When users report a problem
How Skavelo works out why something isn't working, and what your team sees when it can't.
When a user tells Skavelo that something isn't working, failed or shows an error, Skavelo looks for the cause before it answers, the way someone on your support team would.
What Skavelo checks
Skavelo runs inside your app, in the user's browser, so it can see what they see:
- Error messages on the screen, such as alerts, error notices and fields marked invalid.
- Requests that just failed. A refused save tells Skavelo a lot: a 403 usually means the user's role doesn't allow it, a 402 points to their plan or billing, a 404 to something deleted or moved, and a 500 to a fault on your side. Skavelo only sees the method, path and status. See What the widget sends.
- Switched off buttons, with the reason your app gives in a tooltip or note.
- The user's own data, when you've set up a lookup that can check it, such as the status of their sending domain.
How it answers
Skavelo acknowledges the problem in one sentence, then explains the likely cause in plain words and how to fix it, naming the buttons to click. For example, on a page where saving failed with a 403:
It looks like your role doesn't allow changing billing settings. Ask an admin on your account to make the change, or to give you the Admin role under Settings, then Team.
Skavelo doesn't repeat steps the user says they've already tried, and never claims to have fixed, retried or changed anything.
When it can't find the cause
If nothing on the screen or in the user's data explains the problem, or the cause is on your product's side, Skavelo says what it checked and offers Talk to a person straight away, when handoff is on. The handoff carries what Skavelo checked, so your team doesn't have to ask the user to explain again.
What your team sees
- Needs attention lists every reported problem with the label Reported a problem, the likely cause and what Skavelo checked. Choose Reported a problem to see only these.
- Conversations has a Reported a problem filter, and the transcript shows the diagnosis under the answer.
- The Monday summary lists the problems reported that week, most frequent first, so the same failure reported by several users stands out.
Teach Skavelo your fixes
When a problem keeps coming up, write a playbook: what to check, in order, and what each finding means. Skavelo follows it the next time a user reports that problem. Once three or more users report the same problem, Skavelo also drafts a playbook for you to review. For a one-off answer, a team note is enough.