Explore ways to reduce helpdesk emails

kristinacyin commented 3 months ago

Issue description

Analysts are overwhelmed by the high volume of helpdesk emails they receive. Let's try to reduce this burden by exploring ways we can:

Update the content and logic of the helpdesk form for more specificity
Format the helpdesk form to empower users to find answers in the info site (link FAQ)
- Ideally, we can provide links to specific pages/sections based on the form categories chosen
Send confirmation emails after helpdesk form is submitted
- Potentially customize replies to the form through Microsoft Power Automate such that they provide resources regarding the topic being asked

Acceptance criteria

[x] Create a duplicate of the contact form to experiment with and then experiment!
[x] Consult with Cameron on proposed approach

Additional context

Timebox to 2 days.

Notes from Product Huddle on 3/13/24

Links to other issues

Per AC4 (other ideas) cisagov/manage.get.gov#1930 discovers how to get users to authenticate before sending their message to the help desk.

Per AC4 (other ideas) #279 was pursued and implemented. (Banner indicating high volume)

Per AC4, cisagov/manage.get.gov#1994 is under consideration.

vickyszuchin commented 3 months ago

Accepted into the backlog. Slotted into Sprint 42 tentatively, left in "Backlog" status for Katherine to make the final determination on whether she wants to work it in the next sprint.

kristinacyin commented 3 months ago

I want to point out that there are potential 2 approaches that have manifested in discussions (could maybe do both):

Updating the form itself: The most straightforward thing we can do is link the FAQ page to the form, and maybe have the submitter acknowledge that they have read it before submitting the helpdesk form. The more involved thing we can do is to make the form be more specific (offer more specific topic categories), such that we can customize text shown in the form to include specific pages related to the topic, not just the FAQ. This is beneficial because then we can empower users to find their own answers before they submit the form. Microsoft Forms limited formatting options might make this difficult to do.
Automate responses to the form submissions: Also straightforwardly, we should be sending "your form was submitted successfully" confirmation emails. The more involved addition would be to also customize the email response such that it links to specific pages on our info site related to the question topic that was chosen. To me, this is the second best option if we can't customize the form itself to do this, since this only happens after the helpdesk form has already been submitted. Could potentially think about adding a "If you need additional help (that has not been provided in the resources we shared with you in the confirmation email), reply to this email" to let the analysts know that maybe they don't need to respond to the submission anymore.

h-m-f-t commented 1 month ago

@kristinacyin came up with a novel and potentially viable way to modify the contact us form that helps guide unauthenticated users to answers. Implementing will take more time, so I'll create that issue. Also moving this issue to cisagov/get.gov

cisagov / get.gov