Standard : Support Ticket Volume per User

Description

Support Ticket Volume per User measures the number of support requests relative to the active user base. It reflects product quality, usability, and stability.

A rising ticket volume can indicate regression, technical debt, or usability issues.

How to Use

What to Measure

  • Total support tickets in a given period.
  • Total active users during the same period.

Formula

Ticket Volume per User = Total Tickets ÷ Total Active Users

Example: 500 tickets, 5,000 users → 0.1 tickets per user.

Instrumentation Tips

  • Tag tickets by type (bug, question, feature request).
  • Track first-contact resolution and time to resolution alongside volume.
  • Identify recurring issues via clustering or tagging.

Why It Matters

  • Experience health: High volume signals friction points.
  • Engineering focus: Highlights areas for quality improvement.
  • Cost control: Reduces support burden and operational costs.

Best Practices

  • Combine with CSAT on resolved tickets.
  • Analyse ticket trends after releases or major changes.
  • Feed top issues into backlog prioritisation.

Common Pitfalls

  • Counting duplicates or spam tickets.
  • Not normalising volume by user base growth.
  • Ignoring ticket severity or business impact.

Signals of Success

  • Declining ticket volume per user after fixes.
  • Faster resolution times and higher CSAT.
  • Reduction in repeat tickets for the same issue.
  • [[Escaped Defect Rate]]
  • [[Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)]]
  • [[Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)]]