Why Video Belongs at the Top Of Your ServiceNow Knowledge Articles
Most ServiceNow knowledge articles are written as if employees arrive calm, curious, and ready to read.
Spoiler alert: they don’t.
They arrive confused. Or blocked. Or under pressure. Or mid-task, trying to fix something before a meeting, a deadline, or a payroll cutoff. This context matters because it fundamentally changes how content should be designed.
It’s why video belongs at the top of ServiceNow knowledge articles.
Employees Don’t Read First, They Orient First
When an employee opens a knowledge article in ServiceNow, they’re not thinking about whether the article was well-written.
Here’s what they’re thinking about:
Am I in the right place?
Does this apply to me?
Is this going to help me right now?
Words answers those questions slowly. Video answers them instantly.
A 30–60 second video at the top of an article can:
Confirm relevance
Frame the problem
Set expectations
Reduce anxiety
Signal credibility
Before the employee commits cognitive effort to reading, video helps them decide whether to stay.
Search Gets Them There but Video Keeps ‘em
ServiceNow’s AI search is often the moment of truth. Employees arrive via keywords, not navigation. They may not fully understand the problem they’re trying to solve yet.
Video acts as a fast orientation layer:
“Yes, this is the issue you’re facing.”
“Here’s what’s going to happen.”
“Here’s what you need to know before you act.”
Without that orientation, employees skim, bounce, or scroll straight to the comments, or worse, open a case “just to be safe.”
Stress Changes How People Process Information
Knowledge articles are often accessed during moments of uncertainty:
Benefits changes
Access issues
Payroll questions
Policy exceptions
System failures
Under stress, reading comprehension drops. Employees are less patient with dense text and more likely to misinterpret details.
Video helps because it:
Reduces cognitive load
Uses tone, pacing, and emphasis to guide understanding
Humanizes the system
Builds confidence faster than text alone
This isn’t about preference. It’s about how people process information under pressure.
Video Is Not Redundant - It’s Complementary
Here’s a common objection: “But the article already explains this.”
This assumes video and text serve the same function.
Another spoiler alert: They don’t.
Think of the split like this:
Video = orientation, reassurance, context, clarity
Text = reference, detail, edge cases, precision
The best ServiceNow knowledge experiences use video to answer “what is this and what should I do?”
Then use text to answer “What are the exact steps, rules, and exceptions?”
Video doesn’t replace the article. It prepares the employee to use it correctly.
Trust Is Built (or Lost) in the First 10 Seconds
Employees don’t consciously evaluate governance, ownership, or accuracy. They evaluate confidence.
A short, well-designed video at the top of an article signals:
This content is intentional
Someone owns this
It’s current and maintained
The organization cares about clarity
When video is missing, and employees land on a wall of text, the opposite signal is often sent, even if unintentionally:
“Good luck. Figure it out.”
Video Reduces Cases - When Used Correctly
When video is placed after long blocks of text, it rarely gets watched. When it’s placed at the top, it can reduce:
Misinterpretation
Partial reading
Repeat questions
Unnecessary HR or IT cases
Because employees are less likely to ask for confirmation when they feel oriented and confident.
What “Good” Looks Like in Practice
Effective ServiceNow knowledge videos are:
Short (30–90 seconds)
Task-focused
Plainspoken
Calm in tone
Designed to be watched without sound (captions matter)
Explicit about who this applies to
They answer three questions quickly:
What is this about?
Who is this for?
What should I do next?
Anything longer belongs deeper in the experience - or elsewhere.
DOing this in the real world
If you’re thinking that you need a production crew for all your knowledge articles, you don’t (unless you already have one).
There are many AI tools that allow you to quickly create high-quality videos at scale.
We often use Synthesia, where among other things, we’ve taken knowledge article text, copied and pasted it into the platform, and moments later a full video is created.
These videos are not only used for knowledge articles, but are also posted onto internal social media, like Viva Engage, to drive employees to the article.
The Bottom Line
Employees don’t experience ServiceNow as modules or workflows.
They experience it as moments of need.
Putting video at the top of knowledge articles respects that reality. It meets employees where they are before asking them to read, interpret, and act.
And in a system designed to reduce friction, that first moment matters most.
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If our perspective resonates with you, The Employee Content Experience Playbook goes deeper into how employees actually experience content and why most organizations misdiagnose the problem.
It’s designed to reframe thinking, not prescribe solutions.
