Copilot: Streamlining IT Support to Boost Efficiency
Employees rely on IT helpdesk agents to solve their tech troubles. We want to make this experience easier and more rewarding for everyone.
Inefficient IT processes can cost businesses up to 30% of revenue due to lost time, underutilized employees, and outdated systems.
Employees lose an average of 22 minutes daily to IT issues, totaling over two weeks of lost productivity annually. For a company of 100 employees with an average hourly wage of $24, this amounts to a $92,400 annual productivity loss.
Team.
A multidisciplinary team of 3 designers, product managers, engineers.
Role.
I conceptualized low-fidelity prototypes, created high-fidelity mockups, gathered feedback from Design and Product Managers.
/solution
Enhancing Efficiency and User Experience with Aisera Copilot.
The design introduces three intuitive ways for end users to create and manage tickets, streamlining the overall process. The forms have common fields automatically pre-filled to save time. Additionally, the Copilot feature proactively suggests solutions for known issues, reducing the need to create a ticket and improving overall efficiency. This approach enhances the user experience by offering more convenient and faster resolutions.
/process
Aligning objectives with stakeholders.
After receiving the initial task, I met with a Design Manager and Product Manager to gather additional information on the objectives.
Together we clarified the two user personas:
- Agents, who are responsible for solving end-users requests, managing tickets, and if needed conversing with other agents.
- End users are typically employees who have IT requests and reach out to the IT helpdesk for solutions.
Based on the survey conducted, the Product Managers identified some top JTBD by agents with the least job satisfaction rate:
- Identify and troubleshoot technical issues
- Handle escalations
- Find and share knowledge base articles resources
- Manage approval requests
Top end-user most frustrating JTBD identified based on a survey of employees who have engaged with IT helpdesk more than once in the last year:
- Searching answers through self-help content
- Lack of transparency regarding the issue's progress from agents (following-up and status)
- Receiving 1:1 support from agents
- Using chatbots to resolve IT issues
/main objective: end-user ticket management
Why Effective Support Matters.
Agents struggling with inefficient tools or workflows take longer to resolve issues, which leads to longer downtimes for employees, which could be a significant drain on the company's resources.
The cost of poor support. Additionally, quick problem resolution prevents bottlenecks that affect other departments and helps maintain operational momentum.
I wrote How Might We (HMW) statements to focus brainstorming and ideation on solving end-to-end solutions for key pain points.
1. HMW reduce the time it takes for employees to log an IT issue?
2. HMW provide real-time visibility into ticket progress to reduce employee anxiety?
3. HMW enable seamless communication between employees and IT staff to resolve issues faster?
4. HMW allow employees to clarify their issues without needing to create follow-up tickets?
Evaluating and prioritizing design solutions.
Once the Design team got clarity on the goals and understanding on the business and product roadmap, I started to conceptzualize the end-to-end flows.
✏️ scenarios to design for:
- Creating a new ticket
- Reviewing / modifying / adding comments / attachments to existing tickets
I met with a Design Manager and another Designer to whiteboard initial high-level directions for our HMWs (see sketches below).
Whiteboarding gives me the freedom to experiment, make mistakes, erase them, and iterate fast—allowing for a flexible and dynamic design process. By not focusing on the details and investing minimal time, I can quickly explore multiple directions and discard ideas without becoming attached, fostering a more open and creative process.
Preliminary sketches
1. HMW reduce the time it takes for employees to log an IT issue?
I proposed 3 options to our team. All options allow employees to quickly submit requests via copilot.
Option A: “My Tickets” page. The page is accessible via the main navigation on the left.
Low-fidelity sketch
Option B: escalation. Imagine you asked your assistant a question, however you were not satisfied with the answer. Without having to navigate to a separate screen, you escalate and submit a ticket or speak with a Live Agent.
Low-fidelity sketch
Option C: quick action. We provided a button on the home page for an employee to easily submit a ticket. This was an option with the minimum clicks required to complete the task.
Low-fidelity sketch
2. HMW provide real-time visibility into ticket progress to reduce employee anxiety?
We explored both proactive and passive approaches for the chatbot to share ticket status updates—proactive through notifications and passive via a dedicated tickets page.
Option A: Proactive. Navigating to "My Tickets" page.
Low-fidelity sketch
Option B: Passive by getting notifications.
Low-fidelity sketch
3. HMW enable seamless communication between employees and IT staff to resolve issues faster?
Provide updated information on the ticket. Enable an option to escalate to a Live Agent at any time.
Directly via Conversation.
Low-fidelity sketch
4. HMW allow employees to clarify their issues without needing to create follow-up tickets?
I explored a few directions for the experience.
Option A: from My Tickets page. This enables employees to manage all their outstanding tickets through a streamlined list view, allowing them to select specific tickets they want to update. Upon selecting an action for a ticket, a copilot initiates a new conversation in a separate tab, ensuring a focused and intuitive workflow.
Low-fidelity sketch
Option B provides an alternative interaction via the My Tickets page. Instead of opening a new conversation screen, the system introduces a slide-in drawer, allowing for a more integrated experience within the same interface.
Low-fidelity sketch
Option C allows users to request ticket details directly within an ongoing conversation. The virtual assistant responds by presenting the ticket information alongside actionable hot buttons, such as "Close Ticket," "Add Comment," or "Change Priority," enabling quick and efficient updates without leaving the chat.
Low-fidelity sketch
Collaborating with another product designer, I created detailed mockups that we later presented and reviewed with stakeholders for feedback and alignment.
Conducting moderated user sessions for these prototypes was challenging.
Due to budget and time constraints I reached out to my coworkers for feedback and user testing. I provided them with prototypes and assigned think-aloud tasks to capture their insights.The overall results showed that the new designs ensured clear comprehension and successfully bridged any gaps in user understanding. However, there were a few common feedback points that we looked into incorporating.
Ensuring Feasibility: Collaborating with Engineering.
Engaging engineers early and maintaining ongoing collaboration ensured that all design elements were not only innovative but also technically feasible, resulting in a seamless handoff to development and a more efficient implementation process.
I collaborated with another designer to transition the high-fidelity designs, ensuring they were properly prepared and optimized for handoff to engineering for production.
Please contact me for the click-through prototype and more details of this project!
volhadouban@gmail.com
/lessons learned
Close collaboration is essential for creating impactful designs.
Creating an environment that encourages co-creation was essential, especially in the fast-moving AI field. With technology and product features changing constantly, it’s impossible to keep up with everything alone.
