ServiceDesk
Business Analyst & UX Designer
The central hub for IT support at Emily Carr University — from student journey mapping to a unified, on-brand Service Desk for students, faculty, and staff.
After graduating from Emily Carr University — and receiving a graduation award — I was invited by ECU’s CIO, Sandeep Sidhu, to join the IT team as a Business Analyst and UX Designer. Under Service Experience Manager Stephen Wichuk, I led a student journey-mapping initiative that surfaced where the IT experience was breaking down, and turned those findings into real projects. The largest was the Service Desk: the central hub for IT support across students, faculty, and staff — which I helped design and build into something accessible, active, and genuinely usable.
- Role
- Business Analysis · UX/UI · Front-End
- Client
- Emily Carr University — IT Services
- Timeline
- Jun 2023 – May 2024
User Research
Before designing anything, we mapped the actual experience — on campus, with the people living it.
Journey mapping the real experience
I ran a journey-mapping initiative to visualize how people actually move through IT support, capturing every touchpoint, key moment, pain point, and opportunity across the stages relevant to our target persona.
Research in the open
The map spanned the full journey in rows — touchpoints, key moments, pain points, opportunities — and participants used sticky notes to share their experiences at each step, turning research into a live, collaborative activity on campus.
Insights & Problems
Three problems surfaced again and again.
Too many systems to navigate
People struggled with the complexity of moving between multiple systems, leading to information overload and knowledge fragmented across the organization.
Not enough self-service
The community leaned heavily on IT staff for support — pointing to a clear need for a real Knowledge Base for troubleshooting and a more flexible, adaptable ticketing system.
Outdated, inconsistent information
Stale information slowed decisions and hurt student outcomes. Staff and faculty hit obstacles completing tasks, struggled to adopt new tools, and often missed significant initiatives entirely.
A Unified System
The fix started with architecture, not screens.
One connected IT environment
I ran a site-mapping review of the information architecture of ECU’s IT section, which revealed clear opportunities to integrate the Service Desk into the broader system rather than bolt it on.
A single front door for help
A “Need ITS Help?” page connects the Service Desk to the IT Services website, so people reach the right resource through a coherent information architecture instead of guesswork.
Visual Identity
The Service Desk had to feel unmistakably ECU.
Working within ECU’s brand
I designed the platform to respect ECU’s brand identity and design system — aligning with their guidelines so the Service Desk stayed consistent with, and true to, the institution’s established standards.
Customizing the platform
The build customized TeamDynamix (TDX) to embody ECU’s branding while keeping TDX’s underlying functionality — its own identity within the institution, without fighting the tooling.
The Web Platform
Then the screens themselves — a gateway to every IT resource.
A gateway to IT resources
The home page uses custom HTML modules for intuitive navigation, giving quick access to the Service Catalog, Knowledge Base, and Technology Issues from one place.
Request. Track. Achieve.
The Service Catalog lets students, faculty, and staff submit their needs, define requirements, and track progress — support requests, simplified.
A self-service portal
The Knowledge Base offers self-service support with guides and articles on accounts, software, and campus services, so common issues resolve without ever opening a ticket.
Email Notifications
Keeping everyone in the loop
I designed and built a custom email template for the ticketing system that automatically sends dynamic notifications for ticket updates, creations, and comments — so every party stays informed without chasing a status.
What I learned
Designing with purpose
Good problem-solving starts by identifying the real issue and designing a user-centered solution — not applying an unjustified fix. Higher education, like any product, has to put user needs first.
Identity and functionality, together
Solutions have to align with an organization’s identity while still standing out. Customizing TeamDynamix to embody ECU’s brand — without giving up its functionality — was that balance in practice.
An agile, iterative approach
IT projects reward quick wins and phased delivery: ship something functional, then refine it through iteration rather than waiting for perfect.
Holdout