Winners 2014/Information Design Silver

Project: British Gas Billing Experience

Client: British Gas

Design: Lippincott

British Gas, the largest of the Big Six energy suppliers, was determined to rebuild its relationship with its customers, and regain trust. They wanted to redesign the bill, as it is their main point of contact with customers. The main aim was to increase customer satisfaction and reduce query calls.

Lippincott focussed on what should be included or removed from the bill. Key information was made obvious, industry jargon substituted by user-friendly icons and wording was altered from ‘a way to pay’ to ‘a way to save’, which adjusted the perception of British Gas’s value system.

There was an immediate 10% reduction in calls from usual billing call rates, which represented well in excess of 3,000 a week, therefore saving £750,000 per year. Customer satisfaction improved greatly, with 78% of customers agreeing that the bill is clearer as opposed to 61% before.