Overall Design Evaluation

The product's original design has several drawbacks, primarily because it is intended for use in a distinct environment and is not integrated with the ServiceNow portal experience. This lack of integration results in a subpar user experience. Furthermore, there are several issues related to user experience within the communities, especially regarding information architecture. One of the most frustrating elements is that users can only create content from the homepage.

The communities module establishes a separate user profile from the support portal main profile, which can confuse users. Moreover, relying on a hamburger menu to conceal the navigation structure is not effective, especially when only a few items need to be shown. In the sections that follow, I will discuss how I addressed these challenges to improve the overall experience.

Improvements

New Information Architecture

A new information architecture was essential for improving the user experience. Pages that were previously part of the main navigation but had no clear purpose (such as "How to Earn Points") were relocated to more appropriate sections. Now, users can ask questions and create content from anywhere on the site, making the navigation more intuitive and enhancing ease of use.

This image highlights the new navigation map featuring the first and second menu levels. The key change is the ability to create content from anywhere and move non-essential items from the main navigation, creating a more streamlined structure without relying on a hamburger menu.

Better portal integration

Associates can access the community from the Knowledge Base home page. I created an illustrated banner to announce the new feature. We also planned to integrate the most accessed forums and topics in the service catalog navigation and display the most recent questions on the portal’s homepage.

Visible navigation

On the community homepage, I made the navigation visible by removing all links from the hamburger menu to the page subheader. Since the first-level navigation only had six categories, the hamburger menu was unnecessary for both desktop and mobile experiences. Additionally, with the new subheader created for subproducts like communities, the overall structure feels more integrated with the service portal.

Creating posts from anywhere

With the “create post” button, users can post new content from any page in the community navigation. The development of such functionality was needed because the OTB experience only allowed users to post content from the module homepage, making the experience counterintuitive.

The new button opens a modal showing all the types of posts allowed in the community. When users choose one of the post types, they are redirected to the post page, where they can fill in all the necessary information.

Distinguish the community profile

The community profile was designed to be distinguished from the service portal profile. However, instead of requiring users to upload a new profile image and fill out all their personal information again, we integrated the common information with their already established service portal profile.

This ensures that every portal user has a pre-filled community profile with their essential information, such as profile image, name, and role.

Conclusion

Working with the communities module posed a significant challenge, as the out-of-the-box experience was non-functional. We had to customize not only the layout but also the product's features to create a more engaging experience. Ultimately, our efforts resulted in a more polished experience that effectively centered around the users' needs.