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Consumer Self-Service Portal Dashboard (CSS01US15)

1. Problem Statement

User Role: Consumer/Customer The primary user is a utility customer who needs to manage their account, track consumption, and make payments through a self-service portal.

Pain Points:

  • Lack of visibility into current billing status and payment due dates
  • Difficulty understanding consumption patterns across different utilities (electricity, water, gas)
  • No easy way to track usage trends and identify consumption anomalies
  • Limited access to account information and service details
  • Inability to perform quick actions like bill payments or service requests without calling customer service
  • No proactive insights or recommendations for cost savings
  • Confusion about bill components and charges breakdown

Core Problem: Customers lack a centralized, user-friendly interface to view their utility account information, understand their consumption patterns, and take self-service actions, leading to increased customer service calls and reduced customer satisfaction.

2. Who Are the Users Facing the Problem?

Consumer/Customer: Individual or household account holders who receive utility services and need to manage their accounts, track usage, make payments, and access service information independently through digital channels.

Access Requirements: All registered customers should have access to this feature through secure authentication.

3. Jobs To Be Done

For Consumer: When I need to check my current bill status and payment obligations, But I have to call customer service or wait for paper bills to arrive, Help me access real-time billing information with clear payment status and due dates, So that I can stay on top of my financial obligations and avoid late fees.

For Consumer: When I need to understand my utility consumption patterns across electricity, water, and gas services, But I only see total amounts without usage breakdowns or trends, Help me visualize my consumption data with clear metrics and historical comparisons, So that I can make informed decisions about my energy and water usage.

For Consumer: When I need to perform routine account actions like paying bills or requesting services, But I have to call during business hours or visit service centers, Help me complete these tasks online through quick action buttons and streamlined workflows, So that I can manage my account on my own schedule without waiting.

For Consumer: When I need to reduce my utility costs and improve efficiency, But I don't know which areas consume the most or how to optimize usage, Help me access personalized insights and actionable recommendations based on my consumption patterns, So that I can lower my bills and reduce environmental impact.

For Consumer: When I need to access my account details and service information, But the information is scattered across different bills and documents, Help me view all my account information in one consolidated dashboard with clear organization, So that I can quickly find what I need without searching through paperwork.

4. Solution

The Consumer Self-Service Portal Dashboard provides a comprehensive, user-friendly interface that empowers customers to manage their utility accounts independently while gaining valuable insights into their consumption patterns.

Current Bill Management

  • Real-time bill status display with amount due and payment deadline
  • Payment status indicators and overdue alerts
  • One-click payment processing with multiple payment options

Multi-Utility Consumption Tracking

  • Service-wise consumption display (electricity in kWh, water in liters, gas in therms)
  • Current month usage with comparative metrics
  • Efficiency scoring and performance indicators

Usage Analytics and Trends

  • Interactive consumption trend charts with time period filters
  • Historical usage comparison across utilities
  • Seasonal pattern identification and anomaly detection

Cost Analysis Tools

  • Cost over time visualization with 6-month historical data
  • Bill breakdown with detailed charge categories
  • Year-over-year cost comparison and savings tracking

Self-Service Quick Actions

  • Bill payment with instant confirmation
  • Service request initiation for common issues
  • Document download (bills, statements, certificates)
  • Complaint registration and tracking

Account Information Hub

  • Meter numbers and service connection details
  • Property address and linked services overview
  • Plan details with contract expiry information
  • Auto-pay settings and preferences management

Personalized Insights and Recommendations

  • Usage-based tips for cost reduction
  • Leak detection alerts and maintenance reminders
  • Energy efficiency recommendations with potential savings
  • Seasonal optimization suggestions

5. Major Steps Involved

Consumer Dashboard Access Flow:

  1. Authentication and Landing
    • User logs in through secure authentication
    • Dashboard loads with personalized welcome message
    • System displays refresh timestamp and last login information
  2. Bill Status Review
    • User views current bill amount and due date
    • System highlights overdue status if applicable
    • User can expand bill details for breakdown view
  3. Consumption Analysis
    • User reviews current month usage across all utilities
    • User can click "View Details" for expanded consumption data
    • System displays efficiency scores and comparative metrics
  4. Usage Trend Exploration
    • User selects time period filters (1M, 3M, 6M, 1Y)
    • User switches between utility types to view specific trends
    • System generates trend visualization with pattern insights
  5. Quick Action Execution
    • User clicks desired action from Quick Actions panel
    • System routes to appropriate workflow (payment, service request, etc.)
    • User completes action with confirmation messaging
  6. Account Information Access
    • User navigates to Account Overview section
    • System displays meter numbers, service details, and plan information
    • User can modify preferences or view linked services
  7. Insights and Tips Review
    • User explores personalized recommendations
    • User can click "Learn More" for detailed guidance
    • System tracks engagement with recommendations for future personalization

