Announcing multiple tiered root causes in Zendesk QA

Announced on | Rollout on
July 7, 2026 | July 7, 2026

We’re announcing multi-tiered root causes in Zendesk Quality Assurance (QA). This feature lets you organize root causes into structured tiers, making it easier for reviewers to select accurate and specific root causes during quality reviews.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What is changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What is changing?

We’re introducing a cascading dropdown system for root causes that organizes them into up to three tiers:

Tier 1: Broad categories, for example, technical issues, user errors, or process failures.

Tier 2: Subcategories based on the Tier 1 selection, for example, hardware failures, or software bugs.

Tier 3: Specific root causes, for example, compatibility issues, or coding errors.

Previously, root causes were displayed as a single flat list. With this update, you can structure your root causes hierarchically, guiding reviewers through a logical selection process from general to specific.

You can choose whether to use the traditional flat root cause list or the new tiered structure based on your team's needs.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Organizations with many root causes often find that a long, flat list overwhelms reviewers, leading to selections based on familiarity rather than accuracy.

The tiered structure:

Improves the accuracy of root cause selection.

Reduces time spent searching through extensive lists.

Enables more granular and actionable quality insights.

What do I need to do?

There’s nothing you need to do immediately. Once the feature is available, you can configure tiered root causes in Zendesk QA > Scorecard settings > Root causes using the new Add tier button. See Viewing and managing root causes for review scores.

Your existing root causes remain unchanged until you choose to reorganize them into tiers.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.