Get Started with Spaces

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This article helps you get started with Gainsights Spaces and guides Customer Success teams in setup and collaboration with customers.

Overview

Spaces is a secure, digital collaboration environment that empowers Customer Success Managers (CSMs) and customers to work together more efficiently. Designed as a centralized workspace, Spaces enables seamless sharing of critical content such as updates, insights, customer goals, success plans, reports, documents, and notes.
You can operate Spaces as a standalone customer portal or integrate it with Gainsight’s Customer Communities for a connected and consistent user experience. Whether you're aligning on strategic goals or providing timely updates, Spaces creates a dedicated environment that strengthens communication, fosters transparency, and supports customer success throughout their journey.

Key Capabilities

Provide a single, organized space where you and your customers can collaborate and access important content.
Work together with customers to support their progress, improve outcomes, and highlight key achievements.
Share relevant customer success materials, like updates, insights, success plans, and CTAs, to keep everyone aligned and moving forward.
Upload and store documents securely so customers can easily access what they need.
Set permissions and manage visibility to ensure each customer and their team members see the appropriate content.
Connect with Customer Communities for a more integrated experience across platforms.

Personas and their Roles

There are three primary personas who can use Spaces.

CS Admin: Enables and deactivates Spaces; Configures and assigns Spaces layouts.
CSM: Customizes layouts and content and invites customers to collaborate with.
End User: Invited end users collaborate with CSMs on goals, reports and success plans.

Here's a breakdown of the roles and responsibilities for each persona in Spaces:

Role of an Admin

Take a look at the high-level flow below for a quick overview of the steps.

Navigate to Administration > Spaces Configuration to open the setup page.
Click Enable Spaces. Once activated, the list of available layouts appears, starting with the Default Spaces Layout.
Note: Admins must complete this step so that CSMs and other users can view and access Spaces.
Use drag-and-drop function to arrange widgets and define the structure of the default layout.
Click Preview to review how the layout will appear to CSMs and end users before finalizing any changes.
Once satisfied, publish the layout to make it the default configuration.
Note: Admins assign layouts using case-sensitive criteria based on Company or Relationship fields. If no match is found, the default layout is applied; if multiple match, the highest-priority layout is selected.
Assign the published layout to all relevant companies to make it accessible for CSMs to customize and use.

For detailed information on the layout assignment criteria and other admin capabilities, see the Spaces Guide for Admins.

Role of a CSM

As a Customer Success Manager, Spaces enables you to securely share updates, reports, and insights with end users. With Admin-configured layouts and widgets, you can tailor content, manage visibility, and customize the experience for each customer. Take a look at the following high-level steps for a CSM.

Navigate to the Shared Spaces of a given company to begin customizing your customer views.
Access layouts provisioned by your Admin for the given company. This serves as the foundation for your customizations.
Add relevant components to enrich the Spaces layout:
1. Banners and Notes: Insert messaging to highlight updates or provide context.
2. Widgets and Reports: Include or exclude content based on customer relevance.
Streamline the layout by hiding widgets that aren't applicable. Click the hide widget/eye icon next to the widget name to remove it from the end user’s view.
Click the Preview button in the top-right corner to see how your updates will appear to your end users before publishing.
Once satisfied, save your customized layout and invite your end users to access the updated Spaces layout.

For more information on the CSM capabilities, see the Spaces Widgets and Permissions for CSMs article.

End User Access

Accept Spaces invitation from CSM.
If new, complete the first-time setup (name, username, password).
Note: If you already have an account, you are signed in automatically. If you are new, you are prompted to create an account before proceeding.
Log in and land on the configured Spaces portal.

Coming Soon
A more detailed end user guide outlining what the end user sees for each widget will be available shortly.

User Permissions

User permissions for Spaces are defined in the Permission Bundle. Refer to the Permission Bundle section in the Spaces Admin Guide for details.

Compliance and Security

Spaces adheres to all shared Gainsight-level security and audit standards. No additional certifications are required for using Spaces.

For more information on Spaces, refer to the Spaces FAQs article.