Overview
In 2024, I was hired as the sole product designer at a leading Luxembourg private boutique firm in the tax and finance industry. The company, with 100–500 employees, relied heavily on its internal intranet-based CRM, a tool intended to manage clients, events, and pitches … and much more.
But the system was broken. Slow, outdated, and confusing, it often forced senior partners and their assistants (some of the company’s most valuable professionals) to abandon it in favor of Excel sheets. Tasks like creating a contact or logging a client pitch took upwards of 15 minutes, costing partners valuable time that could have been spent closing deals or strengthening client relationships.
The mandate was clear:
Make the CRM usable, fast, and designed for the people who drive the business.
A live demo of the app from the inside.
My Role
I was the sole product designer on the project, working alongside:
1 Product Owner
1 Project Manager
3 Full-stack Developers
1 Front-end Developer
My responsibility: everything design. From user research to wireframes, polished prototypes, and a full design system. I built the design foundation from scratch and established a scalable design process the dev team could implement reliably.
Impact at a Glance
⬆ 90% of partners adopted the new CRM within 3 months
⏱️ New contact creation time dropped from 15 minutes → 4 minutes
⬇ Support tickets related to CRM fell by 40% post-launch
💰 Partners gained back ~2–3 hours per week, equal to ~€Xk/month in billable hours
Understanding the Users
The CRM wasn’t failing because of lack of features, it was failing because it didn’t reflect the reality of its users:
High-ranking partners (ages 35–50) managing multimillion client portfolios
Busy professionals with little patience for inefficient tools
Accustomed to Excel because it was faster, even though it created collaboration silos
To uncover their pain points, I conducted in-depth interviews with 4 partners. What I learned was simple but powerful: the tool didn’t feel like it was made for them. They wanted speed, clarity, and a sense of control.
From these insights, I created a primary persona:
“A senior partner at a top finance firm, highly skilled, extremely busy, and intolerant of tools that slow them down.”
Challenges & Constraints
The biggest challenge wasn’t design complexity, it was access to users. These partners were extremely busy, so testing prototypes or validating ideas required multiple approval loops through the PO. This meant I had to be extra sharp in prioritizing decisions and ensuring alignment with business needs while still fighting for the user’s voice.
Design Process
Mapping workflows: I broke down critical flows (contact creation, event tracking, pitch management) and identified bottlenecks.
Wireframing & iteration: built flows that minimized clicks and reduced complexity.
Design system: established a scalable, intuitive component library that developers could follow “to the pixel.”
Prototyping: tested with PO and occasional partner feedback, refining usability.
Handoff: set up a streamlined developer handoff process in Figma, cutting down confusion and back-and-forth.
Impact & Results
20% faster task completion across core flows (contacts, events, lists).
Substantial drop in support tickets thanks to a more intuitive interface.
Developer efficiency improved through a clear design system and consistent handoff process.
High adoption: partners reported they could “finally create and find things easily and intuitively”, and have used the new CRM nonstop since launch.
Reflection
This project taught me the value of deep empathy. Designing for extremely busy, high-level professionals reinforced that good design isn’t about shiny trends, it’s about respecting users’ time and mental energy.
If I had more time, I would have invested even more in direct user testing, cutting down iteration cycles and accelerating delivery. But even with constraints, this project proved the power of user-centered design in a high-stakes business environment.
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
