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Optimizing data entry for custom CRM: reduced clicks by 49% per log

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Goodbye Salesforce. Hello custom CRM!

Sole UX/UI Designer to re-architect this company's CRM from the ground up. Admins can now update client accounts with 49% fewer clicks and 10 fewer screens per log- a faster, simpler system built for how they actually work.

*Due to confidentiality terms, the client name and specific identifiers have been omitted.

Client

National tech accelerator

Year

May - July 2025

Roles

UX Research
 / 
Product Strategy
 / 
UX/UI
Key screens for the custom CRM data entry flow.

OUTCOME

Optimized data entry for admin unique needs

Rather than replicating Salesforce functionality into the company's internal portal, I re-architected the data-entry experience from the ground up to optimize both workflow and usability.

Key optimizations include:

  • Centering the CRM around one unified data-entry point that auto-populates relevant fields across the account
  • Redesigned account screens for clarity, hierarchy and speed
  • Refined data sets to include what's relevant today while preserving legacy information
  • Enabled self-service editing so admins and clients can update data directly
  • Reinforced trust with contextual help, smart defaults and auto-save

Together, these updates drastically reduced task time by removing redundant screens and unessecary clicks.

'Account' displays key client details at a glance, giving admins a clear view of each clients’s journey with the organization. The primary call-to-action opens a modal for the most common task: logging an Interaction.
Interaction: Admins can now update all relevant client information while logging an Interaction - a process that previously required navigating up-to 24 separate Salesforce sections.
Confirmation modal notifies the admin that the client’s account data is being automatically updated based on the Interaction they just logged.
The client’s account information now updates dynamically according to details captured in each logged Interaction.

PROBLEM

Too many clicks, too little buy-in

When this company's Salesforce became more of a burden than a usable tool, admin engagement plummeted. Logging data meant jumping between 24 Salesforce Objects, totaling to an average of 83 clicks for the most common task.

Admins described the process as a difficult and inconvenient chore. Understandably, data was inconsistent and data quality suffered.

I was brought in as the sole UX/UI Designer to re-architect the experience and restore confidence in a system used daily by approximately 100 internal staff supporting 1200+ tech startups.

Quoted pain points from depth interviews with key stakeholders.

RESEARCH

Usability testing: mismatch between software and user's mental models

I led a research sprint of usability testing, contextual inquiry and stakeholder interviews across departments (Client Services, Data & IT, Program teams & Executives). Admins needs, behaviours and contexts revealed design priorities.

Testing confirmed what admins had long voiced: the mental model behind Salesforce did not match their workflow. The admins interfacing with clients weren’t thinking in data and reports, they were thinking in relationships. Every client call sparked rich account updates and the system forced them to scatter that data across a possible 24 separate objects in the clients' account.

Admins needed a simplified way of editing and interpreting data.

User persona for the end-users of this CRM: the company's internal administrators.

SOLUTION

Making data entry effortless

Rather than replicating Salesforce functionality into the company's internal portal, I re-architected the data-entry experience from the ground up to optimize both workflow and usability.

Key optimizations include:

  • Centering the CRM around one unified data-entry point that auto-populates relevant fields across the account
  • Redesigned account screens for clarity, hierarchy and speed
  • Refined data sets to include what's relevant today while preserving legacy information
  • Enabled self-service editing so admins and clients can update data directly
  • Reinforced trust with contextual help, smart defaults and auto-save

Together, these updates drastically reduced task time by removing redundant screens and unessecary clicks.

Logging a new interaction whilst on a call with a client enables the admin to update the clients' account information in 1 single screen.

IMPACT

Admins reclaim time, improved data quality and cut platform costs

Streamlining data entry was both a UX and an organizational win. Aligning the CRM with real admin workflows will help Communitech reclaim valuable time, data quality and eliminate reliance on licening costs - all while restoring trust in the system.

Admin feedback following the design validation process.

LEARNING

Iterative design drives lasting success

While I’m proud to have delivered this transformation as the sole designer in just three months, the project reinforced the value of iteration. Revisiting the work post-handoff surfaced new opportunities to further refine flow logic and UI hierarchy - reminding me that even strong solutions evolve through ongoing testing and feedback.