Self-Serve Portal Password Reset & Unlock

Overview

Audience: Current and future employees of XYZ Company

Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Action Mapping, Visual Design, Storyboarding, Mockups, Prototyping, Branding

Tools Used: Articulate Rise360, Figma, Microsoft 365

XYX Company has 500+ employees based out of the New York Tri-State area. There are many employees that work out of its NYC Headquarters, but others that also work remotely all over the US.

At the beginning of any work day, an employee of XYZ Company must log into the company network by utilizing their username and password to log into their Windows computer. However, one very common issue is employees of XYZ Comapny being locked out of the network, which occurs after too many incorrect login attempts. This causes a strain on the IT Service Desk to assist employees with unlocking and/or resetting an employee's credentials.

XYZ Company's IT Service Desk shared with the employee base that there is a Microsoft Self-Service Portal that can be utilized by employees to unlock their account and/or reset their password, but employees were unaware of how to access or use this service if they are locked out of the company network.

Through collection of data from the IT Service Desk, 64% of support tickets submitted in the first 2 hours daily in 2022 were requests for employees to have their network password either unlocked or reset. The ticket volume caused by the network password unlocks or resets was a deterrent to the IT Service Desk assisting employees with more severe hardware, software, or network-based service requests.

With that said, the IT Service Desk Manager has requested assistance in helping reduce this volume by creating a short refresher training on how to access the Microsoft Self-Serve Portal. The creation of this training can also serve as required training for future new employees of XYZ Company so they are aware of the process and workflow.

The overall business goal that the IT Service Desk Manager (our SME) was looking to accomplish is to reduce the requests for password unlocks/resets by 30% after 3 months of implementing the training.

As there was already content available on Company XYZ's Intranet, created by our SME, I proposed creating a workflow-based eLearning course that would reinforce the process of how an employee can unlock their account and/or reset their password from any internet-connected device.

After attending the training, both existing and new hire staff would understand this process to ge tback onto their workstation PCs quicker. This will also satisfy our client by reducing IT ticket volume for network account unlocks and password resets. The client approved and we began design and development.

Process

Action Map

The process began with a collaborative meeting with the SME to create an action map in Figma. Though the action map ultimately would be identical to the workflow, it was important to confirm the steps with the SME and capture and nuances that may not be explained in the already-written processes and procedures that the IT Service Desk created.

Text-Based Storyboard, Visual Mockup, & Visual Storyboard

After verifying the process through an action map, I then created a text-based storyboard to ensure all portions of the process is captured. After approval from the SME, I then designed a visual mockup of the eLearning course by making an initial draft in Articulate Rise 360. Rise 360 was used so quick modifications could be completed in collaboration with feedback from our SMEs utilizing Review 360.

One main objective of this project was to include the process of unlocking a user's account and/or resetting their password. In discussing methods to accomplish this task, we explored creating a video walkthrough, writing out the process similar to the current job aids, or leveraging different blocks in Rise 360 or creating a block in Articulate Storyline. Ultimately, to minimize turnaround time and to keep the module short and engaging for the end user, I accomplished this by creating a Process block in Rise 360. With added screenshots of the process, learners are able to visually see and comprehend the process, clicking back and forth through steps as needed.

Ultimately, the visual storyboard was created to tie together the information I had on my text-based storyboards and into corresponding lessons in Rise 360. Programming of each lesson was also included in the process of creating the visual storyboards to understand navigation, text, and graphics to utilize.

Interactive Prototype

I created an interactive prototype of this project by utilizing a draft on Review 360. I received feedback from the SME and peers on my team as I continued to iterate on refining the wording and overall course design.

Full Development

When I had final approval and sign-off from the SME, I was able to conduct final modifications to the Rise 360 module, which was then published and housed within Company XYZ's Learning Management System (LMS).
View the eLearning Course here

Results & Takeaways

In implementing this eLearning module and releasing it, there was a significant decrease in IT Service Desk ticket requests for network password unlocks and/or resets. In the first 2 hours daily over the following 2 months after release, the percentage of support tickets relating to network password unlocks and/or resets dropped from 64% to 22%. The eLearning course is now assigned as a mandatory course for new hires to complete within the first month of hire. It is also a required course for existing staff to complete in the 1st quarter annually.

With the extra 42% in volume available, IT was able to allocate more of their Service Desk resources to assist employees with more severe requests, and also improve other network, hardware, and software capabilities across the organization.

I learned a lot about determining the best mode of training based on the content being trained, the audience, and the potential timeline. While Articulate Storyline could've been used to create an eLearning module, I deemed Rise 360 would work best in an Agile setting, especially since IT already had a written job aid that the SME requested to leverage in the training if possible.