Second Insight - Let's talk Layouts

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

Let's talk Layouts

What are layouts?

Layouts refer to the arrangement or design of elements in a space, whether on a physical surface, like a room or a piece of furniture, or in digital contexts, such as web pages or graphic designs. 

User interface layout: In software design, various interface elements, such as buttons, forms, and menus, are arranged to create an efficient and user-friendly experience. 

Layouts control how fields and related sections are organized on a department's module page. Each department can have its own design, which includes a combination of default and custom fields. These layouts dictate which fields are visible, read-only, and required.

 

Customer support agents need specific information to handle tickets for different products or processes effectively. As a result, help desks frequently incorporate multiple custom fields into the ticket forms that customers complete. This may lead to customers facing irrelevant fields that don't apply to their specific issues. The most effective solution to this confusion is to create and use an appropriate layout.

How can you benefit from using layouts?

Layouts are used in a wide range of software applications and platforms to enhance communication and user experience.

 

In Zoho Desk, you can use layouts to tailor the fields on module pages like Tickets and Tasks. The drag-and-drop feature enables you to add new fields easily, remove unnecessary ones, and rearrange fields to match your preferences. 

Key functions of a layout: 

• Visual hierarchy: Clarifies the significance of various elements and directs the viewer's attention to the essential information.
• Readability: Enhances the clarity and legibility of text and images, making it easier for the audience to digest the content.
• Aesthetic appeal: Creates an attractive design that engages users and encourages them to interact with the content.
• Consistency: This ensures a uniform look and feel across different pages or sections, which helps with branding and recognition.
• Navigation: Facilitates user navigation by organizing content logically and allowing users to find information quickly and intuitively.
• Functionality: Supports the intended function of the design, whether to inform, persuade, entertain, or provide a service.
  

A well-designed layout is crucial for effective communication and user engagement in any visual medium. 

A story for better interpretation of layouts

The Perfect Layout - A Tech Story

At Heaven Solutions, a bustling tech company, they proudly call their help desk software 'Heaven Desk'. It was the go-to place for agents facing tech troubles, but the overall situation was chaotic. The desks were cluttered, information was scattered, and the agent teams were overwhelmed with requests.

 

Ross, a bright and passionate senior tech support, was part of the help desk team. He loved helping others but often found himself frustrated when navigating through heaps of information to assist his team. One day, while dealing with a particularly perplexing issue, he had a revelation: the team needed structure to tame the chaos!

 

Inspired, Ross gathered his team for a brainstorming session. “What if we redesigned our help desk layout?” he suggested. The team was intrigued but skeptical. “How can a layout make a difference?” one seasoned tech support asked. 

 

Ross smiled and began to explain: “Let’s think of it this way: a well-organized layout can guide users to find solutions quickly. It can reduce confusion, streamline processes, and enhance productivity.” 

 

The team's curiosity was piqued, and they experimented with Ross's idea. They mapped out ideas on a whiteboard and discussed different elements of a successful help desk layout. 

• Categorization: They categorized issues into clear sections—hardware, software, network, and general inquiries. This way, users could quickly find the category relevant to their problem. 
  

• Search functionality: Ross proposed implementing a robust search feature on their help desk platform. Users could type in keywords or phrases, making finding solutions more manageable.
  

• Visible layout: The team agreed that a cleaner, visually appealing design would help declutter the experience. They envisioned a layout with ample white space, easy navigation buttons, and tabs representing different categories.
  

• FAQ guides: Recognizing that many questions were often repeated, they created an easily accessible FAQ section and a library of troubleshooting guides. This would empower agents to solve minor issues independently.
  

• Quick feedback: They incorporated a feedback mechanism where users could rate their experience after each interaction, allowing continuous improvement based on user input.
  

Excited about their ideas, the team presented the new layout to their manager. To their delight, he loved the vision and approved the redesign. With everyone's input, they built the new Heaven help desk. When they launched the redesigned help desk, it was like transforming a maze into a designated path.

