Utility Contact List Management : User Story (UX03US03)

1. Problem Statement

Core Problem

Utility administrators lack an efficient system to create, organize, and manage different types of contact lists across the organization. This results in fragmented communication, inefficient targeting, and difficulty tracking which contacts belong to specific operational needs or communication purposes.

Pain Points

• Unable to easily segment contacts based on specific criteria (e.g., high usage consumers, emergency contacts)
• Difficult to distinguish between lists that need frequent updates (dynamic) versus those that remain relatively stable (static)
• No centralized way to categorize contacts by type (consumers, technicians, business users)

2. Who Are the Users Facing the Problem?

User Roles

Utility Adminr:

• Responsible for system configuration and utility-wide operational management
• Needs to create, organize, and maintain lists for multiple departments
• Visibility into all contact lists and their usage across the organization

CSO Manager:

• Oversees customer service operations and communications strategy
• Needs to segment customers for targeted communications and service initiatives
• Responsible for maintaining customer relationship management processes

Billing Manager:

• Manages billing operations and related customer communications
• Needs to create and maintain usage-based customer segments for billing communications

Meter Manager:

• Oversees metering operations and field technician coordination
• Needs to organize contacts by service zone and technical requirements
• Manages communications related to meter reading and maintenance

3. Jobs To Be Done

For Utility Administrator: When I need to organize contacts across the utility operations, But I have no standardized way to segment and maintain these different groups, Help me create and manage both static and dynamic contact lists with consistent tagging and categorization, So that I can efficiently organize contacts for different operational needs.

For CSO Manager: When I need to target specific customer segments for service communications, But I struggle to maintain current and accurate lists as customer , Help me create dynamic lists that automatically update based on customer attributes and service zones, So that I can ensure the right customers receive the right communications at the right time.

For Billing Manager: When I need to send targeted billing-related communications to specific consumer segments, But I waste time manually creating and updating these groups as usage patterns change, Help me establish and maintain dynamic usage-based consumer lists with minimal manual intervention, So that I can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of billing-related customer communications.

For Meter Manager: When I need to coordinate field operations by service zone and premise type, But I lack an organized system to group relevant contacts by location and service requirements, Help me create zone-based contact lists that include both consumers and technicians, So that I can efficiently dispatch resources and coordinate communications for field operations.

4. Solution

Comprehensive Contact List Management System

The solution provides a centralized contact list management system within communication hub that allows users to create, organize, and maintain different types of contact lists for various operational needs.

Key Capabilities:

1. List Creation and Management
2. • Create named lists with descriptions, tags, and contact types
   • Support for both static lists (manually selected contacts) and dynamic lists (rule-based, auto-updating)
   • Three-step guided process for list creation (Details → Filters → Summary)
   • Ability to edit, duplicate, and delete existing lists
2. Contact Segmentation
   • Segment contacts by type (Consumers, Technicians, Business Users)
   • Filter contacts based on attributes like zone, area, and premise type
   • Apply customizable filters to create precise contact segments
   • Preview filtered results before finalizing lists
3. Dynamic List Automation
   • Create rule-based lists that automatically update as contact based on filters
   • Set multiple filter conditions using "is in" & "is not in" logic
   • Auto-calculate estimated contact count based on current criteria
   • Maintain fresh contact lists without manual updates
4. List Organization and Discovery
   • Tag lists with relevant keywords for easy searching
   • Filter and search across all lists to find relevant contact groups
   • Tabs between "My Lists" and "All Lists" views
   • Sort and filter lists by various attributes (name, type, creation date)
5. List Usage Integration
   • Seamless integration with messaging and workflow features
   • Easy access to lists from other communication hub modules
   • Export functionality for use in external systems
   • Import capability to create lists from external data sources
6. List Tracking and History
   • Track list creation and modification history -" modified by " & "updated by "
   • Record user accountability for list changes
   • Monitor list size by show "contacts" on the main list page
7. Contact Preview and Verification
   • Preview contacts that match list criteria before creation
   • Verify contact count and attributes before finalizing