6. Flow Diagram

image.png

7. Business Rules

General System Rules:

  • Dashboard should display the latest data when ever refresh or redirected

Current bill

  • Display the current bill amount.
  • Display the due date days, if paid then display 'Paid'
  • paynow button will open the current bill, paybill modal form.
  • After successfull payment the data should be updated on the dashboard

This month usage

  • display the usage of the utility service which are metered
  • display max 3 utility services.
  • display current bill consumption

Monthly savings

  • display the different between current bill and the last bill.
  • if current bill amt is more than last bill then show the amt in red and trend upward with diffrence percentage
  • if current bill amt is lower than last bill then show the amt in green and trend is downward with difference percentage

Recent Requests

  • display the recent 3 requets with the requet type, refrence id and status
  • Display no request available if no request is requested
  • Dispay the usage trend of the utility service
  • user can choose utility service from dropdown
  • user can view only last 6 months data

Quick Actions

  • Pay bill - will open the current bill, paybill modal form.
  • Download latest bill - user can download the latest utility bill
  • Request service - redirect to service request add form
  • register complaint - redirect to complaint add form
  • track request - redirect to request tracker page

Cost over time

  • display a bar graph for the last 6 bills
  • user can see and compair bill amount for last 6 bills

Account overview

  • Display the assign meter , meter number with the initials
  • for electricity - EL, for Water - WT, for Gas- GS
  • Display the service address in the property address field
  • Display the linked utility services names only
  • Display plan details, plan name only

Tips and Insights

  • Display top tips which have highest helpfull count
  • if there is no helpffull count available show any tips
  • display only those tips which which utility services is the user using.
  • Clicking on view all will redirect the user on the tips tab in usage and consuption tab
  • clicking on learn more will redirect the user on the tips tab in usage and consuption tab

8. Sample Data

Current Bill Information:

  • Current Bill: ₹1,245 (Due in 42 days)
  • Electricity: 320 kWh
  • Water: 15,000 L
  • Gas: 56 therms
  • Monthly Savings: ₹142 (10% vs last month)
  • Efficiency Score: 85/100

Account Details:

  • Customer: Alex (Account holder)
  • Property: 123 Main Street, Apt 4B, New Delhi, 110001
  • Meter Numbers: EL-38429175, WT-74526813, GS-91527364
  • Plan: Residential Standard (Contract Expiry: March 31, 2026)
  • January: ₹1,200, February: ₹1,250, March: ₹1,220
  • April: ₹1,300, May: ₹1,450, June: ₹1,560
  • Electricity trend: Increasing (seasonal AC usage)
  • Water trend: Stable
  • Gas trend: Decreasing (reduced heating)

Bill Breakdown:

  • Electricity: ₹685, Water: ₹320, Gas: ₹185, Service Charges: ₹55
  • Total: ₹1,245

9. Acceptance Criteria

  1. The system must display the latest data immediately when dashboard is refreshed or accessed via redirect
  2. The system must display current bill amount with due date as "Due in X days" or "Paid" status
  3. The system must open pay bill modal form when Pay Now button is clicked and update dashboard after successful payment
  4. The system must display usage data only for metered utility services (maximum 3 services) with appropriate units
  5. The system must calculate and display monthly savings with color coding: red/upward arrow for increase, green/downward arrow for decrease
  6. The system must display maximum 3 recent requests with type, reference ID, and status, or "No requests available" message
  7. The system must provide utility service dropdown for usage trends limited to last 6 months data
  8. The system must execute quick actions correctly: Pay Bill (modal), Download Bill (PDF), Request Service/Complaint/Track (redirects)
  9. The system must display interactive bar graph for last 6 billing periods in cost over time section
  10. The system must show meter numbers with service initials (EL, WT, GS), property address, linked services, and plan name
  11. The system must display tips with highest helpful count relevant to user's active utility services (maximum 3)
  12. The system must redirect to usage and consumption tips tab when "View All" or "Learn More" is clicked
  13. The system must load dashboard within 3 seconds and handle missing data gracefully
  14. The system must maintain user session state during all redirects and handle concurrent sessions without conflicts
  15. The system must sort recent requests by creation date (newest first) and display overdue bills as "Overdue by X days"

