Case study

Improving Efficiency in a Customer Support Operations Tool

This project focused on redesigning a large-scale admin dashboard used by internal support teams to manage customer inquiries, escalations, and service operations.

As a UX Designer, I led the end-to-end redesign, identifying key pain points in agent workflows, simplifying complex navigation, and introducing new features to reduce resolution time.

My Rol

End-to-end design UI Design Interaction Design Collaboration with product and engineering

The Challenge

The Admin UI tool was originally developed in 2018 to support customer service and engineering teams. However, since its launch, no data had been collected on its usage or effectiveness.

By 2024, key questions emerged:

Is the tool still useful?
Are users relying on it daily?
Where are the inefficiencies?
Should it be improved or deprecated?

The core tension

How might we reduce resolution time while improving the quality of support interactions?

Framing the Opportunity

We identified three key opportunity areas:

Streamline navigation to reduce clicks and context-switching
Surface relevant customer data proactively
Create consistent interaction patterns across all modules

We identified three key opportunity areas:

Streamline navigation to reduce clicks and context-switching
Surface relevant customer data proactively
Create consistent interaction patterns across all modules

Our guiding principle

Every click should bring the agent closer to resolution.

Approach

We combined quantitative and qualitative research:

📊 Surveys

To validate whether users actively used the tool
To identify strengths and weaknesses
To understand perceived value

🎤 User Interviews

To deep dive into workflows
To identify pain points and inefficiencies
To understand how users navigate the platform

💡 Key learning

Each design decision was validated with real users to ensure we were solving the right problems.

Users

We identified two primary user profiles:

🧑‍💻

Customer Support Team

Daily users of the Admin UI
Handle customer queries and onboarding issues
Frequently search for payments and investigate errors

Customer Support Team

Fast access to payment data
Clear visibility of relevant information
Efficient navigation

👩‍🔧

Tier 2 Specialists

Daily users of the Admin UI
Handle customer queries and onboarding issues
Frequently search for payments and investigate errors

Customer Support Team

Fast access to payment data
Clear visibility of relevant information
Efficient navigation

Key Problems Identified

Navigation complexity → Too many steps to reach key actions
Information overload → Irrelevant data cluttering the workspace
Inconsistent patterns → Different modules, different experiences
Limited context → Missing customer history during interactions
Limited context → Missing customer history during interactions

Key Problems Identified

Daily users of the Admin UI
Handle customer queries and onboarding issues
Frequently search for payments and investigate errors
Frequently search for payments and investigate errors
Frequently search for payments and investigate errors

The Solution

We redesigned the admin tool with a unified architecture that brings relevant information to the surface.

Core Improvements

Optimized Layout & Space

Eliminates context-switching
Speeds up issue identification

Why it matters:

Smart Routing

Reduces manual triage
Ensures issues reach the right person faster

Why it matters:

Contextual Action Bar

Reduces navigation steps
Shows only relevant options
Shows only relevant options

Why it matters:

Agent Dashboard

Keeps agents focused
Provides performance visibility
Provides performance visibility
Provides performance visibility

Why it matters:

Contextual Action Bar

Reduces navigation steps
Shows only relevant options

Why it matters:

Agent Dashboard

Keeps agents focused

Why it matters:

Outcomes

Established a clear, unified vision for AI-powered digital advice

Established a clear, unified vision for AI-powered digital advice

Aligned stakeholders around a cohesive experience strategy

Aligned stakeholders around a cohesive experience strategy

Defined a realistic MVP and phased roadmap

Aligned stakeholders around a cohesive experience strategy

Produced high-fidelity prototypes to communicate complex ideas

Aligned stakeholders around a cohesive experience strategy

Created reusable patterns for AI-assisted decision-making

Aligned stakeholders around a cohesive experience strategy

Key Takeaways

Guidance is most effective when it respects user autonomy

Closing Thought

Designing internal tools is about empowering teams to perform at their best.

The goal isn’t to make decisions for users, but to help them make better ones.