CRM Builder Portal
[Overview]
The Context
As part of a broader Dynamics SaaS ecosystem, the Builder Portal was designed to help SMB Managed Service Providers (MSPs) easily deploy pre-built Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions into their customers’ Microsoft environments. I led the UX research and product design for the portal — enabling MSPs to bypass the need for specialist CRM knowledge and scale confidently into a lucrative new market.
The Context
As part of a broader Dynamics SaaS ecosystem, the Builder Portal was designed to help SMB Managed Service Providers (MSPs) easily deploy pre-built Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions into their customers’ Microsoft environments. I led the UX research and product design for the portal — enabling MSPs to bypass the need for specialist CRM knowledge and scale confidently into a lucrative new market.
Problem Statement
MSPs lacked the technical expertise to deploy and manage CRM solutions: Many MSPs wanted to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM but were blocked by the complexity and cost of bespoke implementations.
The existing provisioning process was slow, manual, and risk-heavy: Deploying CRM solutions often required technical support or custom services — delaying onboarding and limiting business growth.
There was no intuitive, scalable way to configure and launch CRM products: A self-service portal was needed to simplify deployment, ensure configuration accuracy, and reduce time-to-value for new CRM customers.
Problem Statement
MSPs lacked the technical expertise to deploy and manage CRM solutions: Many MSPs wanted to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM but were blocked by the complexity and cost of bespoke implementations.
The existing provisioning process was slow, manual, and risk-heavy: Deploying CRM solutions often required technical support or custom services — delaying onboarding and limiting business growth.
There was no intuitive, scalable way to configure and launch CRM products: A self-service portal was needed to simplify deployment, ensure configuration accuracy, and reduce time-to-value for new CRM customers.
Skills Demonstrated
UX Research Strategy
B2B Product Design
Pricing Simplification
Cross-Functional Alignment
SaaS Ecosystem Thinking
[Impact]
CRM Delivery From Weeks to Minutes
Transformed CRM provisioning workflows — reducing setup times from multiple weeks to just a few minutes.
Pricing Model Overhaul
Led evidence-backed removal of a complex credit-based pricing system — improving user satisfaction and investor confidence.
Repeatable Research Framework
Established a scalable, insight-driven research process now used across the Dynamics SaaS ecosystem.
[My Process]
1. Research Strategy & Planning
• Led stakeholder workshops to uncover assumptions and map knowledge gaps.
• Defined a structured research roadmap aligned to business goals.
• Benchmarked competing tools to identify proven patterns and avoid usability pitfalls.
• Conducted 25+ depth interviews with MSPs and ran surveys to validate findings.
• Created empathy maps, journey maps, and future-state service blueprints.
1. Research Strategy & Planning
• Led stakeholder workshops to uncover assumptions and map knowledge gaps.
• Defined a structured research roadmap aligned to business goals.
• Benchmarked competing tools to identify proven patterns and avoid usability pitfalls.
• Conducted 25+ depth interviews with MSPs and ran surveys to validate findings.
• Created empathy maps, journey maps, and future-state service blueprints.
2. Business Influence & Strategic Advocacy
• Performed heuristic analysis of the original builder prototype.
• Identified friction caused by a proposed credit-based pricing system.
• Presented findings to senior leadership, demonstrating the user risk and negative trust impact.
• Influenced product direction — replacing complexity with a transparent pricing model that resonated with target users.
2. Business Influence & Strategic Advocacy
• Performed heuristic analysis of the original builder prototype.
• Identified friction caused by a proposed credit-based pricing system.
• Presented findings to senior leadership, demonstrating the user risk and negative trust impact.
• Influenced product direction — replacing complexity with a transparent pricing model that resonated with target users.
3. Designing the Builder Experience
• Defined full user flows — detailing screen states, interactions, and navigation paths.
• Designed UI in Figma and refined it through multiple usability testing cycles.
• Built and maintained a flexible design system to support visual consistency across the SaaS suite.
• Focused on intuitive onboarding and configuration to reduce user error and increase confidence.
3. Designing the Builder Experience
• Defined full user flows — detailing screen states, interactions, and navigation paths.
• Designed UI in Figma and refined it through multiple usability testing cycles.
• Built and maintained a flexible design system to support visual consistency across the SaaS suite.
• Focused on intuitive onboarding and configuration to reduce user error and increase confidence.
4. Seamless Developer Collaboration
• Worked closely with both internal and contracted development teams.
• Created tailored handover documentation — including interactive prototypes, annotated wireframes, and UI logic.
• Acted as the design-implementation bridge — ensuring that what was built matched what was validated.
4. Seamless Developer Collaboration
• Worked closely with both internal and contracted development teams.
• Created tailored handover documentation — including interactive prototypes, annotated wireframes, and UI logic.
• Acted as the design-implementation bridge — ensuring that what was built matched what was validated.
[Key Learnings]
Research Can Redefine Business Models
UX research isn’t just for features — it’s a tool for shaping pricing, strategy, and business positioning when grounded in evidence.
Simplicity Is a Strategic Advantage
Removing unnecessary complexity — particularly in onboarding and purchasing — can significantly improve adoption, retention, and investor appeal.
Build Systems That Scale
By establishing repeatable research and design frameworks, I helped lay the foundation for faster, more consistent product development across the SaaS ecosystem.
[Persona]
Jhon Roberts
Marketing Manager
Content
Age: 29
Location: New York City
Tech Proficiency: Moderate
Gender: Male
[Goal]
Quickly complete purchases without interruptions.
Trust the platform to handle her payment securely.
Access a seamless mobile shopping experience.
[Frustrations]
Long or confusing checkout processes.
