Controversial Employee Center & EC Pro Design Tips

Why? 

1. It’s dated and kinda ugly. 

2. Data does not support the use of a carousel in this context. Research shows that only 1% of your audience will click on anything other than the first slide.

3. The only effective use of a carousel can be seen on Instagram or LinkedIn, ones that allow a user to delve deeper into a topic by breaking the information down into slides.

4. Carousels used to display different banners and messaging simply do not work.

If your client is pressuring you to use a carousel in Employee Center for diplomatic reasons— say equally featuring messages from different departments — steer them towards tiled layouts instead.

One of the reasons that ServiceNow's Employee Center looks dated is the tight spacing. Modern, mobile-first design doesn’t work this way. Give your EC content room to breathe and your users will absorb it better. Increase your spacing by changing the default values in the main stylesheet.

No one wants to read the itty-bitty type on the ServiceNow portal. It’s fine for agents who use the backend of ServiceNow. It is not fine for your users. It’s one of the reasons that Employee Center is ugly out of the box.

With so much information in such a small area, the portal looks cramped and overwhelming. Increase your font size and use a wider font.

See above

For IT portals, product shots of the hardware and software offered are abundant and free. Most companies prefer you use their approved product shots.

Take advantage of the time and effort they’ve put in; don’t recreate the wheel.

AI imagery has come a long way, but it’s still easy to spot.

Overly detailed

Overly airbrushed

Strange hands and fingers

Limbs at odd angles

Extra or misplaced body parts

It comes across and disingenuous and cheap. Use AI imagery sparingly or when possible, not at all.

If you absolutely must use AI imagery on your ServiceNow portal, try these prompts.

Request images using prompts that incorporate words like:

simple

plain background

modern

clean

This will help you dodge the Head Shop feeling that many AI images invoke.

For images with people, try prompts that include:

normal-looking

not pretty

typical

ugly

overweight

asymmetrical face

flawed

Choose an image that is close to what you need and refine it until the people look like someone you’d see at the grocery store.

Embrace scrolling. Even in ServiceNow.

The primary device for accessing the Internet is mobile, not desktop. It’s not 2001; people know how to scroll. Yes, you still want the most relevant information at the top of the page.

If your client says “above the fold”, stage an intervention.

In an attempt to promote Self Help on the portal, ServiceNow clients will often try to push the Get Help down the page or hide it altogether. Some users want to use self-help, some want you to tell them what to do.

You will not convert users to Self Help by hiding the Get Help button, you will encourage them to circumvent the system by calling, emailing, or worse — showing up.

It’s better to allow users to categorize themselves as “not sure” of something than it is to fish them out of the wrong categories repeatedly.

Employee Center and Employee Center Pro do a decent job of driving self-help, but the users often do not know which category you would consider their request. 

A new employee with that needs a laptop may not know whether this is considered an onboarding or an IT request. Get the most out of Employee Center by allowing users to fill out the information they do know and skipping the rest.

They don’t know. 

Most of your users do not know the information you need.

They just don't.

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If you ask them for answers they do not have, they will circumvent the system, give incorrect answers, or abandon the portal altogether.

Keep forms to as few fields as possible, even if this means an agent needs to follow up with additional questions.

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