Attrace initially entered the market with a decentralized affiliate marketing platform that used blockchain technology to tackle key issues in traditional affiliate marketing—specifically around trust, transparency, and tracking. By associating smart contracts with each click and referral, the platform ensured reliable and decentralized earnings distribution for both merchants and publishers. As part of the platform’s evolution, the next strategic step was to introduce a consultant role to manage merchants and connect them with publishers, expanding the platform’s capabilities.
The objective was to design a CRM web app to support this new consultant role. The CRM needed to integrate seamlessly with the existing SaaS solution used by merchants and publishers, while offering a tailored set of tools that would enable consultants to manage relationships, facilitate deals, and track performance within the affiliate marketing ecosystem.
I started by conducting in-depth stakeholder interviews to gather project requirements, technical constraints, and insights into the behaviors of marketing consultants. This input, combined with competitor research to assess industry standards and gaps in existing CRM solutions, informed the foundation of the CRM’s design. We then crafted a consultant persona, synthesizing input from both the marketing and consulting teams, to capture their goals, painpoints, and preferred workflows, ensuring the design was aligned with real user needs.
With the discovery insights in hand, I worked closely with the product and development teams to create the information architecture (IA) that integrated the new CRM into the existing SaaS platform. A key challenge was incorporating the consultant role without disrupting the established dashboards and flows for merchants and publishers, while still allowing them to be partially embedded in the consultant’s workflows. I ensured that the IA maintained a seamless structure across all roles, preserving the integrity of existing features while accommodating the needs of the new consultant role.
Once the structure was approved, I facilitated workshops with the CEO, CMO, CTO, product manager, financial consultant, and developers to align on the user flows and wireframes. During these sessions, we carefully examined how blockchain technology would be integrated into the consultant’s workflow and fine-tuned the terminology and information hierarchy to ensure clarity and consistency. These collaborative reviews ensured that the prototypes addressed business objectives, user needs, and technical constraints, maintaining alignment across all teams involved.
Given the distinct nature of the consultant role, we initiated a visual refresh for the CRM interface, building on the established UI kit while introducing a new look and feel to cater to the unique consultant persona. I developed moodboards and multiple UI concepts, guiding stakeholders through workshops to collaboratively decide on the final design direction.
With the IA, user flows, and UI concepts defined, I moved into the final design phase. The fast-paced timeline required us to focus on delivering the most critical features first. I worked in close collaboration with the development team to ensure design feasibility, conducting design reviews for each implemented flow to guarantee consistency and quality across the CRM. Throughout this phase, I remained flexible, reprioritizing features and user flows as needed to meet the MVP deadline without sacrificing the overall user experience.
Before the launch, I facilitated several rounds of usability testing with potential consultant users to validate the design and identify any areas for improvement. These sessions, combined with ongoing feedback from internal stakeholders, were instrumental in refining the product and ensuring it would be both functional and intuitive for the consultant role.