On the first day after the launch, Ross was buzzing with anticipation. As employees began using the new layout, he watched their faces light up. Help desk requests decreased as many users could now find what they needed through the FAQs and guides. The search functionality quickly became a hit, with colleagues excited about how quickly they could resolve issues.

 

Because of their collaborative effort, the help desk now serves as a support system and empowers employees to help themselves. The structured layout improved efficiency and user satisfaction, proving that a thoughtful design could transform chaos into clarity.

 

In the end, the purpose of layouts became clear: they weren't merely about aesthetics; they were powerful tools that guided users, reduced frustration, and ensured a seamless experience. Through Ross's idea and the team's collaboration, Heaven Desk became a model help desk, demonstrating that a little structure could lead to immense success.

Takeaway

A well-designed layout organizes information and resources in a coherent way and makes the system intuitive and easy to use, which reduces frustration and improves user satisfaction. It ensures that users can find what they need quickly and efficiently, whether it involves accessing a knowledge base, submitting a ticket, or tracking the status of their request. 

Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team

Also read: 

•  First Insight - Find your Fields
  

• Topic Participants

• Kavya Rao Addepalli

  

• Recent Topics

• Online Assessment or any aptitude test

  This video is really helpful! I have one question — if I share an assessment form link (through email or with the application form on my career page), how does Zoho Recruit evaluate it? Can a candidate use Google or external help while taking the test,

• Incoming Threads Report

  From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports Customers raise questions and issues through multiple channels, such as email, chat, or tickets. To monitor the number of queries received on a specific day from each channel, leads can

• Conditional layouts - support for multi-select picklists

  Hi, The documentation for conditional layouts says the following: "Layout Rules cannot be used on the following field types: Auto Number Lookup Multi Select Lookup User Lookup Formula File Upload Multi Line" I have a custom module with a multi-pick list

• How to apply customized Zoho Crm Home Page to all users?

  I have tried to study manuals and play with Zoho CRM but haven't found a way how to apply customized Zoho CRM Home Page as a (default) home page for other CRM users.. How that can be done, if possible? - kipi Moderation Update: Currently, each user has

• Cloudflare Turnstile is now available in Zoho Forms!

  Hello form builders! We have added a new layer of protection to help you keep your forms free from bots. Instead of forcing users to prove they are human, Cloudflare Turnstile quietly checks browser signals in the background. Your real users glide through,

• Power of Automation :: Unique Task & Issue Prefix Format and Sequencing Rule

  Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate

• 【Zoho CRM】キャンバス機能のアップデート

  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、キャンバス機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 グリッドについて フォーム表示のタブについて 1. グリッドについて ビジュアルデザインは細部の調整に手間がかかりますが、キャンバスのグリッドを使えば要素を整理し、バランスよく配置できます。 画像やデータなどの要素をグループ化せずに簡単に配置できます。 余白を調整することで、要素間の視覚的なバランスを保つのに役立ちます。 「表示切り替え基準の幅」を設定すると、デザインをレスポンシブに調整できます。

• Deleting unwanted ticket replies

  Hello, In a Zoho Desk Ticket thread, sometimes one of the recipients has auto-reply activated. This creates a new message in the Ticket thread that not only pollutes the thread, but most importantly cannot be replied properly because usually auto-reply e-mails don't do "reply all", so the other recipients are not included. I want to delete such a message in the Ticket thread. I searched the help of Zoho Desk, but only found a way to mark as Spam (https://help.zoho.com/portal/kb/articles/marking-support-tickets-as-spam)

• Issue: Ticket Export Does Not Include Ticket Threads

  Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to bring to your attention that the current ticket export feature in Zoho Desk does not seem to include the ticket threads or conversation history. When exporting tickets, only the summary

• Ability to Set Client Name During Portal Invitation

  Hi Zoho Team, We would like to suggest an important enhancement to the Zoho Creator Client Portal functionality. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for creating

• スマホでキャンペンメールを見ると正しく表示されない

  キャンペーンのメール（HTML）を作成しましたが、スマホ表示に切り替えると正しく表示されません（添付参照）過去に作成したキャンペーンでは特に意識してませんでしたが、問題なく表示されていたようです。うまく表示される場合とされない場合の違いは何でしょうか？

• Zoho Calendar Integrated Into CRM?