5. Major Steps for Contact Lists Management

Creating a New Contact List

1. Navigate to the "Lists" section in the left sidebar menu
2. Click the "New List" button in the top right corner
3. Complete the 3-step wizard:
4. Step 1: List Details
   • Select contact type (Consumers, Technicians, or Business Users)
   • Enter a descriptive list name (e.g., "High Usage Customers")
   • Add a detailed description explaining the list's purpose
   • Add relevant tags separated by commas (e.g., "monthly-billing, high-usage")
   • Click "Next" to proceed
   Step 2: Filters & Preview
   • Choose list type:
     • Static List (manually select contacts)
     • Dynamic List (auto-updates based on filters)
   • For Dynamic lists, add filters by clicking "Add Filter" button
   • Review the contact preview showing matching contacts
   • Filter by Zone, Area, and Premise using dropdown selectors
   • Verify the total contacts count
   • Click "Next" to proceed
   Step 3: Summary
   • Review list details, type, and filter settings
   • Check estimated results count
   • Click "Create List" to finalize or "Back" to make changes

Managing Existing Lists

1. Navigate to the "Lists" section
2. Tab change between "My Lists" and "All Lists" tabs
3. Use the search field to find lists by name
4. View list information in columns (list Name, Description, Contacts, Created date, Tags,actions)
5. Use action buttons in the Actions column:
   • Download list data (download icon)
   • Edit list details and filters (edit icon)
   • Delete the list (trash icon) (***)

Filtering and Organizing Lists

1. Use the filter button to narrow down displayed lists ( only ALL LISTS FILTER )
2. Import existing contacts through the "Import" button
3. Toggle between different contact types using the category buttons (Consumers, Technicians, Business Users)
4. Sort lists by clicking column headers - created date
5. Apply tags for easier categorization and searching

Using Contact Lists

1. Create targeted lists for specific purposes (high usage, emergency contacts, outreach campaigns)
2. Leverage dynamic lists for auto-updating
3. Use tags like "monthly-billing," "emergency," or "outreach" to organize lists by purpose

6. Flow Diagram

7. Business Rules

General Rules

1. Lists must have a unique name within the system
2. All lists must be associated with exactly one contact type (Consumers, Technicians, or Business Users)
3. Lists must have at least one contact to be created (minimum list size = 1)
4. Contact lists are visible to all users in the all lists
5. Dynamic lists automatically update when contact data changes(filters)
6. Static lists require manual updates to add or remove contacts
7. List creation date and creator information must be recorded(Modified by)
8. List modification date and modifier information must be recorded ( updated by )
9. Tags must be comma-separated and should use lowercase, hyphenated format

List Type Rules

Static Lists:

1. Static lists require manual selection of contacts
2. Contacts in static lists do not automatically update based on attribute changes
3. Static lists display "Static" indicator in the list view
4. Static lists can be manually modified after creation

Dynamic Lists:

1. Dynamic lists require at least one filter criteria to be set
2. Dynamic list contacts automatically updates based on filter criteria
3. Dynamic lists display "Dynamic" indicator in the list view
4. Filter criteria can be modified after list creation

Contact Type Rules

Consumer Lists:

1. Consumer contacts must have valid customer account information
2. Consumer filters can include usage patterns, billing status, and location data
3. Consumer lists can be tagged with relevant service categories

Technician Lists:

1. Technician contacts must have valid employee or contractor information
2. Technician filters can include skills, service areas, and availability
3. Technician lists can be tagged with relevant service capabilities

Business User Lists:

1. Business user contacts must have valid business account information
2. Business user filters can include business type, service level, and location
3. Business user lists can be tagged with relevant business categories

Error Handling

1. If a list name already exists, display error: "List name already exists. Please choose a unique name."
2. If no contacts match filter criteria, display warning: "No contacts match your criteria. Please adjust filters."
3. If a user attempts to delete a list used in active workflows, display warning: "This list is used in active workflows. Deleting it may affect those workflows."
4. If tag format is invalid, display guidance: "Tags should be comma-separated words (e.g., billing, north-zone)"
5. If filter criteria are incomplete, display error: "Please complete filter criteria before proceeding."

