--case-forcemanagerB2B · Sales CRM · 2016 – 2021
ForceManager.
Reporting moves from laptop to phone.
A mobile-first CRM for sales reps who work on the road, later acquired by Sage. Where I went from designing the app's interface to leading the marketing design team, and designed my first internal tool along the way.
- From laptop to phone
- Foundations
- Revenue pages
- One asset system
- Role
- UI/UX Designer → UI/UX & Design Manager
- Timeline
- 2016 – 2021
- Scope
- iOS & Android interface, web design system foundations, CFM, corporate site and revenue pages, marketing design
Fig. 1 · B2B · Sales CRM
My role
From designing the app's interface to leading a design team, over two roles.
- 01
Interface design for the iOS and Android apps.
- 02
The design system foundations of the web app: color, type and core components.
- 03
CFM, the internal tool implementation teams used to set up each account. My first internal product, and the thread that later led to AURA and CASTLE.
- 04
As UI/UX & Design Manager in marketing: the design line for every material, the corporate website redesign and the pages closest to revenue (Book a Demo, Pricing, Free Trial onboarding).
- 05
A design system of assets shared by marketing and product, the bridge to later product work on CFM and ForceManager Cognitive, built on IBM Watson.
Context
ForceManager, later acquired by Sage, built a CRM for sales reps who spend their day on the road, not at a desk.
Behind the app sat CFM, an internal tool the implementation team used to set up each customer's account: custom entities, roles, pipelines and forms, without an engineering ticket for every change.
Problem
Sales reps lost hours every month reporting prospecting visits, deals and new accounts, often waiting until they were back at a laptop. The product's key goal was to cut those reporting hours: everything in one place, and done from the phone.
Two opposite audiences, one brand: reps who needed speed and one-handed use with patchy connectivity, and implementation teams who needed density and fine-grained control.
And on the marketing side, a product that had to be explained well before anyone would try it: devices, screens and features that needed a clear, consistent way to be shown.
Key decisions
- 01
Mobile-first, for real.
The app was designed for one hand, short sessions and intermittent connectivity, not as a shrunken desktop.
- 02
One system, two densities.
The field app and CFM look different on purpose. What they share is the component logic underneath.
- 03
Foundations before pages.
For the web app I designed the design system foundations first (color, type, core components), so the team knew what they could reuse.
- 04
One asset system for marketing and product.
As Design Manager I created a design system of assets (devices, screens, feature visuals) that marketing and product both used. It cut the time it took to create materials and assets, online and offline, and it became the bridge to my later product work on CFM and on ForceManager Cognitive, the IBM Watson integration.
Craft
Outcome
From laptop to phone
Reporting moved to mobile, the product's key goal: fewer monthly hours spent on reporting.
Foundations
A design system base the web team could build on.
Revenue pages
Corporate site redesign, plus the Book a Demo funnel, Pricing and Free Trial onboarding.
One asset system
Shared by marketing and product: less time to create materials and assets, online and offline.
Reflection
When two products share a brand but not an audience, the design system has to be the contract, not the style. What CFM and the field app shared wasn't how they looked. It was the logic underneath.