Growing Pains: Fixing Evolving Userflows
Transforming a growing CRM’s navigation into an intuitive, scalable experience powering thousands of salespeople every day.
2025
Year
3 weeks
Duration
Figma
Stack
UX Designer Intern
Role
Alta Genetics
Client
2-5 minutes
Reading Time
Quick Summary
Problem
What began as a simple internal sales campaign tool rapidly scaled into Mobi, a complex CRM platform. This swift expansion, however, created a significant challenge: cluttered and confusing navigation. Users found themselves unable to efficiently locate critical information, leading to frustrating detours and wasted time.
Solution
I redesigned Mobi's navigation by introducing a centralized landing page, categorized page types, and standardized layouts. These enhancements significantly improved discoverability for new users while retaining efficiency for expert users through familiar shortcuts, all while documenting the system for future scalability and growth.
My Role
I led the end-to-end UX design process, spanning from initial user research (usability tests, interviews) and interactive prototyping to final development handoff. Throughout, I closely coordinated with engineering teams to ensure seamless alignment and smooth implementation.
Challenges
Key challenges included balancing the diverse needs of a wide user base, designing a system flexible enough to accommodate ongoing platform growth, and ensuring a smooth handoff for future development without requiring continuous UX involvement.
No NDAs Were Harmed
Everything shown here is based on real project material, with a few adjustments for translation, privacy, or clarity. All content was approved before publishing.
Complete Process
What is Alta Genetics and Mobi?
Alta, a global leader in livestock genetics, provides advanced breeding solutions worldwide. They developed Mobi, an internal CRM platform that began as a lightweight campaign tracker for field and sales teams. Over time, Mobi evolved into a comprehensive tool, managing client relationships, monitoring regional activity, and coordinating field operations across diverse teams.
The Team Behind Mobi
Mobi was a unique project at Alta. Following a fast-paced iterative development process, the main developers were not from the company's software team but people with coding skills already in the teams that needed Mobi the most. For this reason, much of the design was simplified to facilitate development.
The Impact
28% Faster Task Completion. Usability tests showed users completed core tasks significantly faster.
41% Fewer Navigation Errors. Consistent layouts and clear pathways reduced misclicks and mistakes.
Positive Feedback. Users across experience levels found the interface easier to understand and use.
What I Brought In
Great mentors. I got to work with some truly amazing people, both within the company and outside of it. I reached out to a few mentors full of questions, and they always took the time to listen and help. UBC professors, in particular, were incredibly generous with their time and advice.
A pile of books. Part of getting ready for this project was brushing up on what I already knew and filling in the gaps. The UX Team of One, About Face, and Just Enough Research helped sharpen how I structured research, while Practical UI and Refactoring UI were great reminders to stay grounded and focus on the fundamentals.
Knowledge of the product. Having worked on a Mobi project before, I already knew how things worked and who to talk to. It gave me a head start on understanding the problem and the confidence to make clearer decisions. Most of all, it built trust. I wasn’t seen as just another intern, but as someone who had already listened, learned, and helped.
What I Took With Me
Sometimes, more clicks are better. I didn’t expect a longer flow to make people happier, but it did. Those extra steps gave them a clearer sense of direction, and it changed how I think about what “good” UX really means.
Redundancy isn’t always a problem. During testing, I noticed experienced users kept going back to the nav bar. It worked as their shortcut, helping them move faster even if it was now redundant. Since it wasn’t confusing new users, we decided to keep it. Sometimes, familiarity is its own kind of efficiency.
Real data reveals real problems. Seeing the broader patterns in Google Analytics was eye-opening. Usability tests showed where people thought they were stuck, but the data showed where they actually were. It was my first time working with real navigation data, and it changed how I look at testing.
The right people bring out the right problems. Working with distinct users change everything. Each group used the product in ways I hadn’t expected, and each uncovered issues the others missed. It was a good reminder that getting feedback from the right people can matter more than the number of people you test with.