8. Sample Data

Sample Lists

Sample Contacts

Sample Filters

- Filter Name: Zone  
  Applicable Contact Type: All  
  Filter Options:  
    - North  
    - South  
    - East  
    - West  
    - Downtown  
    - Central  

- Filter Name: Area  
  Applicable Contact Type: All  
  Filter Options:  
    - Residential  
    - Commercial  
    - Industrial  

- Filter Name: Premise  
  Applicable Contact Type: Consumers, Business Users  
  Filter Options:  
    - Single Family  
    - Apartment  
    - Condo  
    - Office  
    - Retail  
    - Factory  

- Filter Name: Status  
  Applicable Contact Type: All  
  Filter Options:  
    - Active  
    - Inactive  
    - Pending  

- Filter Name: Usage  
  Applicable Contact Type: Consumers  
  Filter Options:  
    - Low (<500 kWh)  
    - Medium (500-1000 kWh)  
    - High (>1000 kWh)  

- Filter Name: Skills  
  Applicable Contact Type: Technicians  
  Filter Options:  
    - Electric  
    - Water  
    - Gas  
    - General Maintenance  
    - Emergency Response  

- Filter Name: Business Type  
  Applicable Contact Type: Business Users  
  Filter Options:  
    - Retail  
    - Office  
    - Industrial  
    - Government  
    - Non-profit

9. Acceptance Criteria

1. The system must allow users to create new contact lists with unique names.
2. The system must support categorization of contacts into three types: Consumers, Technicians, and Business Users.
3. The system must provide a three-step guided process for list creation (Details → Filters → Preview/Summary).
4. The system must support both static lists (manually selected contacts) and dynamic lists (filter-based).
5. The system must allow tagging of lists with multiple comma-separated keywords for easy searching.
6. The system must automatically update dynamic lists when contact attributes change to match filter criteria.
7. The system must display list creation date and creator information for each list.(created by, updated by )
8. The system must provide search functionality to find specific lists by name or tags.
9. The system must allow filtering of the list view by contact type (Consumers, Technicians, Business Users).
10. The system must provide contact preview functionality when creating or editing lists.
11. The system must calculate and display the estimated number of contacts that match dynamic list criteria.
12. The system must support filtering contacts by Zone, Area, and Premise attributes.
13. The system must prevent creation of empty lists (0 contacts).
14. The system must allow users to export list data for use in external systems.
15. The system must enable users to edit existing lists, including changing filter criteria for dynamic lists.
16. The system must allow users to delete lists that are no longer needed.( with an error message if that list is being used in any workflow)
17. The system must provide a tab between "My Lists" and "All Lists" views.

10. Process Changes

11. Impact from Solving This Problem

12. User Behavior Tracking

Based on the screenshots of the Lists page functionality, here's a user behavior tracking table for the Lists page in the same format as your reference:

Questions Answered:

• How precisely are billing-related communications being targeted to relevant customer segments?
• Are billing managers effectively maintaining dynamic lists based on changing usage patterns?
• Which billing-related list segments show the highest communication effectiveness?
• How frequently do billing-related lists need refinement to remain effective?

13. Wireframe

Link - https://preview--utility-connect-hub-20.lovable.app/

14. Enhancement In latest Release

Add List

• Add a new contact Type as "Business User"
• When Contact Type is selected as Business user.
• Then in filters and preview section it should show the below coloums
  • Name
  • Email
  • department
  • role
• The filters should be for department and role - multi select filters both of them