Introduction
This case study breaks down the full redesign of Atoz's internal CRM, an important tool for managing clients, projects, and general compliance with global regulations in regards of GDPR and other finance related laws. The goal wasn’t just to refresh the UI, but to rethink the entire experience. We transformed a slow, frustrating system into an efficient trustworthy platform that improved daily workflows, data quality, and team alignment.
A CRM so complex, even experts got lost
At Atoz, tax professionals worked under tight deadlines, and their main tool was getting in the way. The internal CRM was meant to support everything from client management to project tracking, but years of quick fixes and urgent updates had made it hard to use and even harder to trust.
Key pain points:
Search was slow and unreliable, wasting 10–15 minutes per complex task
Contacts data were hard to find, often buried under inconsistent categories
Users resorted to taking notes, spreadsheets, or asking around
The overall feeling?
"I only use it because I have to." - an actual tax expert.
My job was to lead the design transformation, to restore trust, reduce friction, and help teams work faster and smarter.
My role & leadership
As the lead product designer on the project, I owned the entire design process from start to finish. This wasn’t just about visuals, it was about solving deep UX problems, aligning stakeholders, and working closely with devs to ship real change.
What I did:
Set the Design Vision: Defined clear UX principles to guide the redesign across teams.
Led Stakeholder Collaboration: Worked directly with 3 backend developers, 1 PM, and stakeholders across departments, from assistants to partners. This meant gathering input, presenting ideas, and aligning on priorities.
Advocated for Users: Put user pain points at the center of every decision, even when it meant navigating legacy tech or business constraints.
We worked in agile sprints and shipped iteratively, balancing bold changes with what was technically feasible in a complex legacy system, and balancing user expectations.
Understanding the problem
The CRM created real business problems that affected performance, accuracy, and team trust.
Wasted Time: Users spent up to 30% of their task time trying to navigate the system instead of doing actual work.
Data Issues: Inconsistent inputs and reliance on spreadsheets led to errors, missing information, and compliance risks.
Low Adoption & Trust: Many users avoided the CRM altogether. Support saw around 55 tickets/month just for basic usability issues.
These problems hurt productivity, increased operational costs, and slowed down the firm’s ability to scale. These were a business liability not just UX issues.
Key challenges & constraints
Designing the solution meant navigating several layers of complexity:
Different user needs: Partners wanted high-level insights. Assistants needed detailed task tools. We had to design a system that worked well for both.
Legacy tech stack: Outdated architecture (outdated libraries, old Java) limited what we could do in real time for the existing app. For example, we couldn’t use live search, so we designed an entirely new solution in the new app for indexing and smart filtering.
Urgent Rollout Needs: The team needed fixes fast. We focused on high-impact areas first and rolled out changes in phases.
Tangled Data: The relationships between clients, projects, teams, and documents were messy. We had to clean up the structure to make things easier to find and understand.
Understanding the problem
The CRM created real business problems that affected performance, accuracy, and team trust.
Wasted Time: Users spent up to 30% of their task time trying to navigate the system instead of doing actual work.
Data Issues: Inconsistent inputs and reliance on spreadsheets led to errors, missing information, and compliance risks.
Low Adoption & Trust: Many users avoided the CRM altogether. Support saw around 55 tickets/month just for basic usability issues.
These problems hurt productivity, increased operational costs, and slowed down the firm’s ability to scale. These were a business liability not just UX issues.
Key challenges & constraints
Designing the solution meant navigating several layers of complexity:
Different user needs: Partners wanted high-level insights. Assistants needed detailed task tools. We had to design a system that worked well for both.
Legacy tech stack: Outdated architecture (outdated libraries, old Java) limited what we could do in real time for the existing app. For example, we couldn’t use live search, so we designed an entirely new solution in the new app for indexing and smart filtering.
Urgent Rollout Needs: The team needed fixes fast. We focused on high-impact areas first and rolled out changes in phases.
Tangled Data: The relationships between clients, projects, teams, and documents were messy. We had to clean up the structure to make things easier to find and understand.
Understanding the problem
The CRM created real business problems that affected performance, accuracy, and team trust.
Wasted Time: Users spent up to 30% of their task time trying to navigate the system instead of doing actual work.
Data Issues: Inconsistent inputs and reliance on spreadsheets led to errors, missing information, and compliance risks.
