UX CASE STUDY
Built a WhatsApp-native CRM solution to help sales agents manage leads, follow-ups, and performance without switching tools.
Project Overview
Context: The sales team heavily relied on WhatsApp for lead generation but struggled with shared accounts, missed follow-ups, and a lack of performance visibility.
My Role: Product Designer (Part of the Product Trio)
Timeline: 4 weeks (including research, design, and testing)
Tools Used: Figma, Google Docs, WhatsApp, Pen & Paper.
The Problem
Sales agents were struggling to manage WhatsApp-based sales conversations in a team setup:
Leads were not assigned, causing duplicate replies or missed responses.
There was no way to tag conversations or track follow-ups.
Managers had no visibility into agent performance.
The shared number setup caused confusion and lack of accountability.
Problem Statement: Sales agents struggle to close WhatsApp leads efficiently due to shared accounts, lack of visibility, poor tagging/follow-up systems, and no performance tracking.
Discovery & Research
What We Did:
Conducted 1:1 interviews with 4 sales agents and 1 sales lead
Shadowed agents during peak ad campaign times
Analyzed screenshots of chat-based sales conversations
Insights from Interviews & Observations:
Agents often found themselves replying to the same lead simultaneously
Lead conversations lacked continuity or structure
Follow-ups were managed in memory or scattered notes
Translated into HMW (How Might We) Questions:
After identifying multiple sales pain points using WhatsApp for lead management, I translated them into "How Might We" questions to explore potential solution spaces:
Pain Points
How Might We Question
Multiple agents using one number
HMW make it easier to assign leads to specific agents?
Shared WhatsApp Web sessions constantly log out
HMW ensure stable access across multiple devices without kicking others out?
Cluttered chats and no lead tags
HMW help agents organize and prioritize conversations better?
No chat history in WhatsApp Web
HMW retain and surface past lead conversations effectively?
Sync issues between devices
HMW ensure real-time sync between web and mobile versions?
No analytics or tracking
HMW give visibility into lead funnel, agent performance, and conversation metrics?
Missed follow-ups
HMW help agents never forget to follow up with interested leads?
Incoming floods of leads during ads
HMW help teams manage surge in volume without losing valuable leads?
Slower response time
HMW reduce friction and enable faster first responses?
User (Sales)
We interviewed sales executives
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
"When I get a new WhatsApp lead, I want to know who’s handling it, so we don’t overlap."
"When I’m managing 20+ chats, I want to tag and organize them, so I focus on hot leads."
"When a lead goes cold, I want a nudge to follow up later."
"When an ad campaign floods us, I want leads auto-distributed, so no one is left behind."
"When I reply to a lead, I want to recall the past context quickly to build trust."
User Journey
We mapped the typical experience of a sales agent trying to manage incoming leads on WhatsApp:
Problem Framing Canvas
Information Architecture
Designed for clarity, scalability, and extensibility.
Usability Testing
Goal: Validate if the tool solves lead organization, assignment, and visibility issues
Participants: 3 sales agents, 1 marketing manager
Test Tasks:
Assign incoming leads
Tag a chat and add notes
Set and view follow-up reminders
Search an older conversation
View weekly performance summary
Outcomes & Business Impact
Area of Impact
Before Bubbles
After Bubbles
Response Time
Agents delayed replies due to confusion or overlapping replies
Faster responses due to clear lead ownership and real-time alerts
Accountability
No clear idea who was responsible for each lead
Each lead was assigned to a specific agent, avoiding duplication |
Follow-ups
Often forgotten or managed manually (notes, memory)
Built-in reminders and tagging system improved consistency in follow-ups
Performance Visibility
Managers manually reviewed chat logs and lacked clear performance data
Weekly dashboards provided clear insights into individual and team performance |
Learnings
Designing for chaos (high-stress environments) demands clarity and simplicity
Small UX improvements (tags, reminders) can drastically improve workflows
A tool designed with users, not just for users, sees much better adoption
Closing Thought: Sales teams don’t want a CRM. They want WhatsApp—but smarter. Bubbles was our attempt to make that possible.
Conclusion
Bubbles started as a response to the chaotic reality of WhatsApp-based sales operations and evolved into a focused, user-driven solution that respected how sales agents already worked—while making that work significantly smoother.
Through deep discovery, empathy-led design, and lean testing, we were able to turn friction into flow. Bubbles didn’t try to replace WhatsApp; it enhanced it. By introducing small but powerful features—like lead assignments, follow-up reminders, and performance dashboards—we helped teams stay more organized, act faster, and close leads more confidently.
This project reminded me that great design doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel. Sometimes, it means designing guardrails around the chaos. And that’s what Bubbles delivered—clarity in the middle of conversational clutter.
Figma
FigJam