Article • 3 min read
Meet "Copenhagen", Zendesk’s new responsive Help Center theme
By Toby Roger
Last updated June 13, 2016
Today we’re releasing the Copenhagen theme for Help Center. We’ve redesigned it from the ground up, with self-service best practices in mind. It’s your front line for customers no matter what device they’re using.
There’s no question about it—mobile is taking over the world and more people are using their devices to find answers to their questions. According to a Forrester Research, Inc. report on self-service, 66 percent of U.S. online adults are using their mobile device to self-serve.
To learn more about the new responsive theme, we sat down with Dovile Montvydaite, one of our product designers for Help Center, whose team is based out of Zendesk’s Copenhagen office.
To get us started, what was the inspiration behind Copenhagen?
It’s quite simple, really. Help Center is built from our Copenhagen office, and our team has grown to almost fifty since the office first opened in 2011.
We’re inspired by the highly-functional and close attention to detail that’s part of Danish design, and we see that echoed in the theme itself. We’ve taken a clean and thoughtful approach to the new Copenhagen theme, and it’s even easier to customize than ever before.
Tell us about your process when it came to designing the new Copenhagen theme for Help Center.
We started by getting an understanding of what our customers were already doing with their Help Centers. Since we launched Help Center in 2013, we have seen so many fantastic examples of how customers customize their Help Centers. From all of these great examples, we could see that there was a big difference in what our customers were doing and what we were providing out of the box. We set out to bridge that gap.
So what’s new with the Copenhagen theme?
Firstly, it’s responsive, so the theme adapts beautifully to desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. Today, you’re not tied to your desktop when it comes to seeking out help. You could be looking for help on your mobile during your commute, or kicking back on the sofa with your tablet. It’s important that we made the experience work beautifully no matter what device you choose to use.
Secondly, it’s easier to customize. Customers were going to great lengths to get their Help Center in the shape they wanted it to be. With the new theme, you can upload three images and add your brand color and you’re ready to go.
Thirdly, improved readability. It’s vital that the content you provide is easy to read and accessible. A new sidebar shown next to an article helps users discover other relevant content that exists in the same section. We’ve focused a lot on improving readability, so articles show a recommended 90 to 110 characters per line. The font size has been increased, we’ve added better spacing, and all colors have been tested and approved by web standards for accessibility.
Last, but by no means least, it’s easier to hone in on the latest information as we now include any updates to your Knowledge Base as part of the recent activities shown on the homepage. Previously, we were only showing the most recent activities for your Community.
We’ve made all of these updates by keeping self-service best practices top of mind. The theme serves as a great starting point, which you can adjust to your own needs.
What’s next on the horizon that you’re excited about?
Well, to start, I’m excited to see the new theme out in the wild and in the hands of our customers. It’s humbling to know that something you’ve worked so hard on will reach such a large audience.
Aside from that, there’s always so much to learn from our customers. We want to empower our customers with more customization options so they have the flexibility they need. And coming really soon we’re bringing Profiles to Help Center, giving a face to your users. Watch this space.