Low Adoption & Trust: Many users avoided the CRM altogether. Support saw around 55 tickets/month just for basic usability issues.
These problems hurt productivity, increased operational costs, and slowed down the firm’s ability to scale. These were a business liability not just UX issues.
Key challenges & constraints
Designing the solution meant navigating several layers of complexity:
Different user needs: Partners wanted high-level insights. Assistants needed detailed task tools. We had to design a system that worked well for both.
Legacy tech stack: Outdated architecture (outdated libraries, old Java) limited what we could do in real time for the existing app. For example, we couldn’t use live search, so we designed an entirely new solution in the new app for indexing and smart filtering.
Urgent Rollout Needs: The team needed fixes fast. We focused on high-impact areas first and rolled out changes in phases.
Tangled Data: The relationships between clients, projects, teams, and documents were messy. We had to clean up the structure to make things easier to find and understand.
Research & discovery: grounding design in reality
To truly fix the CRM, I needed to understand how it broke down in real life. I used several research methods to uncover the full picture, combining direct feedback, behavioral observation, and exisiting system analysis.
It started with listening
I began with 9 in-depth stakeholder interviews, one-hour sessions with tax advisors, assistants, project managers, and operations leads. I asked open-ended questions, watched how they navigated the system, and followed up on pain points. These sessions revealed:
"I spend more time figuring out how to do something than actually doing it."
Confusion over where to find key actions or data
Reliance on memory and guesswork for completing tasks
Making sense of the chaos
After gathering raw notes, I ran an affinity mapping workshop to surface patterns.
The themes that stood out:
Cluttered navigation: users didn’t know where to go next
Inconsistent data input: lots of errors and double entry
Lack of system feedback: no confirmation, no clarity, no trust
these themes became the foundation for the first round of design hypotheses.
A deep UX audit to connect the dots
Next, I ran a heuristic evaluation using Nielsen’s 10 usability principles. I focused on key flows: contact creation, search, dashboards, task updates. I found 20+ critical issues like:
Ambiguous navigation labels
Inconsistent component behavior
Redundant or broken flows Each problem was documented with screenshots, severity ratings, and ideas for improvement, helping us prioritize what to fix first.
Watching the real struggles
Observing users in action revealed the gap between intent and reality. I shadowed 5 team members during their day-to-day work. I saw:
Post-it notes with guides to where to find crucial data in the CRM.
Handwritten task lists
Workarounds in Excel and email
These were daily habits. The system wasn’t helping people work, it was forcing them to create their own systems to get work done.
Zooming out with data
To back up what we heard and saw, I teamed up with the internal support team to review CRM-related tickets. On average, 55 tickets/month were logged, most about usability. Common threads included:
"I can’t find my client’s file"
"The filters don’t work as expected or dont work at all"
"I’m not sure if my updates saved"
These pain points directly matched the patterns from interviews and audit findings.
Even the training told a story
I reviewed internal guides, training documents, and onboarding materials. What I found: pages of workaround tips, outdated screenshots, and instructions that contradicted the actual UI. These were signs of a broken experience.
The moment It clicked
After all that, one insight became crystal clear:
The CRM wasn’t just broken. It was actively avoided.
That changed everything. From then on, every design decision aimed to rebuild trust, through clearer interfaces, smarter feedback, and fewer workarounds. We weren’t just fixing usability. We were repairing a relationship.
Research & discovery: grounding design in reality
To truly fix the CRM, I needed to understand how it broke down in real life. I used several research methods to uncover the full picture, combining direct feedback, behavioral observation, and exisiting system analysis.
It started with listening
I began with 9 in-depth stakeholder interviews, one-hour sessions with tax advisors, assistants, project managers, and operations leads. I asked open-ended questions, watched how they navigated the system, and followed up on pain points. These sessions revealed:
"I spend more time figuring out how to do something than actually doing it."
Confusion over where to find key actions or data
Reliance on memory and guesswork for completing tasks
Making sense of the chaos
After gathering raw notes, I ran an affinity mapping workshop to surface patterns.
The themes that stood out:
Cluttered navigation: users didn’t know where to go next
Inconsistent data input: lots of errors and double entry
Lack of system feedback: no confirmation, no clarity, no trust
these themes became the foundation for the first round of design hypotheses.
