Case Study — Adoption Enablement
Salesforce Enterprise Ad Sales
Led end-to-end UX discovery and adoption strategy that shaped the project direction for a Salesforce Sales Cloud implementation, developing my repeatable research methodology proven across enterprise clients.
Impact
19%
improved task completion time through automations and reduced duplicate systems
$570 million
ad sales growth YoY
Challenge
Low Salesforce adoption led each ad sales team to devise their own process and tools and for tracking the sales pipeline causing data visibility issues.
Solution
- Simplification: Streamline page layouts to focus only on relevant information based on role and stage, minimizing clutter.
- Efficiency: Enable faster task completion with inline editing, mass updates, and AI-automations in Salesforce, while eliminating the need for Sheets and other tools.
- Guidance: Improve usability through tooltips, help text, and clear error messages, reducing the need for support and training.
Context
Research & Discovery Process
01
Stakeholder Kickoff
Met with business stakeholders to understand the business impact of low Salesforce adoption, and what outcomes they expect.
02
User Research
Conducted 1:1 interviews, card sorting, and co-design / concept testing sessions with sales and finance teams to understand their distinct workflows and pain points. I learned ad sales as I went, per my signature learning style (jump in and learn to swim).
03
Synthesis & Strategy
Synthesized interview and workshop outputs with Claude to identify and group repeated pain points.
04
Roadmap & Handoff
I defined top quick wins based on my prioritization framework, and worked with engineers to define a long term roadmap. I presented all findings and recommendations to the client.
Research Deep Dive
Heuristic & WCAG Evaluation
Why Before User Sessions
I independetly evaluated the existing application before talking to users to formulate hypothesis around pain points and guide discussion topics.
Output
Prioritized UX problems that shaped my interview questions and became part of the final roadmap, with t-shirt sized effort estimates for engineering to work against.
1:1 User Interviews
Who & Why
Sales reps, finance, and team leaders. I was specifically listening for workarounds: spreadsheets, side tools, manual steps. Those are always where the platform is failing.
Key Insight
While leadership often thinks their teams need more systems training, adoption is typically a UX problem and not a knowledge or skill gap.
Card Sorting Workshops
Why Card Sorting
Salesforce record pages are information-dense by default. Card sorting lets users define the mental models they already have so I'm designing information architecture around how they actually think, not how the platform or the buisness expects them to think.
How I Ran It
Group sessions in Figma with mixed-role participants sorting fields and data points into their own groupings. Where consensus emerged, that became shared layout. Where roles diverged, that became role-specific views.
Concept Testing
Why
With an idea of information architecture for each role / user group, I was able to show wireframed page layouts and workflows to users and get real-time feedback and confirm my understanding.
How I Ran It
Leveraging my existing component library, I designed quick low fidelity mock-ups. Components and fields could be moved around on the fly with users in the session, and workflows could be clicked through in the Figma prototype.
Design Outcomes
Role-Based Apps
Customized experiences for Sales, Finance, and Business ensuring each user only sees the tools, reports, and data most relevant to their role without unnecessary complexity.
Lightning Page Layouts
Reorganized record pages using Lightning Page Layouts to surface key fields, actions, and related data in a clear, accessible format directly informed by card sorting outputs.
Dynamic Forms
Implemented progressive disclosure through Dynamic Forms — displaying only fields relevant at a given stage, tailoring what users see based on specific criteria rather than showing everything at once.
Impact Beyond the Project
Salesforce Best Practice Standard
Collaborated with a Salesforce architect to define role-based apps, dynamic forms, and page layout standards into documented best practices, a reference used across the Salesforce ecosystem.
Foundation for AUX Design
After 6+ Salesforce implementations at Red Argyle, I became an independent Salesforce Partner, strategically leveraging human-centered design to improve adoption and data-hygiene for enterprise.
Learning
Design is about discovering and solving problems, visuals are just a deliverable. Senior designers don't need another certification or to read another book, they just need to ask the right questions.