A digital customer journey includes what happens before, during and after an online interaction. For an Albany business, a working enquiry form is only one part of that route. The customer still needs to understand the offer, receive an appropriate response and know what happens if something changes.
This checklist helps find gaps in the current process before replacing it. Follow one actual service route, using suitable prepared examples where live customer information is unnecessary. Keep observations separate from assumptions about their cause.
Check the starting promise
Identify where the customer first learns about the service and what that information leads them to expect. Compare the public description with what the business can actually provide. An old page, social post or automated message can create confusion even when the main website is current.
Look for inconsistent names, unclear service boundaries and unsupported availability statements. Ask which person owns updates and how a changed instruction reaches every relevant channel. Avoid assuming that customers begin at the page the business prefers them to read first.
Check the whole relevant task
Describe what the customer is trying to accomplish. It may require understanding options, providing suitable information, receiving confirmation and following up. A successful first click does not establish that the task can be completed.
The Australian Human Rights Commission’s digital-accessibility guidelines discuss access across the full task and the interaction between digital and non-digital stages. The guidelines themselves are not legally binding; they do not provide a certificate that a particular service complies with the law.
Use those questions to examine relevant barriers and obtain appropriate expertise where needed. Do not assume that asking another person to complete the task preserves the customer’s independence or preferences.
Check the information requested
Ask why each field is needed at that stage. A form can collect substantial information while still omitting the detail staff require to act. Conversely, optional background information can become an unnecessary obstacle if the customer cannot proceed without it.
- Explain unfamiliar labels and the reason for important questions.
- Distinguish required information from genuinely optional detail.
- Check how an incomplete request is handled.
- Keep unnecessary personal information out of practice examples.
Look at what staff receive as well as what the customer enters. A useful field in the form is not helpful if its meaning disappears in the handover.
Check acknowledgement and actual acceptance
A message saying that a form was received may not mean that an appointment, order or instruction was accepted. Read the wording from the customer’s perspective and compare it with the business’s actual decision rule.
Identify who reviews the request, what makes it ready and how the customer learns about an unresolved condition. Avoid leaving an automated acknowledgement as the only evidence of progress when further approval is necessary.
The receiving employee needs to distinguish a new request from a confirmed commitment. Check the actual labels and source references rather than relying on a colour or a generic complete status.
Check staff handovers and exceptions
Follow the information to the next person. Can they identify the current instruction, its source and the next authorised action? Include a relevant amendment or unanswered question in a safe example.
Business.gov.au’s productivity guidance discusses bottlenecks, repeated entry and responsibility. Apply those questions to the route without assuming that removing every approval or standardising every exception is appropriate.
Record what actually caused clarification or repeated work. Check how the customer obtains help if the usual route cannot be completed and whether staff can find the relevant case without asking for the same information repeatedly. Keep the limits of any available alternative clear rather than promising equivalent access without evidence. The issue may be an unclear rule, missing access or an incomplete source rather than the software itself.
Check the meaning of follow-up
A service update and a marketing message have different purposes. Do not treat an enquiry address or one purchase as blanket permission for later promotional contact. Assess the actual message and relevant consent evidence.
ACMA’s spam guidance explains consent, sender identification and unsubscribe requirements for commercial messages. Outsourcing the sending does not remove the need to understand responsibilities. Keep the evidence and suppression process usable rather than assuming the contact tool decides permission automatically.
Check that the findings lead to a controlled next action
For each gap, record the observation, likely explanation, responsible owner and next check. Mark an explanation as uncertain where the evidence does not settle it. A small sample can reveal a specific problem without proving its frequency across every customer.
Prioritise changes by their consequence for the task and the business’s capacity to implement them. Recheck the affected route after a revision, including the receiving employee and relevant customer conditions. The value of the checklist lies in a clearer process, not in producing a reassuring score.