A deep UX audit to connect the dots
Next, I ran a heuristic evaluation using Nielsen’s 10 usability principles. I focused on key flows: contact creation, search, dashboards, task updates. I found 20+ critical issues like:
Ambiguous navigation labels
Inconsistent component behavior
Redundant or broken flows Each problem was documented with screenshots, severity ratings, and ideas for improvement, helping us prioritize what to fix first.
Watching the real struggles
Observing users in action revealed the gap between intent and reality. I shadowed 5 team members during their day-to-day work. I saw:
Post-it notes with guides to where to find crucial data in the CRM.
Handwritten task lists
Workarounds in Excel and email
These were daily habits. The system wasn’t helping people work, it was forcing them to create their own systems to get work done.
Zooming out with data
To back up what we heard and saw, I teamed up with the internal support team to review CRM-related tickets. On average, 55 tickets/month were logged, most about usability. Common threads included:
"I can’t find my client’s file"
"The filters don’t work as expected or dont work at all"
"I’m not sure if my updates saved"
These pain points directly matched the patterns from interviews and audit findings.
Even the training told a story
I reviewed internal guides, training documents, and onboarding materials. What I found: pages of workaround tips, outdated screenshots, and instructions that contradicted the actual UI. These were signs of a broken experience.
The moment It clicked
After all that, one insight became crystal clear:
The CRM wasn’t just broken. It was actively avoided.
That changed everything. From then on, every design decision aimed to rebuild trust, through clearer interfaces, smarter feedback, and fewer workarounds. We weren’t just fixing usability. We were repairing a relationship.
Research & discovery: grounding design in reality
To truly fix the CRM, I needed to understand how it broke down in real life. I used several research methods to uncover the full picture, combining direct feedback, behavioral observation, and exisiting system analysis.
It started with listening
I began with 9 in-depth stakeholder interviews, one-hour sessions with tax advisors, assistants, project managers, and operations leads. I asked open-ended questions, watched how they navigated the system, and followed up on pain points. These sessions revealed:
"I spend more time figuring out how to do something than actually doing it."
Confusion over where to find key actions or data
Reliance on memory and guesswork for completing tasks
Making sense of the chaos
After gathering raw notes, I ran an affinity mapping workshop to surface patterns.
The themes that stood out:
Cluttered navigation: users didn’t know where to go next
Inconsistent data input: lots of errors and double entry
Lack of system feedback: no confirmation, no clarity, no trust
these themes became the foundation for the first round of design hypotheses.
A deep UX audit to connect the dots
Next, I ran a heuristic evaluation using Nielsen’s 10 usability principles. I focused on key flows: contact creation, search, dashboards, task updates. I found 20+ critical issues like:
Ambiguous navigation labels
Inconsistent component behavior
Redundant or broken flows Each problem was documented with screenshots, severity ratings, and ideas for improvement, helping us prioritize what to fix first.
Watching the real struggles
Observing users in action revealed the gap between intent and reality. I shadowed 5 team members during their day-to-day work. I saw:
Post-it notes with guides to where to find crucial data in the CRM.
Handwritten task lists
Workarounds in Excel and email
These were daily habits. The system wasn’t helping people work, it was forcing them to create their own systems to get work done.
Zooming out with data
To back up what we heard and saw, I teamed up with the internal support team to review CRM-related tickets. On average, 55 tickets/month were logged, most about usability. Common threads included:
"I can’t find my client’s file"
"The filters don’t work as expected or dont work at all"
"I’m not sure if my updates saved"
These pain points directly matched the patterns from interviews and audit findings.
Even the training told a story
I reviewed internal guides, training documents, and onboarding materials. What I found: pages of workaround tips, outdated screenshots, and instructions that contradicted the actual UI. These were signs of a broken experience.
The moment It clicked
After all that, one insight became crystal clear:
The CRM wasn’t just broken. It was actively avoided.
That changed everything. From then on, every design decision aimed to rebuild trust, through clearer interfaces, smarter feedback, and fewer workarounds. We weren’t just fixing usability. We were repairing a relationship.
Design process: from messy to modular
With a clear understanding of user pain points and technical constraints, the design phase began we kept it lean, collaborative, and iterative. Here’s how the redesign took shape, step by step.
