Building Great Workspace Experiences in ServiceNow: UI/UX Tips for Agents

Vaishnavi Lathk

At Knowledge 2025, the session “Crafting Great Workspace Experiences” highlighted the importance of designing intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable workspaces for ServiceNow users. Agents—whether in IT, HR, customer service, or other departments—spend the majority of their day interacting with the platform. A well-designed workspace can boost productivity, reduce errors, and improve user satisfaction, while a poorly designed workspace can slow workflows, increase cognitive load, and create frustration.

This article explores how to design workspaces for specific personas, share UI/UX best practices, leverage embedded AI, optimize navigation, and monitor adoption for continuous improvement.

Understanding the Persona: Designing for the User

The first step in building a great workspace is understanding the end user. Workspaces should be tailored to the needs, tasks, and workflows of the specific persona.

Example Persona: Contact Center Agent

Primary Goals: Resolve tickets quickly, provide accurate answers, and manage multiple cases simultaneously.
Pain Points: Switching between multiple tabs, repetitive tasks, difficulty finding knowledge articles, delayed approvals.
Workspace Needs:
- Single-pane view with prioritized work queues
- Quick access to customer records, notes, and historical tickets
- Embedded AI suggestions for solutions
- Contextual notifications and alerts

Mapping persona goals, frustrations, and workflows ensures workspace design decisions align with real user needs, not just aesthetic preferences.

UI/UX Best Practices for ServiceNow Workspaces

1. Layout and Information Hierarchy

Place high-priority work items and actions prominently, typically at the top or left-hand side.
Use cards, tabs, and sections to segment information logically and reduce clutter.
Apply progressive disclosure: show essential information first and reveal additional details only when needed.
Limit visual noise, and avoid excessive widgets that do not add value.

Tip: For agents managing multiple tasks, consider a split-screen layout: main workspace on one side and quick-reference panels (knowledge, customer info, and workflows) on the other.

2. Personalization and Contextualization

Enable users to customize their workspace based on role, preference, or workflow patterns.
Contextualize actions based on ticket or case type; for example, IT incidents show affected services, and HR cases show employee profiles.
Use dynamic forms and templates to reduce repetitive data entry.
Ensure personalization does not compromise core functionality and compliance requirements.

3. Embedded AI for Smarter Workflows

AI is increasingly integral to workspaces, helping agents work efficiently and make better decisions:

Recommendation engine: Suggest solutions or knowledge articles automatically.
Predictive routing: Direct tickets to the right team or agent based on historical patterns.
Next-best actions: Provide actionable suggestions for escalation, approvals, or responses.
Virtual Agent integration: Offer conversational interaction to reduce manual search time.

Tip: AI suggestions should be helpful but non-intrusive, allowing agents to accept, override, or modify recommendations. Overloading the workspace with AI prompts can cause cognitive fatigue.

4. Navigation Tips

Use breadcrumbs, global search, and filters for quick record retrieval.
Keep frequently used actions accessible via toolbars, pinned widgets, or hotkeys.
Group similar actions (e.g., approvals, notes, attachments) to reduce clicks.
Minimize app switching; enable agents to complete tasks within a single workspace context.

5. Performance and Responsiveness

Limit unnecessary widgets or live updates that may slow the workspace.
Optimize layouts for desktop, tablet, and mobile screens.
Test workspaces with real-world workloads to ensure smooth scrolling, fast ticket loading, and quick action execution.
Use metrics to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize accordingly.

6. Accessibility and Inclusivity

Follow WCAG guidelines: high-contrast colors, adjustable font size, and keyboard navigation.
Include alternative text for images and icons.
Allow agents to adjust layouts, text size, or theme according to their accessibility needs.
Inclusive design improves productivity and reduces errors for diverse users.

Step-by-Step Approach to Building Great Workspaces

Identify personas and tasks: Map user journeys and key workflows.
Prioritize information and actions: Determine what agents need immediate access to.
Design layout prototypes: Use wireframes or mockups to visualize workspace flow.
Integrate AI thoughtfully: Add predictive suggestions, virtual agent prompts, and next-best action recommendations.
Iterate with user feedback: Conduct usability testing and gather input from agents regularly.
Deploy and monitor adoption: Track workspace usage, task completion times, and satisfaction metrics.
Continuously optimize: Update layouts, flows, and AI recommendations based on analytics and evolving workflows.

Example: Optimizing a Contact Center Workspace

Before:

Multiple tabs for ticket details, customer info, and knowledge base.
Agents manually search for previous ticket history and suggested solutions.
Repetitive actions increase cognitive load and resolution time.

After Implementing Best Practices:

Unified workspace layout with tickets, customer context, and AI suggestions in a single view.
Quick access to common actions like approvals, notes, and attachments.
Virtual Agent provides instant answers to repetitive questions.
Predictive routing and recommended next steps reduce decision-making time.
Agents can customize workspace layout according to their preferences.

Impact: Faster ticket resolution, reduced cognitive load, improved agent satisfaction, and better customer outcomes.

Measuring Success

To evaluate workspace effectiveness:

Key Metrics: Ticket resolution time, task completion rate, number of clicks per task, workspace adoption rate, and agent satisfaction scores.
User Feedback: Surveys, focus groups, and interviews reveal pain points and improvement opportunities.
Iterative Improvement: Continuously refine workspaces based on metrics, AI usage, and agent feedback.

Conclusion

Designing great workspace experiences in ServiceNow is both an art and a science. By focusing on:

Persona-specific needs
Clean, intuitive layouts
Embedded AI capabilities
Seamless navigation
Accessibility and inclusivity

Organizations can dramatically enhance agent productivity, satisfaction, and engagement.

A workspace is not static—it should evolve with user feedback, workflow changes, and emerging technology trends. With ServiceNow tools and design flexibility, enterprises can empower agents, streamline processes, and drive business value through optimized workspaces.

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