I was knee-deep with the team through the entire thing—from defining problems to scoping down the work, executing visual design, building prototypes, and working with engineers to polish the final product. The team included 6 engineers (2 BE and 4 FE), a product manager, and myself - the design lead. This project took a quarter and was shipped on November 10.

👋🏼 You can play with the prototype here!

User Problems and Playbook Problems

Automation has always been an essential part of Catalyst. Just like in any other industry, automation in Customer Success allows users to do more with less and thus enhance their output. Our initial Playbook product unlocked primary use cases like sending email reminders before a renewal or onboarding motion; however, it became clear that playbooks didn't work the way our users worked.

While we envisioned Playbooks as a powerful automation tool for work, there were clear limitations to the product:

1. There was no advanced logic that allowed users to create a robust automation workflow that stretched over a desired timeframe.
2. Workarounds to automation branching (like for multiple market segments) were a compromise for users who felt overwhelmed by creating redundant playbooks that did similar things for slightly different customers.
3. Admins struggled to have consistent processes across their teams, which hindered their need to be effective and proactive.