Discovery turned into direction
Armed with insights from research, I mapped out the highest-friction areas in the existing CRM:
search, navigation, contact creation, and dashboards. These were costing time and trust aside from them being frustrating. This foundation helped us prioritize what to tackle first.
Rapid wireframes: sketching simplicity
I started with low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to explore new flows. The goal was to cut friction, reduce steps, and make core actions easier to access.
Examples:
Reimagined the contact creation flow to eliminate unnecessary fields and reduce scrolling.
Simplified navigation by grouping related tasks instead of scattering them across the app.
These wireframes became the blueprint for early feedback with stakeholders.
Prototyping & UI design: from structure to style
Once the wireframes were validated, I shifted to high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes. I introduced a clean, modern visual language grounded in clarity and consistency. But visuals weren’t the only focus.
Building the design system
I created a reusable component library (Tailwind, Angular, PrimeNG …), including:
Buttons, inputs, table layouts, and notification banners
Defined tokenized styles for typography, colors, and spacing
This significantly sped up dev handoff and ensured the platform could scale cleanly in the future.
b. Restructuring information architecture
Navigation was one of the most painful parts of the old CRM. We replaced the overwhelming multi-level menu with a role-based system that showed users only what they needed.
Alternatives like mega-menus were explored, but ultimately rejected due to the varying permissions and complexity of user roles. Our final structure helped reduce cognitive load and made it easier to find high-priority tasks.
Working side-by-side with developers
Because of legacy system constraints (e.g., older Java stack with Struts), not every idea could be implemented as-is or as fast. So instead of throwing over Figma files, I embedded directly in the dev workflow:
Held daily syncs to stay aligned on feasibility
Co-designed solutions when limitations came up
Example: Real-time search wasn’t technically possible, so we introduced nightly indexing + pre-defined filter chips for faster results, and when we managed to update the frameworks and java version we implemented real time search asap.
This tight loop between design and engineering helped us move faster, smarter, and to stay focused.
Usability testing: validating in the real world
With working prototypes, we ran moderated usability sessions with actual tax professionals. We observed how they navigated redesigned flows, listened to their feedback, and measured success via these KPI's:
Time on task
Completion rates
Error recovery
This led to immediate improvements, for instance, reorganizing the task list layout in the dashboard and rewording button labels to make actions more predictable. Feedback confirmed the new navigation felt intuitive and tasks were easier to complete without extra help or support tickets.
Before & after: from clutter to clarity
Before | After |
|---|---|
Key data buried under multiple tabs | Visual hierarchy that surfaces what matters most |
Vague action buttons with unclear outcomes | Clear, prominent entry points for frequent actions like “Add contact” |
Crowded tables with inconsistent layouts | Clean, role-specific dashboards showing upcoming tasks, deadlines, and client statuses |
Forms were long, messy, and prone to errors | Clean, structured forms with input masks and helpful defaults |
Search was slow and returned too many irrelevant results | Streamlined search with faster results and useful filters |
Users often abandoned search to look manually | Reduced steps and cognitive effort for frequent lookup tasks |
Design process: from messy to modular
With a clear understanding of user pain points and technical constraints, the design phase began we kept it lean, collaborative, and iterative. Here’s how the redesign took shape, step by step.
Discovery turned into direction
Armed with insights from research, I mapped out the highest-friction areas in the existing CRM:
search, navigation, contact creation, and dashboards. These were costing time and trust aside from them being frustrating. This foundation helped us prioritize what to tackle first.
Rapid wireframes: sketching simplicity
I started with low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to explore new flows. The goal was to cut friction, reduce steps, and make core actions easier to access.
Examples:
Reimagined the contact creation flow to eliminate unnecessary fields and reduce scrolling.
Simplified navigation by grouping related tasks instead of scattering them across the app.
These wireframes became the blueprint for early feedback with stakeholders.
Prototyping & UI design: from structure to style
Once the wireframes were validated, I shifted to high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes. I introduced a clean, modern visual language grounded in clarity and consistency. But visuals weren’t the only focus.
Building the design system
I created a reusable component library (Tailwind, Angular, PrimeNG …), including:
Buttons, inputs, table layouts, and notification banners
Defined tokenized styles for typography, colors, and spacing
This significantly sped up dev handoff and ensured the platform could scale cleanly in the future.
b. Restructuring information architecture
Navigation was one of the most painful parts of the old CRM. We replaced the overwhelming multi-level menu with a role-based system that showed users only what they needed.
