directly connect to a person when there is no way out
Continue Suggestions and Menus - For search provide FAQ’s, Suggested Topics,
Autofill words. For IVR and VA, provide options that help narrow down topics to guide members to specific departments.
Continue Content Optimization
Continue Content Audit - Remove irrelevant information like company history and product info, make conversations as succinct as possible, remove jargon.
Continue Conversational Re-Writes - Continue the path to make bot flows succinct with polite tones that do not add extra wording or strong personality.