That’s true of your external support site. Not only is it one of your brand’s key public facing touchpoints, it’s the first line of service when something goes wrong – and a key factor in maintaining customer satisfaction.

When done well, external support sites not only deliver on customer expectations for look and feel, but also reduce operational overhead, improve customer retention, and build trust among users. When done poorly, the opposite is true:

• Ticket volumes increase unnecessarily
• Resolution times get longer
• Your support team spends more time on repetitive issues
• User trust erodes when the experience doesn’t reflect the quality of your product

Let’s break down where most support sites fall short and how Refined helps you design for success.

What’s holding most JSM support desks back?

1. Default design limitations

Jira Service Management portals provide a solid design foundation – you can apply basic theming, like adding a logo or changing accent colors. 

However it’s worth keeping in mind the design limitations of native JSM:

• Preset themes and layouts – JSM portals offer some layout customization. You can choose a color scheme, logo, and banner image, but can’t fully redesign the layout or structure of pages.
• Limited layout and design flexibility – Unlike Confluence or certain third-party tools, there is no native drag-and-drop interface to build out content blocks, sections, or navigation elements visually on landing pages.
• Inconsistent accessibility and mobile responsiveness – Not all portal elements meet accessibility best practices out of the box, which can be a concern for public-facing support. And while the portal is mobile-friendly, it’s not optimized for advanced interaction or custom mobile layouts.

The result can be a functional portal that meets basic service needs but is disconnected from the branding and user experience of your main site or product.

2. User experience pitfalls

It’s easy to fall into the trap of building a default support portal around your own internal logic, instead of focusing on user needs and their journey on the site. That leads to:

• Overcomplicated or confusing menus – For example, grouping request types under vague or overly technical labels, or burying them too many clicks into your site. You don’t want users to have to guess where to go for help.
• Search that fails to surface relevant results – If users can’t quickly find the right help article or request type using simple keywords, they’ll get frustrated and skip self-service altogether. 
• Limited mobile optimization or accessibility features – A portal that’s hard to use on phones (or inaccessible to users with assistive needs) can exclude a large portion of your audience and increase ticket volume.

Users who get stuck might quickly abandon self-service and raise tickets for even simple queries.

3. Support fatigue

Poor support sites frustrate both users and support teams:

• Repetitive, preventable tickets slow down your queue – When users can’t find answers on their own, they submit requests for basic issues. This creates unnecessary ticket volume and can slow response times for urgent requests.
• Important knowledge base content goes unused – If helpful articles are hard to find or poorly presented, your users won’t see them. The result is more tickets and wasted effort on content that probably doesn’t get seen.
• Agents end up doing work the portal should’ve done for them – Without a user-optimized portal that nudges visitors toward self-help content, support agents are left to pick up the slack. They spend time answering basic questions instead of solving higher-value problems.

It’s not merely a hunch: 90% of users expect consistent digital experiences across every touchpoint. If your help portal falls short, it affects perception and performance.

Support experiences your users deserve

Support portals shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought – far from it. They’re high-impact tools that can reduce ticket volume, improve user experiences, all while reinforcing your brand identity and promise. But that only happens when portals are intentionally designed.

With Refined Sites, you can turn JSM into a branded, scalable, and genuinely helpful experience that benefits both your users and your team.

Want more help building a support experience users will appreciate?

Head over to our guide for tips, resources, and real-world examples to help you out.

Or try Refined Sites for JSM, free for 30 days on the Atlassian Marketplace.