Investing in a redesign of your knowledge base can be a smart move if the potential benefits outweigh the effort required. Here are a few reasons to consider it:
Customers are consistently asking for information that is already in the knowledge base, indicating that they are having trouble finding it.
The existing content is out of date or poorly organized.
The current design makes it difficult for customers to find the information they need.
If any of these issues apply to your knowledge base, it may be worth considering a redesign.
Three Main Steps of Execution
A successful knowledge base redesign requires planning and effort. The following five-step plan can help guide your redesign process:
1. Understand your capacity
Before beginning the redesign, assess what resources and capabilities you have available, including design and technical writing support, the amount of time you can dedicate to the project, and any tools that can aid in the redesign.
2. Conduct a knowledge base audit
Conducting a knowledge base audit involves reviewing the content and structure of a knowledge base to ensure that it is up-to-date, relevant, and accurate. Here are the steps you can follow to conduct a knowledge base audit:
Define the purpose and scope of the audit
Start by defining the objectives of the audit and the areas of the knowledge base that you want to review. This will help you to focus your efforts and prioritize your tasks. Examples may be:
To review the organization and structure of the knowledge base and ensure that it is easy to navigate and find information
To assess the performance of the knowledge base in terms of usage, adoption, and impact on users' satisfaction and productivity
To evaluate the quality of the content and ensure that it is accurate, up-to-date, and relevant to users' needs.
Review the structure and organization of the knowledge base
Look at the categories, tags, and labels used to organize content in the knowledge base. Ensure that the structure is intuitive and easy to navigate for users. Consider creating new categories or restructuring existing ones to better reflect the content.
Evaluate the content
Go through each article in the knowledge base and evaluate its relevance, accuracy, and completeness. Check for any outdated information, broken links, or missing information. Consider updating or removing articles that are no longer relevant.
Assess the quality of the writing
Evaluate the language, tone, and readability of the content. Ensure that the writing is clear and concise, and uses language that is appropriate for the intended audience.
Test the search functionality
Use the search function to test how well the knowledge base can return relevant results. Identify any areas where the search function is not working effectively and consider adding new tags or keywords to improve the search results.
Gather user feedback
Gather feedback from users to identify any gaps in the knowledge base or areas where the content can be improved. You can do this by conducting surveys or through feedback forms on the knowledge base.
Develop an action plan
Once you have completed the audit, develop an action plan to address any issues that you have identified. Prioritize the tasks based on their importance and allocate resources to implement the changes.
3. Execute the redesign
With a solid plan in place, implement the redesign. Be prepared to make adjustments as necessary and continue to gather feedback from customers and support team members to improve the knowledge base over time.
Successful Knowledge Base Redesign
When redesigning your knowledge base documents, it is important to consider the specific issues you want to address. Start by addressing the easiest changes to implement, given your time and skills.
Styling redesign
This approach is best used when the content is solid, but the pages are difficult to scan or read. Improving the design through changes to the CSS style sheet or per-page editing can make a big difference.
Structural redesign
If the information in your knowledge base is spread over too many pages or grouped in long sections, a structural redesign is necessary. Rethink the information on each page and how it is presented. Use common questions from help desk reports or feedback from your support team to guide the redesign.
Measuring the impact of a redesign
To ensure that the effort put into redesigning is worth it, establish clear metrics to track changes before and after the redesign. Metrics to consider include page visits, bounce rate, failed searches, usage of help documents in support replies, direct feedback, and customer contact rate versus knowledge base visits.
We Can Help
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the thought of redesigning your knowledge base, don't worry, you're not alone. That's where we at Smoothen come in. Our team of CX experts can help you build out a knowledge base and help center that is tailored to your specific needs. From conducting a knowledge base audit, to redesigning and executing the final product, we have the expertise to guide you through the entire process. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with your knowledge base redesign.
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