Best practices for setting up AI-ready catalogs

For Atom to accurately route and resolve IT requests, your service and incident catalogs must be structured so they're discoverable, unambiguous, and actionable. Well-designed catalogs improve deflection rates, reduce misdirected requests, and help employees find the right help faster.

This guide explains how Atom interprets your catalog structure, how to organize and optimize catalogs for smart routing, and how to maintain them for long-term effectiveness.

How Atom uses your catalogs

When an employee asks for help, Atom compares their request against your entire catalog repository. It looks at categories, names, descriptions, tags, and segment settings to suggest the most relevant catalog item or route them to the right form. If Atom can't find a clear match, it falls back to a general request form. That's why every catalog item needs a clear purpose and distinct use case.

Building effective catalog structures

Your catalog structure directly impacts how well Atom can help employees. Focus on logical categories, unambiguous names, clear descriptions, and rich tagging.

Design your category hierarchy

Categories group related catalogs and give Atom its first level of context. Organise them the way employees think about their needs.

• Use between 5 to 10 categories to avoid complexity.
• Name categories by function, keeping them short, descriptive, and never generic (like "Miscellaneous" or "Other").
• Consider the employee perspective — place "VPN access" under Access management rather than Networking, since employees think in terms of needs, not technology.

❌ Don't do this — Categories: Team A Requests, Team B Requests, Miscellaneous, Other Services

✅ Do this — Categories: Hardware provisioning, Software provisioning, Infrastructure, Networking, Access management, Security

Add category descriptions for clarity

Category descriptions help Atom and employees understand which requests belong under that category. A good category description sets clear boundaries on what's included and excluded. This will prevent overlap between categories while staying concise and specific.

❌ Don't do this Category: Access Management Description: All requests related to access.

✅ Do this Category: Access Management Description: Covers requests for account access, password resets, and permission changes across company systems. Does not include hardware access (see Facilities).

Write clear catalog definitions

Each catalog item should clearly communicate its purpose, scope, and expected outcome. Both employees and Atom rely on this to determine the right catalog.

Catalog names

Keep names specific and action-oriented. Avoid jargon or acronyms employees won't use.

❌ Don't do this — Access · Software · VPN · Issue with system

✅ Do this — Admin portal access · Access to Vendor system · Add user to an Okta group · Anti-virus and anti-malware software

Catalog descriptions

Descriptions should state WHAT the item is, WHO can use it, and WHEN to use it.

❌ Don't do this — Description: For laptop issues

✅ Do this — Description: Request a replacement laptop if your device is damaged, won't power on, or has physical defects (e.g. broken screen, water damage, keyboard failure). Include your asset tag number and describe the issue.

Use tags for better discoverability

Tags help Atom match natural language queries to catalog items. Focus on specific, relevant terms that employees use when describing their needs.

For example, a "Request new laptop" catalog item could include:

• Primary terms and variations – 'new laptop', 'laptop replacement', 'get a laptop', 'order laptop'
• Related hardware terms – 'MacBook', 'ThinkPad', 'work computer', 'company laptop'
• Common user phrases – 'need a new computer', 'laptop for new hire', 'upgrade my laptop'

What to avoid

• Overly broad tags like 'help', 'issue', 'problem', or 'ticket status' that could match multiple different catalogs
• Tags unrelated to the specific catalog's purpose
• Excessive synonym lists — Atom handles most spelling variations and phrasing naturally

Keep tags focused, relevant, and tied directly to how employees would describe this specific request.

Control access with segments

Define who can view and request each catalog item by assigning it to the right segments.

For example, if the Finance category is restricted to Finance team members, but the "Submit Travel Reimbursement" catalog item is set to All Employees, then everyone in the company can see and submit that request.

In Atomicwork, you can configure a catalog item's category, tags, and segments in its Settings tab.

Avoid common catalog mistakes

Even well-built catalogs can fail if they're not managed carefully. Watch out for these pitfalls:

• Overlapping catalogs — don't create multiple items for the same need. Example: "Travel Reimbursement" and "Expense Claim" should be one catalog with clear tags.
• Over-categorisation — avoid too many niche categories. Example: instead of "Office Furniture," "Office Supplies," and "Stationery," group them under a single "Facilities Requests" category.
• Under-tagging — don't rely only on catalog names. Example: "Password Reset" (IT) should also include tags like can't log in, forgot password, account locked.
• Static maintenance — catalogs are not "set and forget." Example: keeping a "Fax Machine Setup" catalog long after it's obsolete.
• Technical naming — avoid jargon employees won't use. Example: "401(k) Deferral Adjustment" is clearer as "Update Retirement Plan Contribution."

Maintaining accuracy and relevance

Catalogs need regular attention to stay effective. Build review cycles into your process.

Weekly

• Review general form submissions for patterns.
• Check for duplicate or unused catalogs. Verify high-priority items are still valid.

Monthly

• Update tags based on how employees actually phrase requests.
• Archive catalogs with zero usage for 60+ days.
• Merge similar items that cause confusion.
• Refresh descriptions for clarity.

Quarterly

• Audit category structures for relevance.
• Validate segment permissions against org changes.

The impact of well-structured, regularly maintained catalogs should show up in your metrics — fewer general form submissions, higher first-contact resolution, reduced reassignments, and stronger employee satisfaction. Most importantly, your catalogs will continue to evolve with your organisation, staying aligned with how employees actually look for help.