TL;DR

Zendesk admins using conversation services had to switch between two separate dashboards just to see their full usage data. I owned and designed a new page inside the Admin Center so everything lived in one place, shipping to 10,000+ customers. See the final product.

My Role

Product Design Intern

Timeline

6 weeks, Summer 2022

Team

1 Product Manager, 1 Sr. Product Designer, 1 Content Designer, 2 Software Developers

Tools

Figma

Background

Growing pains

When Zendesk acquired startup Smooch.io in 2019, the platform was rebranded as Sunshine Conversations and became the backbone of Zendesk's messaging infrastructure. The two platforms, however, stayed siloed. As part of the Conversations team, I was brought in to help unify the experience, starting with how customers tracked their usage.

Customer service software

Omni-channel messaging

Powers all messaging services across Zendesk

All conversations captured in one place

Problem

Admins juggled two interfaces for one product

In order to view their complete analytics, customers were required to alternate between two dashboards, creating a fragmented experience.

As part of a broader initiative to bring Sunshine Conversations fully into the Zendesk ecosystem, I was tasked with building a page inside the Admin Center where customers could track their Monthly Active Users (MAUs) and Notifications in one place.

Design constraints

Process

Mapping, sketching, iterating

01

Mapping the journey

I began by mapping the admin journey across navigation, viewing usage, and viewing history. The key insight: admins needed a snapshot of where they stood right now and a way to look back over time.

02

Sketching structure

I explored two directions early: a tabbed layout separating MAUs and Notifications, and a continuous scroll showing both together. I kept these rough as the goal was to stress-test the structure with stakeholders before investing in high fidelity.

Final Product

Scoping to what was feasible

My PM asked me to design a barebones version first. Data visualization wasn't technically feasible for the initial release, so the MVP focused on the essentials: a clean table showing 6 months of MAU and Notification usage, with call-out widgets at the top.

The constraint forced me to figure out what the page truly needed, and what was just layered on top.

The MVP shipped version, focused on the table only.

Exploration

Visualizing the full picture

Once the MVP was scoped and approved, I was tasked with exploring what a visual version could look like as a future enhancement. I also designed for the full range of states a customer might encounter.

Default

Normal usage

Current period widget, 6-month chart, and data table.

Overage

Plan limit reached

An inline warning prompts users to contact support to adjust their plan. Affected metrics are called out in orange.

Suspended

Conversations paused

When usage is severely over the limit, conversation services are paused and a prominent error banner drives users to contact support.

Impact

The designs shipped

My designs were approved and handed off for development before my internship wrapped. The feature went on to rollout to customers globally which felt like a meaningful way to close out the project.

Reflections