Matt Picio

Thanks for posting that link, Corrin - I'll definitely check that out!

It's always possible to get customizations which address most of the issues - I think a lot of my frustration is that I shouldn't have to pay for a customization to get basic functionality which should be built into the product.  I think Ben spoke well to that point.  Like Ben, I am an unabashed Zendesk enthusiast - I think it's the best product out there, and I recommend it to others every chance I get.  I just want my agents to see the information they need to do their job on the front page of the app, without having to click on a 3rd party product icon. 

Remco,

Many of the commenters on this thread also work at software companies. The rest are business owners and Zendesk admins. Respectfully, I think almost everyone on this thread is aware of the SaaS development lifecycle and resource constraints. I've seen very few comments in this thread saying that the product sucks. Zendesk is an industry leader, and the product is easier to use and has a fuller feature set than nearly every one of its competitors - and that's exactly why we hold them to a higher standard.

I'm not sure how it's "holding it against them" to point out that the last update from Zendesk on these issues was more than a year ago, or that the underlying issues still remain unresolved after nearly 40 months, despite over 100 public comments asking for more flexibility. It's also fair to say that Zendesk has a history of letting these threads lapse without comment, and a failure to provide follow-up in the community channel.

The main issues here are:

1. This is basic functionality. There is no good reason why the default Zendesk view cannot be selectable. Customers shouldn't be forced into the default Zendesk dashboard view. And it's inconsistent - the dashboard view is the only view in Zendesk where the number of columns is fixed, where the columns are not selectable, where the default sort order and filtering cannot be set by the administrator. This is all basic functionality and basic requirements for a support desk - and the classic Zendesk interface supported it. The current interface (Project Lotus) does not, and in many respects was a step backwards since some of the functionality and flexibility inherent in the original platform was never incorporated into the new interface.

2. This is Zendesk's front door. This is the main screen that everyone sees, and it's the public face of the product every time it's launched. The dashboard should have a larger feature set and MORE functionality than other views, not less. To extend the analogy, Zendesk for the last 3 years has been a fancy house with an pink-painted aluminum storm door in front. All the other doors can be made of wood, or steel, and different colors, but the front door of the house only comes in one color, one material, and you can't control who has the key. Sure, it's a door, it works - but why can all the other doors be configured while the front door cannot?

I think that 100+ comments prove that this isn't just the griping of a handful of users. Your post appears to dismiss out of hand what are valid and legitimate criticisms of the product which remain to be addressed by the company.

I strongly urge Zendesk to review how they're implementing the dashboard and whether it's adequately serving their entire user base.

It's very frustrating that after 3+ years and over 100 comments since I originally posted this, the ONLY thing that Zendesk has done to address this issue is to add the ticket number to the view.

Ok, and the column headers can be clicked to change sort order.  That's it.

I get 6 unchangeable columns with no ability to add others, and there still is no means by which to get a "Support Manager" view of my Zendesk, so see which tickets I need to address before they generate an escalation.  This isn't new functionality anymore, the interface has been in place for over 3 years.

Zendesk is the industry leader because the platform is flexible, but it's still sorely lacking in management and enterprise features and in key flexibility / customizability.  And the product manager hasn't visited this thread in quite some time, despite the continued steady trickle or remarks and "me toos" generated in this thread.

I think all of us who are still on Zendesk would love it if Zendesk would please start to address this issue, or at least let people know if it's on the product map, or never going to be.

It's been 30 months since I submitted this request / comment.  Darla hit the nail on the head on June 2nd with this remark:

The solution is to 1) make it customizable; or 2) allow an agent to set a default view.

Darla also mentioned that this page is Zendesk's Agent "front door" - it sets the expectations for the product, the importance of which cannot be overstated.  Despite more than 80 people commenting in this thread over the past 2-1/2 years, Zendesk has yet to address this very basic functionality - functionality which existed in the previous interface, which was lost during the change to the current UI - and the current UI has never restored feature parity in this regard.

I've been a fan and a promoter of the product for nearly 3 years, but this is a recurring frustration - as is the lack of updates / response back to the community about what we've expressed is an important issue.