10. Process Changes

Current Process

New Process

Impact Analysis

From:

Customers wait for monthly paper bills to arrive by mail

To:

Real-time bill access through dashboard with instant payment options

Impact:

Reduces payment delays by 15-20 days, improves cash flow, decreases paper waste by 80%


From:

Customers call service center for consumption inquiries

To:

Self-service usage tracking with detailed analytics and trends

Impact:

Reduces customer service calls by 40%, improves customer satisfaction by 25%, enables proactive usage management


From:

Manual bill payment through bank visits or phone calls

To:

One-click digital payment with multiple payment methods

Impact:

Increases payment completion rate by 30%, reduces transaction costs by 50%, improves payment timing accuracy


From:

Reactive issue reporting after problems occur

To:

Proactive insights and alerts for potential issues (leaks, high usage)

Impact:

Reduces emergency service calls by 35%, prevents water waste by early leak detection, saves customers 10-15% on bills


From:

Scattered account information across multiple documents

To:

Centralized account overview with all service details

Impact:

Reduces information retrieval time by 70%, improves customer self-sufficiency by 60%, decreases document management costs


From:

Generic efficiency recommendations through newsletters

To:

Personalized tips based on individual consumption patterns

Impact:

Increases customer engagement with conservation programs by 45%, achieves 8-12% average consumption reduction among active users


11. Impact from Solving This Problem

Metric Category

Improvement Impact

Customer Service Efficiency

40% reduction in call center volume for routine inquiries, 50% faster issue resolution through self-service

Payment Collection

25% improvement in on-time payment rates, 30% reduction in payment processing costs

Customer Satisfaction

35% increase in customer satisfaction scores, 20% improvement in Net Promoter Score

Operational Costs

60% reduction in paper bill printing and mailing costs, 45% decrease in manual payment processing

Conservation Impact

12% average reduction in utility consumption among engaged users, 30% increase in conservation program participation

Digital Adoption

70% of customers actively using self-service features within 6 months, 80% reduction in in-person service center visits

Revenue Management

15% improvement in cash flow timing, 25% reduction in bad debt through early intervention alerts

Environmental Benefits

80% reduction in paper consumption, 35% decrease in carbon footprint from reduced service center visits

12. User Behavior Tracking

User Role

Metric

Event

Properties

Key Questions Answered

Consumer

Dashboard Engagement

dashboard_viewed

session_duration

,

sections_viewed

,

last_login

How frequently do customers check their dashboard? Which sections drive the most engagement?

Consumer

Bill Payment Behavior

payment_initiated

,

payment_completed

,

payment_failed

amount

,

payment_method

,

time_to_complete

What payment methods are preferred? Where do payment flows fail? How long does payment completion take?

Consumer

Usage Analytics Adoption

usage_trends_viewed

,

time_period_selected

,

utility_filter_used

selected_period

,

utility_type

,

chart_interactions

Which time periods are most relevant to customers? Do customers compare utilities? How do they interact with trend data?

Consumer

Self-Service Actions

quick_action_clicked

,

service_request_created

,

document_downloaded

action_type

,

completion_status

,

time_to_complete

Which quick actions are most valuable? What is the success rate of self-service requests?

Consumer

Insights Engagement

tip_viewed

,

tip_clicked

,

recommendation_followed

tip_category

,

engagement_depth

,

implementation_status

Which conservation tips resonate most? Do customers act on recommendations? What drives behavioral change?

Consumer

Account Management

account_overview_accessed

,

auto_pay_toggled

,

preferences_updated

section_accessed

,

changes_made

,

feature_usage

How do customers manage their account settings? Which account features are most used? What drives preference changes?

Additional Tracking Insights:

  • Seasonal Usage Patterns: Track how dashboard usage correlates with seasonal consumption changes and billing cycles
  • Cost Consciousness: Monitor correlation between bill amounts and dashboard engagement to understand price sensitivity
  • Feature Discovery: Measure time-to-first-use for different dashboard features to optimize onboarding and feature placement
  • Problem Resolution: Track customer journey from issue identification through self-service resolution to measure effectiveness
  • Conservation Impact: Correlate insights engagement with actual consumption reduction to validate recommendation effectiveness

13. Wireframe

https://preview--consumer-self-service.lovable.app/



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