Let's take this to be a good learning exercise then. The WebAccessAdmin.PDF is a must read. That tells you the mechanics of how to configure dashboards and gadgets, but you will need to set aside some time on your test system to got through and see what each one does. Next is the LDSDDesigner.PDF which I suspect you may have used sections of. There focus on window manager. What you need to do is find the window you are currently using, right hand click and copy. Rename it to be something sensible and get rid of the attributes and collections you don't want by deleting them. Then use the Windows Manager rules to set this window to pop when anyone is using self service to log an incident.
That would get you a basic window for end users. Like other areas of LDSD experience really does count and crafting a really good looking self service does take some time. So allow yourself time to knock up a few prototypes.
Also use the community to find examples that other people have done.
Would get you to roughly the right area and look through all the discussion items. Some people have publish very neat examples of how they have configured self service.
Check out the use of Business Object Reports to make queries that can display icons and different fonts, even links to actions that and end user can take.
I allow a day to set up a basic self service environment for one of our clients, providing I know what they want to do in advance. That discovery can take a bit of time too as LDSD can do a lot with self service.