Advancement Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, particularly on Salesforce, have opened a new world for tailoring the user experience. But for anyone who has embarked on a project like this, you likely quickly learned it was a blessing and a curse. 

 

While having endless possibilities is a great thing, it can sometimes become a stumbling block without an excellent strategy for optimizing design and user experience. 

 

We discuss advancement CRM guidelines to consider for a great user experience. 

Simple is better.

Streamline the user experience by focusing on the most important things and removing the clutter. This follows the less is more philosophy. 

 

Don’t be afraid to remove things from a user’s visibility, allowing them to focus, perfect, and master a smaller number of features and information that makes the most impact. 

Structure the user experience.

At first, users should focus more on summary or high-level information. This may include focusing on a maximum of five data points. Avoid presenting all the details simultaneously for those five data points. But as users dig into the summary information, they may be able to answer their question independently.

 

Then, after they’re accustomed to the summary information, they can build off the information by drilling down on the detail. 

Resist turning your new system into your old system.

One of the most common areas where institutions fail to resist turning their new system into the old system is with terminology. Don’t relabel everything the same as it was in your old system. It is especially challenging to label everything in your system that is unique to your organization because no one knows what you’re talking about. 

 

Instead, follow mainstream labeling practices. This enables you to compare data to other industry colleagues. 

 

Another common area where institutions fail to resist transforming the new system to the old is by having complex workflows and automation. Take a step back and ask yourself, “Why are we jumping through hoops in the user interface to make this happen?”  

 

Is it because you are following an outdated practice since that’s how it’s always been in your institution? Or is it beneficial? Avoid incorporating complex workflows and automation by having conversations with colleagues outside your institution and following best practices. 

Never enter the same data more than once. 

Entering data multiple times is the death of the user experience and will frustrate them to no extent. This practice is also inefficient, decreases data quality, and leads to misaligned and incorrect information.

 

Humans are not equipped to enter the same information multiple times. In fact, surveys that ask too many of the same type exhaust respondents and produce unreliable data, according to a 2022 study published by the University of California in Science Daily. The same study found that people tire from questions that vary only slightly and tend to give similar answers to all questions as the survey progresses. 

 

Resources 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220128153553.htm