Alternatives like mega-menus were explored, but ultimately rejected due to the varying permissions and complexity of user roles. Our final structure helped reduce cognitive load and made it easier to find high-priority tasks.
Working side-by-side with developers
Because of legacy system constraints (e.g., older Java stack with Struts), not every idea could be implemented as-is or as fast. So instead of throwing over Figma files, I embedded directly in the dev workflow:
Held daily syncs to stay aligned on feasibility
Co-designed solutions when limitations came up
Example: Real-time search wasn’t technically possible, so we introduced nightly indexing + pre-defined filter chips for faster results, and when we managed to update the frameworks and java version we implemented real time search asap.
This tight loop between design and engineering helped us move faster, smarter, and to stay focused.
Usability testing: validating in the real world
With working prototypes, we ran moderated usability sessions with actual tax professionals. We observed how they navigated redesigned flows, listened to their feedback, and measured success via these KPI's:
Time on task
Completion rates
Error recovery
This led to immediate improvements, for instance, reorganizing the task list layout in the dashboard and rewording button labels to make actions more predictable. Feedback confirmed the new navigation felt intuitive and tasks were easier to complete without extra help or support tickets.
Before & after: from clutter to clarity
Before | After |
|---|---|
Key data buried under multiple tabs | Visual hierarchy that surfaces what matters most |
Vague action buttons with unclear outcomes | Clear, prominent entry points for frequent actions like “Add contact” |
Crowded tables with inconsistent layouts | Clean, role-specific dashboards showing upcoming tasks, deadlines, and client statuses |
Forms were long, messy, and prone to errors | Clean, structured forms with input masks and helpful defaults |
Search was slow and returned too many irrelevant results | Streamlined search with faster results and useful filters |
Users often abandoned search to look manually | Reduced steps and cognitive effort for frequent lookup tasks |
Design process: from messy to modular
With a clear understanding of user pain points and technical constraints, the design phase began we kept it lean, collaborative, and iterative. Here’s how the redesign took shape, step by step.
Discovery turned into direction
Armed with insights from research, I mapped out the highest-friction areas in the existing CRM:
search, navigation, contact creation, and dashboards. These were costing time and trust aside from them being frustrating. This foundation helped us prioritize what to tackle first.
Rapid wireframes: sketching simplicity
I started with low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to explore new flows. The goal was to cut friction, reduce steps, and make core actions easier to access.
Examples:
Reimagined the contact creation flow to eliminate unnecessary fields and reduce scrolling.
Simplified navigation by grouping related tasks instead of scattering them across the app.
These wireframes became the blueprint for early feedback with stakeholders.
Prototyping & UI design: from structure to style
Once the wireframes were validated, I shifted to high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes. I introduced a clean, modern visual language grounded in clarity and consistency. But visuals weren’t the only focus.
Building the design system
I created a reusable component library (Tailwind, Angular, PrimeNG …), including:
Buttons, inputs, table layouts, and notification banners
Defined tokenized styles for typography, colors, and spacing
This significantly sped up dev handoff and ensured the platform could scale cleanly in the future.
b. Restructuring information architecture
Navigation was one of the most painful parts of the old CRM. We replaced the overwhelming multi-level menu with a role-based system that showed users only what they needed.
Alternatives like mega-menus were explored, but ultimately rejected due to the varying permissions and complexity of user roles. Our final structure helped reduce cognitive load and made it easier to find high-priority tasks.
Working side-by-side with developers
Because of legacy system constraints (e.g., older Java stack with Struts), not every idea could be implemented as-is or as fast. So instead of throwing over Figma files, I embedded directly in the dev workflow:
Held daily syncs to stay aligned on feasibility
Co-designed solutions when limitations came up
Example: Real-time search wasn’t technically possible, so we introduced nightly indexing + pre-defined filter chips for faster results, and when we managed to update the frameworks and java version we implemented real time search asap.
This tight loop between design and engineering helped us move faster, smarter, and to stay focused.
Usability testing: validating in the real world
With working prototypes, we ran moderated usability sessions with actual tax professionals. We observed how they navigated redesigned flows, listened to their feedback, and measured success via these KPI's:
Time on task
Completion rates
Error recovery
This led to immediate improvements, for instance, reorganizing the task list layout in the dashboard and rewording button labels to make actions more predictable. Feedback confirmed the new navigation felt intuitive and tasks were easier to complete without extra help or support tickets.
