How Information Architecture Reduces Customer Support Calls by 35%

When users can't find what they need on a website or app, they often resort to calling customer support. These unnecessary support calls are costly and signal friction in the user experience. The good news is that improving your Information Architecture (IA) – the way content is structured and labeled – can drastically cut down support contacts.

The Cost of Poor Information Architecture on Support

Why do better information structures lead to fewer support calls? Consider what happens when IA is poorly organized: Customers can't find answers on their own. In other words, a confusing site or app structure turns your support line into a search tool of last resort. This is a lose-lose scenario: users grow frustrated, and the company racks up support costs.

The flip side is that fixing your IA can quickly relieve this support burden. Often the issue is that content is arranged according to internal org charts or outdated labels, rather than the way users think. After rethinking and restructuring pages around user journeys, one company saw support tickets drop by 43% in just four months. Atlassian also reported that when it adapted its IA to match user expectations, help desk requests fell by 35%. Better IA directly translates to fewer people reaching for the phone or chat for help.

Case History: Cutting Calls by 35% with a Support IA Redesign

As a content design lead at J.P. Morgan Chase, I saw how powerful IA improvements can be. Our mobile app's customer support section was generating high call volumes, indicating that users weren't finding what they needed in the app. I spearheaded an information architecture redesign of the mobile support experience, focusing on user-centric organization and clearer language. The results were dramatic: we cut call volume by 35%, which meant about 90,000 fewer calls per month. By easing the strain on call centers, this IA overhaul saved the bank an estimated $3M annually in support costs.

Improving your Information Architecture (IA) – the way content is structured and labeled – can drastically cut down support contacts. By redesigning the IA of a mobile banking support section, our team reduced call volume by 35%, eliminating about 90,000 calls per month and saving roughly $3 million a year in support costs.

How We Achieved This Success

Our approach centered on content design principles and collaboration. First, we analyzed data and customer feedback to pinpoint which help topics were causing confusion. We discovered that some answers were buried under opaque menu labels or in the wrong place. Using that insight, we reorganized the support content to mirror customers' mental models. This meant grouping information by user task and topic, not internal categories, and renaming sections with the terms customers use.

We also worked across teams to make the new IA seamless. I partnered with UX researchers, product managers, and our Design System team to prototype and test the revamped structure early. Techniques like tree testing and card sorting helped validate that our new taxonomy was intuitive. By involving real users in testing, we ensured the menu categories and support topics made sense to them.

The Role of UX Writing in IA Success

Throughout the project, UX writing played a crucial role. Clear, concise microcopy in menus and help articles can preempt many "How do I…?" calls. Effective UX writing itself reduces the need for support by answering users' questions up front in plain language. In the Chase project, every piece of support content was rewritten for clarity and consistency. By providing helpful, findable answers in-app, we resolved customer issues at the source.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR CONTENT DESIGNERS

• Design for Findability: Structure your help content around how users seek information, not how your org chart is set up
• Use the Customer's Language: Labels and navigation terms should align with the words your users use
• Test and Iterate Your Taxonomy: Don't rely on guesses - use card sorting, tree testing, and usability testing
• Collaborate Across Teams: Partner with designers, developers, and support agents for better results
• Measure the Impact: Track call volumes, support ticket counts, and customer satisfaction metrics
• Focus on User Journeys: Organize content by how users think and behave, not internal structures

Building Better Experiences and Bottom Lines

Improving information architecture isn't just a tidying exercise – it's a powerful way to improve user experience and deliver business value. When users can seamlessly find answers on their own, they're happier and more confident in the product. Meanwhile, companies benefit through lower support costs and more scalable customer service.

For content designers and content strategists, this is a reminder of our strategic impact. We're not "just writing copy" – we are designing information ecosystems that can make or break a customer's journey. The 35% drop in support calls we achieved wasn't magic; it was content design in action, solving a UX problem with a blend of research, writing, and design structure.

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