A 1-month project where I led product design from wireframes and system architecture through to the final working CRM.
UX/UI Design
Product Design
AI-Assisted Developer
UX/UI Design
Product Design
AI-Assisted Developer
Company & Product Context
Mikado is a UI/UX and branding studio whose sales process involves managing leads, contacts, companies, follow-ups and ongoing opportunities.
As the team's sales operations grew, managing this information across existing tools became increasingly difficult. The solution was to build a dedicated CRM for internal use, designed around how Mikado's own team actually works.
Internal Tool
Built specifically for Mikado.
A CRM designed around Mikado’s sales workflows, built to handle complexity while staying as simple as Excel.
One Connected System
Everything connected Nothing Lost.
Leads
Contacts
Companies
Tasks
Pipeline
Internal Tool
Built specifically for Mikado.
A CRM designed around Mikado’s sales workflows, built to handle complexity while staying as simple as Excel.
One Connected System
Everything connected Nothing Lost.
Leads
Contacts
Companies
Tasks
Pipeline
Internal Tool
Built specifically for Mikado.
A CRM designed around Mikado’s sales workflows, built to handle complexity while staying as simple as Excel.
One Connected System
Everything connected Nothing Lost.
Leads
Contacts
Companies
Tasks
Pipeline
Supporting different levels of sales responsibility
Built for
Founders · Managers · Sales Team
Connecting people, organisations and opportunities
Built around
Leads · Contacts · Companies
Keeping sales activity structured and actionable
Built to manage
Pipeline · Tasks · Activities · Reporting
Supporting different levels of sales responsibility
Built for
Founders · Managers · Sales Team
Connecting people, organisations and opportunities
Built around
Leads · Contacts · Companies
Keeping sales activity structured and actionable
Built to manage
Pipeline · Tasks · Activities · Reporting
Supporting different levels of sales responsibility
Built for
Founders · Managers · Sales Team
Connecting people, organisations and opportunities
Built around
Leads · Contacts · Companies
Keeping sales activity structured and actionable
Built to manage
Pipeline · Tasks · Activities · Reporting
The Core Tension
The CRM was powerful. Excel was simple.
The existing CRM offered structure and functionality, but its complexity made it difficult to maintain. For basic sales tracking, an Excel sheet often felt faster and more intuitive.
The challenge was to bridge that gap, bringing the structure of a CRM together with the simplicity users already understood.
Traditional CRM
Excel
More functionality
Easy to maintain
Structured workflows
Familiar interaction
Sales visibility
Low friction
More setup & complexity
Minimal overhead
Feature-heavy navigation
Straightforward navigation
Problem Statement
How might we design a CRM that is as simple to maintain as Excel, while providing the structure, visibility and sales capabilities Mikado needs?
What the Product Needed to Do
Simplify everyday sales work
Make common actions as straightforward as maintaining a spreadsheet.
Connect the sales ecosystem
Bring leads, contacts, companies and tasks into one system.
Make progress visible
Give teams a clear view of pipeline, workload and priorities.
Support different levels of access
Allow roles and delegated access to reflect how teams actually work.
Keep complexity out of the way
Expose depth when needed without overwhelming everyday users.
Simplify everyday sales work
Make common actions as straightforward as maintaining a spreadsheet.
Connect the sales ecosystem
Bring leads, contacts, companies and tasks into one system.
Make progress visible
Give teams a clear view of pipeline, workload and priorities.
Support different levels of access
Allow roles and delegated access to reflect how teams actually work.
Keep complexity out of the way
Expose depth when needed without overwhelming everyday users.
Simplify everyday sales work
Make common actions as straightforward as maintaining a spreadsheet.
Connect the sales ecosystem
Bring leads, contacts, companies and tasks into one system.
Make progress visible
Give teams a clear view of pipeline, workload and priorities.
Support different levels of access
Allow roles and delegated access to reflect how teams actually work.
Keep complexity out of the way
Expose depth when needed without overwhelming everyday users.