  I've searched around the forums but couldn't find anything addressing this . . .  Is there a plan to integrate Zoho's stand alone calendar solution into Zoho CRM?  The CRM calendar does an OK job but is very basic and the Zoho calendar is great, but I've only figured out to subscribe to my CRM calendar within ZCalendar - there is no 2-way sync. My preferred solution would be for ZCal to become the default calendar/event solution within Z CRM. Is this on the roadmap? Thanks

• Can I Create Different Page Layouts Based on a Specified Module Pick List Field

  I am trying to work out how to create different page layouts based on a specified module pick list field value, like the Salesforce feature where you can define multiple record types and then create custom page layouts for each record type. This is a super important feature as for almost all the modules we are using (Leads, Potentials, Accounts) we need to be able only show fields relevant to the record type. E.g. We need a very different page layout for a consumer lead Vs a commercial lead, same

• Scheduling Tasks in Relation to Project End Date

  I use Zoho project  to help manage tasks that relate to a number of specific business events that take place.  I would like to be able to have my project end date be the date of the event and then work "back" from that date to say...   Add a task 2 weeks before the project end date to remind me to XYZ.  Does anyone know if there is a way to base task timings back from a project due date rather than a project start date?

• Notes of Tasks in Zoho CRM

  Hello, Is there a way to filter the Notes that appear on a Task to only show the notes related to that specific Task and not display all the Notes of the objects related to that Task (Accounts, Contacts, Deal, etc). In essence, our team struggles to understand

• Passing the CRM

  Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when

• How to next stage blueprint in Zoho Creator

  Hello, I have question, its possible to next stage blueprint? in case, Start - (first stage) Leader 1 (with condition 1) - (second stage) Leader 2 (with condition 2) - (third stage) Leader 3 (with condition 3) - (fourth stage) After first stage, i want

• Feature Request: Email Follow-Up Sequences Similar to Zoho CRM

  I’m wondering if Zoho Recruit is planning to introduce a feature similar to the Email Automation – Follow-Up Sequences that is available in Zoho CRM. In CRM, this allows users to send a series of timed follow-up emails triggered by specific actions (for

• Currency limitation when integrating Zoho CRM & Zoho Books

  Brief Video of Problem: https://www.loom.com/share/d61d1d07d0904e149d80c1901a22418e. Background ·       Our business is based in Australia and we have to have Zoho Books in AUD to comply with tax and reporting regulations in Australia. ·       We sell

• Multi-select Lookup does not have Advanced filter options in CRM

  With much fanfare Zoho announced the advanced filter options for CRM lookup fields which was a nice addition. This feature is not available for Multi-Select lookup fields. Will it be rolled out in the next 3-6 months, considering the standard lookup filter

• Experience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!

  Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view and

• Kaizen #157: Flyouts in Client Script

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting edition of our Kaizen series, where we explore fresh insights and innovative ideas to help you discover more and expand your knowledge!In this post, we'll walk through how to display Flyouts in Client Script

• Admin Control Over Profile Picture Visibility in Zoho One

  Hello Zoho Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, as per Zoho’s design, each user can manage the visibility of their profile picture from their own Zoho Accounts page: accounts.zoho.com → Personal Information → Profile Picture → Profile Picture

• Published Course Not Reflecting In Hub

  Hi! I am trying to create micro-learning courses for our team to be available for self-guided learning. I have published the courses with enrollment settings open to all users of the hub, but they don't appear to be available for enrollment. Am I missing