Error messages that don’t explain the issue.
Poor mobile optimization that slows her down.
CRM Builder Portal
[Overview]
The Context
As part of a broader Dynamics SaaS ecosystem, the Builder Portal was designed to help SMB Managed Service Providers (MSPs) easily deploy pre-built Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions into their customers’ Microsoft environments. I led the UX research and product design for the portal — enabling MSPs to bypass the need for specialist CRM knowledge and scale confidently into a lucrative new market.
The Context
As part of a broader Dynamics SaaS ecosystem, the Builder Portal was designed to help SMB Managed Service Providers (MSPs) easily deploy pre-built Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions into their customers’ Microsoft environments. I led the UX research and product design for the portal — enabling MSPs to bypass the need for specialist CRM knowledge and scale confidently into a lucrative new market.
Problem Statement
MSPs lacked the technical expertise to deploy and manage CRM solutions: Many MSPs wanted to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM but were blocked by the complexity and cost of bespoke implementations.
The existing provisioning process was slow, manual, and risk-heavy: Deploying CRM solutions often required technical support or custom services — delaying onboarding and limiting business growth.
There was no intuitive, scalable way to configure and launch CRM products: A self-service portal was needed to simplify deployment, ensure configuration accuracy, and reduce time-to-value for new CRM customers.
Problem Statement
MSPs lacked the technical expertise to deploy and manage CRM solutions: Many MSPs wanted to offer Microsoft Dynamics CRM but were blocked by the complexity and cost of bespoke implementations.
The existing provisioning process was slow, manual, and risk-heavy: Deploying CRM solutions often required technical support or custom services — delaying onboarding and limiting business growth.
There was no intuitive, scalable way to configure and launch CRM products: A self-service portal was needed to simplify deployment, ensure configuration accuracy, and reduce time-to-value for new CRM customers.
Research Insights
Leading end-to-end research bridging academic rigour and product goals.
Defined scope, built a theory-informed process, and applied Human–AI Collaboration principles to uncover actionable design opportunities — all while collaborating cross-functionally with engineering.
Skills Demonstrated
UX Research Strategy
UX Research Strategy
B2B Product Design
B2B Product Design
Pricing Simplification
Pricing Simplification
Cross-Functional Alignment
Cross-Functional Alignment
[Impact]
From Weeks to Minutes
Transformed CRM provisioning workflows — reducing setup times from multiple weeks to just a few minutes.
Pricing Model Overhaul
Led evidence-backed removal of a complex credit-based pricing system — improving user satisfaction and investor confidence.
Repeatable Research Framework
Established a scalable, insight-driven research process now used across the Dynamics SaaS ecosystem.
[My Process]
1. Research Strategy & Planning
• Led stakeholder workshops to uncover assumptions and map knowledge gaps.
• Defined a structured research roadmap aligned to business goals.
• Benchmarked competing tools to identify proven patterns and avoid usability pitfalls.
• Conducted 25+ depth interviews with MSPs and ran surveys to validate findings.
• Created empathy maps, journey maps, and future-state service blueprints.
1. Research Strategy & Planning
• Led stakeholder workshops to uncover assumptions and map knowledge gaps.
• Defined a structured research roadmap aligned to business goals.
• Benchmarked competing tools to identify proven patterns and avoid usability pitfalls.
• Conducted 25+ depth interviews with MSPs and ran surveys to validate findings.
• Created empathy maps, journey maps, and future-state service blueprints.
2. Business Influence & Strategic Advocacy
• Performed heuristic analysis of the original builder prototype.
• Identified friction caused by a proposed credit-based pricing system.
• Presented findings to senior leadership, demonstrating the user risk and negative trust impact.
• Influenced product direction — replacing complexity with a transparent pricing model that resonated with target users.
2. Business Influence & Strategic Advocacy
• Performed heuristic analysis of the original builder prototype.
• Identified friction caused by a proposed credit-based pricing system.
• Presented findings to senior leadership, demonstrating the user risk and negative trust impact.
• Influenced product direction — replacing complexity with a transparent pricing model that resonated with target users.
3. Designing the Builder Experience
• Defined full user flows — detailing screen states, interactions, and navigation paths.
• Designed UI in Figma and refined it through multiple usability testing cycles.
• Built and maintained a flexible design system to support visual consistency across the SaaS suite.
• Focused on intuitive onboarding and configuration to reduce user error and increase confidence.
3. Designing the Builder Experience
• Defined full user flows — detailing screen states, interactions, and navigation paths.
• Designed UI in Figma and refined it through multiple usability testing cycles.
• Built and maintained a flexible design system to support visual consistency across the SaaS suite.
• Focused on intuitive onboarding and configuration to reduce user error and increase confidence.
4. Seamless Developer Collaboration
• Worked closely with both internal and contracted development teams.
• Created tailored handover documentation — including interactive prototypes, annotated wireframes, and UI logic.
• Acted as the design-implementation bridge — ensuring that what was built matched what was validated.
4. Seamless Developer Collaboration
• Worked closely with both internal and contracted development teams.
• Created tailored handover documentation — including interactive prototypes, annotated wireframes, and UI logic.
• Acted as the design-implementation bridge — ensuring that what was built matched what was validated.
[Key Learnings]
Research Can Redefine Business Models
UX research isn’t just for features — it’s a tool for shaping pricing, strategy, and business positioning when grounded in evidence.
Simplicity Is a Strategic Advantage
Removing unnecessary complexity — particularly in onboarding and purchasing — can significantly improve adoption, retention, and investor appeal.
Build Systems That Scale
By establishing repeatable research and design frameworks, I helped lay the foundation for faster, more consistent product development across the SaaS ecosystem.