Core Sales Workflow
01
Lead to Opportunity
Capture Lead
Add new lead into the pipeline
Qualify
Assess fit and potential
Progress Stage
Advance the pipeline stage
Follow Up
Communicate and engage
Won / Lost
Close the opportunity
02
Relationship to Sale
Company
Account or organization info
Contact
Map key people
Lead
Connect the opportunities
Interactions
Track every touchpoint
Follow Up
Maintain the relationship
03
Task to Action
Map Action
Spot next best action
Create Task
Log the task in the CRM
Add Owner
Assign to a member
Set Due Date
Define timeline and priority
Complete
Close task and move on
01
Lead to Opportunity
Capture Lead
Add new lead into the pipeline
Qualify
Assess fit and potential
Progress Stage
Advance the pipeline stage
Follow Up
Communicate and engage
Won / Lost
Close the opportunity
02
Relationship to Sale
Company
Account or organization info
Contact
Map key people
Lead
Connect the opportunities
Interactions
Track every touchpoint
Follow Up
Maintain the relationship
03
Task to Action
Map Action
Spot next best action
Create Task
Log the task in the CRM
Add Owner
Assign to a member
Set Due Date
Define timeline and priority
Complete
Close task and move on
01
Lead to Opportunity
Capture Lead
Add new lead into the pipeline
Qualify
Assess fit and potential
Progress Stage
Advance the pipeline stage
Follow Up
Communicate and engage
Won / Lost
Close the opportunity
02
Relationship to Sale
Company
Account or organization info
Contact
Map key people
Lead
Connect the opportunities
Interactions
Track every touchpoint
Follow Up
Maintain the relationship
03
Task to Action
Map Action
Spot next best action
Create Task
Log the task in the CRM
Add Owner
Assign to a member
Set Due Date
Define timeline and priority
Complete
Close task and move on
Roles & Permissions
Access that reflects how the team works
Roles define the default boundaries of what each person can see, edit and assign. With one shared sales team and no separate departments, everyone can view company-wide data. Editing and task access are then shaped by role and ownership.
Role
View
Edits
Tasks
Delegate Access
Founder
Everyone
Everyone
Everyone
Everyone
Manager
Everyone
Self + team
Team
Team*
Employee
Everyone
Self
—
—
Delegated access is temporary and limited to specific leads. Founders can override default permissions without changing a user's underlying role.
Design → Development
From design foundation to a working CRM
Wireframes
Defined the core layouts, workflows and information structure to establish a clear foundation for the product
Component Base
Created reusable components and interaction patterns to establish a consistent foundation across the product
Interface Assembly
Built the design foundation in Claude, then used Antigravity to assemble and refine the interfaces into a working product
Deployment
Versioned the product through GitHub and deployed it through Vercel to make the CRM accessible as a live product
Wireframes
Defined the core layouts, workflows and information structure to establish a clear foundation for the product
Component Base
Created reusable components and interaction patterns to establish a consistent foundation across the product
Interface Assembly
Built the design foundation in Claude, then used Antigravity to assemble and refine the interfaces into a working product
Deployment
Versioned the product through GitHub and deployed it through Vercel to make the CRM accessible as a live product
Wireframes
Defined the core layouts, workflows and information structure to establish a clear foundation for the product
Component Base
Created reusable components and interaction patterns to establish a consistent foundation across the product
Interface Assembly
Built the design foundation in Claude, then used Antigravity to assemble and refine the interfaces into a working product
Deployment
Versioned the product through GitHub and deployed it through Vercel to make the CRM accessible as a live product
The Working Product
Add a Lead
Capture and qualify a new opportunity
Add a Contact
Connect people to the sales relationship
Add a Company
Build the organisation around the opportunity
Complete & Add a Task
Turn opportunities into clear next actions
Validation & Iteration
The working product was tested through individual flows, focusing on clarity, efficiency and whether key actions behaved as expected.
Clearer Information Hierarchy
Made important lead, contact and company information easier to scan and understand at a glance.
Predictable System Behaviour
Reduced unnecessary steps across common actions, making everyday CRM tasks faster to complete.
Simplified Workflows
Added temporary delegated access for specific leads without changing a user's default role.
More Flexible Access
Refined states, actions and feedback so the interface behaved consistently across workflows.
Clearer Information Hierarchy
Made important lead, contact and company information easier to scan and understand at a glance.
Predictable System Behaviour
Reduced unnecessary steps across common actions, making everyday CRM tasks faster to complete.
Simplified Workflows
Added temporary delegated access for specific leads without changing a user's default role.
More Flexible Access
Refined states, actions and feedback so the interface behaved consistently across workflows.
Clearer Information Hierarchy
Made important lead, contact and company information easier to scan and understand at a glance.
Predictable System Behaviour
Reduced unnecessary steps across common actions, making everyday CRM tasks faster to complete.
Simplified Workflows
Added temporary delegated access for specific leads without changing a user's default role.
More Flexible Access
Refined states, actions and feedback so the interface behaved consistently across workflows.
Key Learnings
Simplicity drives adoption
Everyday actions work better when they feel as familiar and effortless as tools users already know.
Systems matter more than screens
The value comes from connecting leads, contacts, companies and tasks into one workflow.
Good defaults reduce friction
Clear structures and sensible defaults help users move through complex workflows with fewer decisions.
Design systems accelerate development
A strong component foundation made it faster to build, iterate and maintain consistency across the product.
Building changes how you design
Working with the product revealed interactions and edge cases that weren't always visible in the design.
AI extends the designer's role
AI-assisted development made it possible to move from designing interfaces to shaping the working product itself.
This overview covers the key decisions behind the CRM, but the full case study goes deeper. Explore the complete design process, detailed workflows, component system, usability findings, and product decisions.v
