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SON Helpdesk Streamlining Customer Support to Improve Response Time and SME Trust

SON SMEs Helpdesk

My Role

UX Lead: Visual Design, Interaction Design, Usability Testing, Workshop Coordinator, Project Manager, Rapid Prototyping

Deliverables

Component Library, High Fidelity Design, Project Documentation

Collaboration

Stakeholders, Web Developer, Support Staff

Overview

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) needed a centralized helpdesk system to improve communication with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). I led the end-to-end product design for a 3-month project, overseeing discovery, stakeholder engagement, design iterations, developer handover, and staff training. The solution included a web app and SMS integration, ensuring accessibility for both SON staff and SMEs nationwide.

The Challenge

Before this project, SON struggled with:

  • Delays in responding to SME inquiries.

  • Fragmented communication across different channels.

  • A non-functional feedback form on the website.

  • Manual ticketing processes prone to errors.

  • Limited visibility into issue status and resolution.

  • Difficult-to-locate business addresses: most SMEs’ addresses were incomplete or based on unmapped streets, making site visits and inspections inefficient.

SON SMEs Helpdesk
SON SMEs Helpdesk

Research & Insights

Through stakeholder workshops and requirement gathering, we uncovered three key needs:

  1. A system simple enough for non-technical staff to manage daily.

  2. Multi-user collaboration, allowing several team members to respond to inquiries simultaneously.

  3. A self-service knowledge base so SMEs could access information without always raising tickets.

  4. A landmark field in address forms, enabling SMEs to provide nearby landmarks to improve location accuracy for inspections and follow-ups.

The Process

  • Discovery & Flows: We mapped the user flows, broke them into mini-tasks, and prioritized based on impact.

  • Design Iterations: Initial wireframes were created, tested, and refined based on stakeholder feedback.

  • Development Handover: Designs were implemented piece by piece in collaboration with developers.

  • Usability Testing: Conducted with SON staff, revealing usability gaps that we iterated on.

  • Feature Refinement: Added the landmark field during iteration to solve the address location challenge.

SON SMEs Helpdesk

The Solution

The SON Helpdesk introduced:

    • A centralized ticketing dashboard with clear visibility for all staff.

    • Multi-agent response system to cut down delays in replying to SMEs.

    • An integrated knowledge base for self-service answers.

    • Feedback and reporting tools for transparency.

    • Improved address handling with landmark fields to ensure inspections and support visits were more reliable.

SON SMEs Helpdesk

Impact

  • Response times improved significantly as multiple staff could now handle tickets in parallel.

  • Transparency increased, with SMEs able to track the status of their inquiries.

  • Staff adoption was successful due to the system’s simplicity.

  • Field inspections became easier, thanks to landmark-based address entries that reduced confusion with unmapped or incomplete addresses.

  • SMEs expressed improved trust in SON’s responsiveness and efficiency.

SON SMEs Helpdesk
SON SMEs Helpdesk
SON SMEs Helpdesk
SON SMEs Helpdesk
SON SMEs Helpdesk

Future Opportunity

If revisiting the project, I would propose integrating AI-powered assistance into the helpdesk as shown above. This would allow instant responses to common inquiries, intelligent ticket routing, and predictive analytics to further streamline SME support.