• Unlock Locked Users via Zoho One Mobile App

  Hello Zoho One Team, We have noticed that in the Zoho One web admin panel, we can unlock a locked user when needed. However, when using the Zoho One mobile app, there is no indication that a user is locked, nor is there an unlock button similar to what

• Tip #47- Stay Ahead with Automated Scheduled Reports in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

  We’ve made it easier for you to stay informed, even when you’re busy managing remote sessions! With Scheduled Reports in Zoho Assist, you can now automatically receive detailed insights about your remote support and unattended access activities directly

• Colour Coded Flags in Tasks Module List View

  I really like the colour coded flags indicating the status of the tasks assigned to a Contact/Deal in the module list view. It would be a great addition to have this feature available in the list view of activities/tasks. I understand you have the Due

• Uploading data to S3

  Has anyone successfully uploaded data from Creator to S3 using the InvokeURL command or any other method in Deluge? (keywords: S3, AWS, Amazon, bucket)

• UPS Label size when generated via Zoho

  We've integrated UPS with Zoho inventory. When creating and downloading the shipping labels they are created in a larger paper size. I'd like them to be generated to print on a 4x6 printer. Zoho have told me I need to do this within our UPS portal. UPS

• Credit Management: #4 Credits on Unused Period

  Recall a familiar situation. You sign up for a monthly gym membership. You pay the subscription fee upfront, get motivated, and show up consistently for the first week. Then, suddenly, you get caught up in work deadlines, travel plans, or a dip in motivation.

• Zoho Analytics Automatically Deletes Queries and Reports When a Synced CRM Field Is Removed

  We’ve encountered a serious and recurring issue that poses a massive data integrity risk for any Zoho Analytics customer using Zoho CRM integration. When a field is deleted in Zoho CRM — even an unused one — Zoho Analytics automatically deletes every

• Prevent new Record Association

  Hello all, We have a small sales organization therefore, it's helpful for everyone on the sales team to be able to view the full list of accounts to assist in preventing duplicate accounts from being created. However we want to prevent people from creating

• Tip of the Week #73– Automate workflow with Make integration.

  Make is a no-code workflow automation platform designed to connect your favorite apps and automate repetitive tasks across services. By integrating Make with Zoho TeamInbox, you can streamline everyday inbox management and save valuable time. With this

• Viewing attachments

  I'm using a Web Form integrated in my web site to collect Leads several info, including a image upload. In order to to approve each lead, we have to view the image uploaded. Unfortunately, in the Leads view, the Attachments can only be downloaded, not

• Kaizen #89 - Color Coding using Client Script

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. Today let us see how you can apply color codes to the List and Detail Pages of Zoho CRM using Client Script. Need for color code in Zoho CRM When you mark things with different colors as a

• Instant Sync of Zoho CRM Data?

  With how valuable Zoho Analytics is to actually creating data driven dashboards/reports, we are surprised that there is no instant or near instant sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics. Waiting 3 hours is okay for most of our reports, but there are

• Is it possibly to directly set the tax amount on order instead of indirectly via tax rates?

  We own an eCommerce application and want to funnel submitted orders from that system into Zoho. We're already calculating tax in our application and just need a way to set it in Zoho. We tried to use Zoho's tax objects for tax by setting the rates to

• Zoho account sign in with passkey

  Hello, I am trying to sign in using passkey, but the option doesn't show up in the web and is disabled in Oneauth on mobile, saying the admin has restricted the use. On the Admin page in Security MFA I can find no option for passkey. Help would be greatly

• Rescheduled US meetups: Zoho Desk user meetups are coming to seven U.S. cities in October and November, 2025

  Hello to our Zoho Desk users in the United States, We're excited to share the revised dates for the upcoming Zoho User Groups happening across the US this summer. Our product experts are heading to seven cities throughout the country, and for the first

• Checklists as templates

  Is it possible to save checklists as templates to reuse them in other tasks? Example: I have a web project. I maintain individual web URLs as tasks. Within the tasks the same checklist should be used again and again: - Page created in CMS - Properties

• Next Page