When managing IT services, the focus often leans heavily towards operational efficiency—how quickly issues are resolved and how many tickets are processed. However, if you’re aiming to truly enhance service delivery, it’s crucial to shift your attention from operational outputs to the actual experiences of your users. After all, the fundamental purpose of IT is to support its customers – employees of the organization- so that they are in the best conditions to do the ‘real job’.
In this article, we’ll explore how you can improve customer experience in Jira Service Management by focusing on the right metrics.
Why measure Experience
In the context of IT Service Management, where user interactions are often problem-driven, a positive experience can significantly mitigate the frustration associated with technical issues.
The quality of the experience your department provides to employees directly impacts the perception of IT in your organization, but it doesn’t stop there. When employee experience with IT is positive, it boosts productivity and promotes a culture of excellence. This can lead to higher engagement, increased employee loyalty, and thus better business performance.
XLAs vs SLA: What’s the difference
Traditionally, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have been the backbone of IT service contracts, focusing on the timeliness and accuracy of services delivered. SLAs are about the ‘what’ of services—what gets done and when. Experience Level Agreements (XLAs), on the other hand, shift the focus to the ‘how’—how users feel about the service they receive, emphasizing the outcome and value over the output.
While SLAs track metrics like uptime and response times, XLAs might look at user satisfaction scores, ease of use, and how effectively issues are resolved from the user’s perspective. Integrating XLAs into your ITSM framework means prioritizing these human-centric metrics, which more accurately reflect the health and effectiveness of your IT services.
To better understand how Experience Level Agreements (XLAs) differ from traditional Service Level Agreements (SLAs), let’s look at a side-by-side comparison.
The below table illustrates the core distinctions, shedding light on how each type of agreement measures service delivery and success.
| SLAs (Service Level Agreements) | XLAs (Experience Level Agreements) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Operational outputs such as uptime, response times, etc. | User experience, satisfaction, and perceived value. |
| Metrics | Quantitative (e.g., number of tickets resolved, uptime) | Qualitative and quantitative, focusing on end-user feedback and overall satisfaction. |
| Objective | Ensure services are delivered within agreed parameters. | Improve and enhance the end-user’s interaction and satisfaction with services. |
| Measurement | Based on predefined technical or operational targets. | Based on outcomes that affect end-user satisfaction and service perception. |
| Feedback Loop | Often limited to operational performance reviews. | Continuous, incorporating user feedback to drive service improvements. |
| Impact | Focuses on service efficiency and reliability. | Aims to create positive user experiences and foster loyalty. |
| Implementation | Standardized across many organizations. | Tailored to specific user needs and organizational goals. |
To sum up, while SLAs focus primarily on quantifiable operational metrics, XLAs emphasize the overall experience and satisfaction of the end-user, aiming to enhance the perceived value of IT services.
The challenges of measuring customer experience in Jira
Implementing and tracking experience-focused metrics in Jira Service Management can be challenging. The tool is inherently designed around operational efficiency, and while it offers robust functionalities for tracking SLAs, it lacks a module to effectively measure and analyze customer experience metrics.
Challenges include integrating user feedback directly into the service workflow, correlating this feedback with service performance data, and ensuring that this data influences IT service strategies for the better.
Customer experience in Jira: the metrics that matter and can actually be tracked
To truly gauge customer experience in Jira, you need to consider metrics that reflect not just the efficiency but also the effectiveness and emotional response to the service provided.
Here are four essential categories of metrics to consider, each playing a key role in providing a holistic view of your IT operations performance:
| CUSTOMER SATISFACTION | Evaluates user contentment with support services through loyalty and satisfaction metrics like the Net Promoter Score and CSAT. |
| SERVICE QUALITY | Measures the effectiveness of support through request volumes, response times, resolution efficacy, and abandonment rates. |
| SLA | Tracks fidelity to service commitments, focusing on response and resolution timelines, but also any other SLA you will define in Jira Service Management. |
| PRODUCTIVITY | Assesses efficiency in resolving user issues, considering first-contact resolution and the frequency of follow-up interactions. |
Taking into account these four lenses enables a more strategic enhancement of your service delivery, ensuring that your IT services are not just functional but truly aligned with the needs of users.
At Elements, we aim to empower IT to connect with employees on a level that creates value and delight beyond expectations. We designed our app Elements Pulse to provide a central hub for monitoring and improving customer satisfaction in Jira Service Management.
The app includes a comprehensive visual overview dashboard that provides a clear snapshot of your current IT experience status. It offers detailed insights derived from your Jira data, an integrated survey tool for collecting user feedback, and a dedicated module for setting and tracking experience goals through Experience Level Agreements (XLAs).
This robust combination ensures that you have all the tools necessary to effectively measure and enhance user experience within your IT services.
Ready to craft IT experiences that leave a lasting impression?
By shifting focus from traditional SLAs to more reflective and comprehensive XLAs, and by carefully choosing and monitoring the right metrics in Jira Service Management, you can not only meet but exceed user expectations, thereby transforming the IT service experience.
Remember, in the digital age, great service is not just about solving problems—it’s about how your users feel when interacting with your IT service desk.