Before & after: from clutter to clarity
Before | After |
|---|---|
Key data buried under multiple tabs | Visual hierarchy that surfaces what matters most |
Vague action buttons with unclear outcomes | Clear, prominent entry points for frequent actions like “Add contact” |
Crowded tables with inconsistent layouts | Clean, role-specific dashboards showing upcoming tasks, deadlines, and client statuses |
Forms were long, messy, and prone to errors | Clean, structured forms with input masks and helpful defaults |
Search was slow and returned too many irrelevant results | Streamlined search with faster results and useful filters |
Users often abandoned search to look manually | Reduced steps and cognitive effort for frequent lookup tasks |
Outcome & impact: real results across the board
The redesigned CRM worked better, across every metric that mattered. Through usability testing, user feedback, internal analytics, and support data, we tracked measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, satisfaction, and efficiency.
Faster workflows = more time saved
+30% faster task completion
Search and updates that used to take minutes were reduced to seconds
Time to complete standard tasks shortened.
~2 hours saved per user, per week, based on internal estimates especially in client onboarding, task handoff, and document lookup
Fewer errors, better data quality
–20% fewer data entry mistakes, thanks to smarter forms and clearer field logic
–40% reduction in incomplete client records, flagged during the first 3 months post-launch
Users reported feeling “more confident” entering data without needing manual checks
Higher trust, higher satisfaction
User satisfaction score jumped from 2.1 → 4.3 (internal survey)
Support ticket volume dropped 45% overall — especially:
Navigation-related issues: –60%
Data entry errors: –30%
Spreadsheet workarounds down by 35%, indicating stronger adoption and trust
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax expert, Atoz Services
Faster dev cycles, better scalability
Our new component library helped developers ship new features 15–20% faster
Design consistency made future QA and maintenance easier
The system is now flexible enough to support new modules without full redesigns
Smarter onboarding for new hires
CRM onboarding time dropped by 1.5 days
New staff reported feeling “more confident” in navigating the system within their first week
Outcome & impact: real results across the board
The redesigned CRM worked better, across every metric that mattered. Through usability testing, user feedback, internal analytics, and support data, we tracked measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, satisfaction, and efficiency.
Faster workflows = more time saved
+30% faster task completion
Search and updates that used to take minutes were reduced to seconds
Time to complete standard tasks shortened.
~2 hours saved per user, per week, based on internal estimates especially in client onboarding, task handoff, and document lookup
Fewer errors, better data quality
–20% fewer data entry mistakes, thanks to smarter forms and clearer field logic
–40% reduction in incomplete client records, flagged during the first 3 months post-launch
Users reported feeling “more confident” entering data without needing manual checks
Higher trust, higher satisfaction
User satisfaction score jumped from 2.1 → 4.3 (internal survey)
Support ticket volume dropped 45% overall — especially:
Navigation-related issues: –60%
Data entry errors: –30%
Spreadsheet workarounds down by 35%, indicating stronger adoption and trust
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax expert, Atoz Services
Faster dev cycles, better scalability
Our new component library helped developers ship new features 15–20% faster
Design consistency made future QA and maintenance easier
The system is now flexible enough to support new modules without full redesigns
Smarter onboarding for new hires
CRM onboarding time dropped by 1.5 days
New staff reported feeling “more confident” in navigating the system within their first week
Outcome & impact: real results across the board
The redesigned CRM worked better, across every metric that mattered. Through usability testing, user feedback, internal analytics, and support data, we tracked measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, satisfaction, and efficiency.
Faster workflows = more time saved
+30% faster task completion
Search and updates that used to take minutes were reduced to seconds
Time to complete standard tasks shortened.
