Best practices for creating custom layouts

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Layout builderopens the door to customizing the layout of theZendesk Agent Workspaceto your team’s individual workflows. This helps improve agent efficiency by surfacing relevant information and removing distractions. Agents can immediately focus on the task at hand with fewer clicks. Custom layouts enable you to hide less-commonly-used components in thecontext panel. You can also maximize use of available real estate by stacking components vertically or creating a layout that is four columns.</p>
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<div class="note attention">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> Enterprise plans can have multiple layouts active at the same time for
different types of tickets. Professional plans can have only one active layout. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5447690090138#topic_bt5_nq1_4bc" target="_blank">Plan requirements for custom layouts</a>.</div>
<p class="p"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5447690090138" target="_blank">Layout builder</a> opens the door to customizing the layout of the<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821259930" target="_blank"> Zendesk Agent Workspace</a> to your team’s individual workflows. This
helps improve agent efficiency by surfacing relevant information and removing distractions.
Agents can immediately focus on the task at hand with fewer clicks. Custom layouts enable you
to hide less-commonly-used components in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836526362" target="_blank">context panel</a>. You can also maximize use of available real estate by
stacking components vertically or creating a layout that is four columns. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">This article describes some common scenarios where admins can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5447837546138" target="_blank">create a custom layout</a> in the Agent Workspace and agents can
benefit. You can use these scenarios as a model for creating your own custom layouts. Once you
create custom layouts, make sure you continually gather feedback from your agents to ensure
the layouts are optimized for their success.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_w5r_f1j_czb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_dpl_ky3_czb">Scenario 1: Improve agent efficiency</a></li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_nbr_yy3_czb">Scenario 2: Tailor the agent interface (Enterprise only)</a> (Enterprise only)</li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_dkq_fz3_czb">Scenario 3: Remove distractions</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_gc4_lz3_czb">Scenario 4: Improve readability</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mgd_tz3_czb">Scenario 5: Integrate AI capabilities (legacy)</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_dpl_ky3_czb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Scenario 1: Improve agent efficiency</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><em class="ph i">This scenario shows you how to improve agent efficiency by taking mission critical apps
out of the sidebar and putting them front and center.</em></p>
<p class="p">Your company has several <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409155972378#topic_x3y_r22_r5" target="_blank">private apps</a> that have been developed and installed.
They provide critical customer information. Your agent workflows include finding customer
information in App 1 that they can add into ticket fields and then add order information
into App 2.</p>
<p class="p">Without layout builder, your agents need to continually click into the Apps panel to locate
App 1 and 2 to complete their workflow. With layout builder, your two custom apps can be
brought into the main part of the ticket layout for an “always on” view. This reduces the
number of clicks and ensures that your agents are able to quickly find and add information.
They don't have to click back and forth into the Apps panel to locate the apps.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_dpl_ky3_czb__image_wvs_ztl_znb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario1.png" width="730"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_nbr_yy3_czb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Scenario 2: Tailor the agent interface (Enterprise only)</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><em class="ph i">This scenario shows you how to tailor the agent interface for different groups of agents
who provide different levels of service.</em></p>
<p class="p">Your company is a multi-national luxury lifestyle business that has three different levels
of service depending on the customer’s ARR. Group 1 consists of top-tier agents who provide
instant, personalized support to VIP customers who have special product requests. Group 2
consists of experienced agents who manage product shipping and returns for mid-level
customers and wholesale distributors. Group 3 consists of agents who manage the knowledge
base and self-service support for entry-level customers who typically purchase items from
the company website. Each one of these groups leverages different apps, knowledge bases, and
features such as <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844206746" target="_blank">side conversations</a> and the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5524125586330" target="_blank">Copilot add-on</a>. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Your company is able to use custom layouts in combination with <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408833498906" target="_blank">contextual workspaces</a> to create a specialized workspace for each
group of agents: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_nbr_yy3_czb__ul_m1b_yly_dzb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Group 1</strong> has a layout that emphasizes social messaging channels and
social messaging contact information so agents can respond instantly to VIP customer
requests, no matter how the customers reach out. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Group 2</strong> has a layout that has ticket fields, the conversation pane, and
side conversations. Their main workflow is for passing email requests to their offshore
Shipping and Returns teams. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Group 3</strong> has a layout that spotlights the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408826700570" target="_blank">Knowledge section</a> prominently to help agents find, maintain, and
automate relevant product information that customers can reference on the web when they
decide to purchase. The layout gives agents enough screen real estate for a better reading
experience. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Each of these groups automatically gets their unique layouts through contextual
workspaces. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">Group 1: Social messaging</strong></p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_nbr_yy3_czb__image_hks_kny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario2_group1.png" width="730"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">Group 2: Side conversations</strong></p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_nbr_yy3_czb__image_fw3_4ny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario2_group2.png" width="730"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">Group 3: Knowledge and Knowledge Capture</strong></p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_nbr_yy3_czb__image_dlb_qny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario2_group3.png" width="730"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_dkq_fz3_czb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Scenario 3: Remove distractions</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><em class="ph i">This scenario shows you how to remove distractions by hiding unused components in the
context panel.</em></p>
<p class="p">Your company is a travel booking platform that is focused on the contact center and handles
the majority of customer cases over the phone. As such, your agents have little use for the
conversation pane and only use ticket fields and the Apps section to capture information and
resolve tickets. The conversation pane is taking up unnecessary space in the ticket
interface and is a distraction. </p>
<p class="p">With a custom layout, your company is able to hide the conversation pane in the context
panel. By doing this, you ensure that your agents have the optimal workspace that only shows
the relevant information in a streamlined user interface.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_dkq_fz3_czb__image_jhy_dny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario3.png" width="730"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_gc4_lz3_czb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Scenario 4: Improve readability</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><em class="ph i">This scenario shows you how to improve readability by configuring the conversation
pane.</em></p>
<p class="p">Your company is a large scale manufacturer. The majority of your customer tickets are
submitted through email, so the reading experience for your agents is absolutely critical. </p>
<p class="p">To help create that optimal reading and writing experience for your agents in an
email-first workflow, you can create a custom layout that <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6070249202202" target="_blank">sets the order of messages</a> so the most recent is shown at the top
of the conversation and has the editor default to a minimized state. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_gc4_lz3_czb__image_vs3_fny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario4.png" width="730"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mgd_tz3_czb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Scenario 5: Integrate AI capabilities (legacy)</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> This is a legacy configuration. If you have <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7908817636378" target="_blank">agent copilot</a> activated in your account, these capabilities
appear directly in the main ticket interface. Intelligence in the context panel does not exist.</div>
<p class="p"><em class="ph i">This scenario shows you how to integrate AI capabilities as a core part of
workflows.</em></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Your company handles food delivery and your agents process hundreds of
tickets each day. Efficiency is key. Your agents need to resolve tickets as quickly as
possible as customers message them in real-time. Any slowdown in ticket
processing has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and your company’s growth. Your
company recently began using Zendesk’s <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5608656346650" target="_blank">AI offerings</a> as a way to aid your agents.</p>
<p class="p">Creating a custom layout can amplify AI offerings such as <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4471123173402" target="_blank">intelligent triage</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4550640560538" target="_blank">sentiment</a> by placing the AI signals directly next to the customer
conversation. This allows your agents to prioritize their efforts appropriately and complete
tickets with higher confidence and speed.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_mgd_tz3_czb__image_t34_gny_dzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/scenario5.png" width="730"></p>
</div>
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