Case Study - Guiding customers through self-service experiences with connected, conversational design

Smartgroup and LEVO joined forces to craft content that not only educates but also engages customers, boosting their confidence to salary package benefits and maximise their savings.

The challenge

The objective was to assist Smartgroup in designing content for users to salary package expenses, ensuring it appeals to a broad audience, enhances discoverability, and is scalable across digital platforms.

The outcome

The creation of the Smartgroup (SMG) Content Design System—a compendium of content components featuring content templates compatible with Google Schema, SEO-optimised copy, the new SMG taxonomy, and an updated style guide.

Impact

The SMG Content Design System has enabled the creation of seamless end-to-end self-service experiences. Users can now complete processes from search to onboarding and managing expenses in under 16 minutes.

We know it’s a complex subject. Even we get confused.
Product Owner, Smartgroup

Many PAYG workers are looking to boost their savings and reduce their tax liabilities but are unsure how. Despite Smartgroup offering a solution—an ATO-approved method to utilise pre-tax salary for everyday expenses—enrolment was lagging. Smartgroup collaborated with LEVO to attract new customers and better engage existing ones by understanding their desires in a salary packaging service.

The concept [of paying less tax and saving more] sounds appealing, but the information is confusing, and I'm concerned I might be worse off. I'd prefer to speak to someone before signing up.
Smart Group Customer

During the discovery phase, the LEVO team uncovered customer financial behaviours related to everyday spending and saving, and how they perceive salary packaging (or salary sacrifice) and tax benefits. This research helped benchmark the current experience, revealing issues such as low brand awareness, misaligned web page URLs and content, disjointed digital experiences with unclear CTAs, content that was high in jargon, and inconsistent terminology across sites.

The common feedback from customers, regardless of their understanding of salary packaging, was that online information was confusing, difficult to find and verify, and often overwhelming. The exceptions were customers already using salary packaging services, who felt confident about signing up after visiting Smartgroup's website.

Through over eight co-design workshops, LEVO developed, iterated, and refined a content design system with input from users, the client, and their SEO partner. This sophisticated system contains scalable content components tailored to Smartgroup customer personas and mapped to specific customer journeys. It has been applied to five digital products so far, with more in development.

The system also introduced a new taxonomy and style guide for Smartgroup, ensuring a consistent tone of voice and making complex information approachable, informative, and helpful.

The content components are designed to be user-friendly and search engine optimised. This approach not only improves findability and reduces bounce rates but also creates efficiencies in disseminating similar information across various touchpoints. By envisioning search as another audience, the team leveraged SEO-optimised copy, content templates for Google Schema, and usability testing to support self-service journeys effectively.

Usability testing highlighted that personalisation and conversation were key to addressing the complexity of salary packaging. The team utilised technology, such as Optimizely, and content components to deliver personalised experiences—providing the right content at the right time and in the right manner to meet user needs.

By focusing on conversational design in customer experience flows, the team fostered a sense of intimate connection and scalable support, acknowledging users' preference for financial advice from family and friends.

Smartgroup's commitment to understanding the human aspect of salary packaging has significantly enhanced its customers' financial literacy, empowering them to better manage their spending and tax savings.