~2 hours saved per user, per week, based on internal estimates especially in client onboarding, task handoff, and document lookup
Fewer errors, better data quality
–20% fewer data entry mistakes, thanks to smarter forms and clearer field logic
–40% reduction in incomplete client records, flagged during the first 3 months post-launch
Users reported feeling “more confident” entering data without needing manual checks
Higher trust, higher satisfaction
User satisfaction score jumped from 2.1 → 4.3 (internal survey)
Support ticket volume dropped 45% overall — especially:
Navigation-related issues: –60%
Data entry errors: –30%
Spreadsheet workarounds down by 35%, indicating stronger adoption and trust
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax expert, Atoz Services
Faster dev cycles, better scalability
Our new component library helped developers ship new features 15–20% faster
Design consistency made future QA and maintenance easier
The system is now flexible enough to support new modules without full redesigns
Smarter onboarding for new hires
CRM onboarding time dropped by 1.5 days
New staff reported feeling “more confident” in navigating the system within their first week
Final thoughts: more than just a redesign
This project was never just about fixing screens, it was about regaining trust.
The old CRM had become a blocker, not a tool. By listening closely to users, aligning with developers, and making smart, scalable design decisions, we transformed it into a system that people rely on and liked using.
It reminded me that the best design work happens where empathy meets efficiency. Every improvement was grounded in the real needs of real users working under real pressure.
As the sole designer on this complex, year-long project, I wore many hats: researcher, systems thinker, design advocate, and collaborator. And in the end, we delivered a better product and helped the business move faster, with more confidence and less friction.
What I’d do differently next time
Every project is a learning opportunity and this one taught me plenty.
Bring users into testing sooner. We validated prototypes mid-process, but getting more feedback earlier might’ve helped avoid a few pivots.
Push harder for technical flexibility. Some legacy constraints slowed us down. Next time, I’d involve engineering in ideation earlier to explore more creative workarounds.
Track usage analytics post-launch. We saw support tickets drop and heard great feedback, but integrating usage data sooner would’ve helped measure adoption more precisely.
Favorite user quote
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax Assistant, Atoz Services
Final thoughts: more than just a redesign
This project was never just about fixing screens, it was about regaining trust.
The old CRM had become a blocker, not a tool. By listening closely to users, aligning with developers, and making smart, scalable design decisions, we transformed it into a system that people rely on and liked using.
It reminded me that the best design work happens where empathy meets efficiency. Every improvement was grounded in the real needs of real users working under real pressure.
As the sole designer on this complex, year-long project, I wore many hats: researcher, systems thinker, design advocate, and collaborator. And in the end, we delivered a better product and helped the business move faster, with more confidence and less friction.
What I’d do differently next time
Every project is a learning opportunity and this one taught me plenty.
Bring users into testing sooner. We validated prototypes mid-process, but getting more feedback earlier might’ve helped avoid a few pivots.
Push harder for technical flexibility. Some legacy constraints slowed us down. Next time, I’d involve engineering in ideation earlier to explore more creative workarounds.
Track usage analytics post-launch. We saw support tickets drop and heard great feedback, but integrating usage data sooner would’ve helped measure adoption more precisely.
Favorite user quote
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax Assistant, Atoz Services
Final thoughts: more than just a redesign
This project was never just about fixing screens, it was about regaining trust.
The old CRM had become a blocker, not a tool. By listening closely to users, aligning with developers, and making smart, scalable design decisions, we transformed it into a system that people rely on and liked using.
It reminded me that the best design work happens where empathy meets efficiency. Every improvement was grounded in the real needs of real users working under real pressure.
As the sole designer on this complex, year-long project, I wore many hats: researcher, systems thinker, design advocate, and collaborator. And in the end, we delivered a better product and helped the business move faster, with more confidence and less friction.
What I’d do differently next time
Every project is a learning opportunity and this one taught me plenty.
Bring users into testing sooner. We validated prototypes mid-process, but getting more feedback earlier might’ve helped avoid a few pivots.
Push harder for technical flexibility. Some legacy constraints slowed us down. Next time, I’d involve engineering in ideation earlier to explore more creative workarounds.
Track usage analytics post-launch. We saw support tickets drop and heard great feedback, but integrating usage data sooner would’ve helped measure adoption more precisely.
Favorite user quote
“This is the first time I’ve actually enjoyed using the CRM. It finally works with me, not against me.”
— Tax Assistant, Atoz Services
Other projects
Get in touch with me :)
If you’re building something meaningful and need clarity, or just want to chat, feel free to send me a message and I'll get back to you asap :)
Get in touch with me :)
If you’re building something meaningful and need clarity, or just want to chat, feel free to send me a message and I'll get back to you asap :)