Designing Meaningful Virtual Agent Experiences in ServiceNow

When organizations roll out Virtual Agents on ServiceNow, it's tempting to focus only on features: automation, AI, and chatbot efficiency. But there's a deeper question at the heart of a successful implementation. Does the experience make users want to come back?

Whether you're designing for employees or customers, UX is what drives adoption, satisfaction, and ultimately, success. A Virtual Agent might be powered by great technology, but it's the experience that makes it useful, trustworthy, and effective.

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What the Virtual Agent Can Do

ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent is more than a simple chatbot. It’s a fully integrated platform for automating conversations across IT, HR, Facilities, and Customer Service — with the ability to scale across departments, channels, and use cases.

Key capabilities include:

• Guided Conversations: Structured, no-code flows that walk users through tasks such as resetting a password, checking request status, or updating personal info. These conversations are created using the Virtual Agent Designer, which integrates with Flow Designer for backend automation.
• Natural Language Understanding (NLU): Allows the VA to interpret free-text input using a trained intent model. It can recognize variations in phrasing, match user input to predefined topics, and support multilingual configurations.
• Generative AI with Now Assist: Helps users get help even when they don’t know what to ask. It can summarize relevant knowledge articles, suggest action paths, and auto-fill form fields based on context. This leverages ServiceNow's native integration with AI Search, Knowledge Management, and Flow Builder.
• Omnichannel Deployment: The Virtual Agent is available not only in Employee Center, but also in Customer Service Management (CSM) portals, ServiceNow Mobile, and third-party platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack, supporting a consistent self-service experience across touchpoints.
• Prebuilt Topic Packs: ServiceNow offers ready-to-use guided conversation topics for ITSM, HRSD, and CSM. These accelerate deployment while remaining fully customizable to meet organizational needs.
• Live Agent Handoff: Virtual Agent can route users to live agents via chat queues in ITSM, HRSD, or CSM. This is essential for cases the bot can’t resolve or when users need human support. It integrates with connect support and workforce scheduling features to manage shift coverage and agent availability across time zones.

Whether you’re deploying in an employee or customer context, the Virtual Agent acts as a front door to service delivery — and its effectiveness depends on how well that experience is designed.

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Different Users, Different Expectations

Designing for employees isn’t the same as designing for customers. Their goals, expectations, and patience levels differ — and so should the virtual agent experience.

• Employees expect helpful, integrated support that fits into their workday.
• Customers expect immediate clarity and fast resolution, often from unfamiliar touchpoints.

Each channel has unique constraints: mobile requires simplification, chat platforms limit design freedom, and customer portals demand brand polish.

Users also have different tolerances for delays: employees may wait for a callback, while customers want instant answers. That’s why clear fallback flows, human handoffs, and channel-specific SLAs are essential.

Don’t forget to listen: lightweight feedback prompts, CSAT surveys, or thumbs up/down buttons give users a voice and help teams improve continuously.

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Why We Partner with UX Specialists

Virtual Agent implementations succeed not just because they work, but because they feel natural, helpful, and trustworthy.

That’s why we collaborate closely with our UX Studio. Their role is not just to make things look good, but to ensure the conversational experience is aligned with real user expectations across different channels and personas.

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Tips for Human-Centered Design in ServiceNow's Virtual Agent

To dig deeper into this topic, we asked our UX Studio Lead, Pía Santiñaque, to share her insights on what makes or breaks a Virtual Agent design, and why UX remains essential, even in AI-powered experiences.

“Automation and AI can streamline interactions, but they don’t guarantee a good experience,” Pía explains. “Even the most powerful tools depend on how intentionally we design the journey.”

Designing for conversational interfaces like Guided Conversations, NLU, and Now Assist requires more than configuring flows. It calls for thoughtful decisions about tone, fallback behavior, accessibility, and consistency across channels. UX plays a fundamental role in shaping interactions that are not only functional, but also intuitive, clear, and aligned with human needs.

Here are some of the principles Pía and her team follow when designing meaningful Virtual Agent interactions in ServiceNow:

UX Best Practices for Virtual Agent

• Define a clear purpose: Focus on real, high-value use cases.
• Write like a human: Keep copy natural, brief, and on-brand.
• Design for when things go wrong: Fallbacks matter.
• Avoid dead ends: Always offer a next step or human handoff.
• Personalize where it helps: Use names, context, or recent activity.
• Test with real users: Get feedback early and often.
• Stay consistent across channels: And make it accessible for all.
  
  

Pía reflected on how much experiences shape our perception of technology: “No matter how advanced the tech, people remember how the experience made them feel.” 

She added “Our job as designers isn’t just to make things usable. It’s to make sure people feel understood, supported, and confident when using these tools. At the end of the day, a Virtual Agent needs to feel human enough to be helpful.”

Practices like hers help ensure the Virtual Agent works as intended, builds trust, drives adoption, and supports your service experience goals.

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Final Thoughts

Your Virtual Agent is more than a chatbot. It’s often the first impression someone has of your IT, HR, or customer support experience.

Whether you’re aiming for retention or conversion, good UX is the engine that powers that outcome. When you treat UX as a strategic partner — not a finishing touch — your Virtual Agent becomes more than just a tool. It becomes a trusted part of how people interact with your organization.

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Let’s Design an Experience People Actually Want to Use

Great Virtual Agent experiences don’t happen by accident — they’re the result of thoughtful design, smart configuration, and a deep understanding of your users.

At our ServiceNow Studio, we work closely with our UX Studio to help organizations build conversational journeys that are intuitive, scalable, and aligned with business goals. Whether you need help mapping use cases, refining flows, or shaping the end-to-end experience, we're here to support you.

Ready to create something your users will actually enjoy using?
Get in touch. Let’s co-create your next great experience.

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