Case file 01 · NDA · 2025

Won isn't done.Paid is.

Confidential · 2025 · B2B SaaS · Internal tool · Web

Designing the internal tool that takes a deal from "won" to "paid" for sales, ops and finance across 10 countries, on one screen.

Project: Quote-to-cash
Company: Global offline marketing platform (under NDA)
Role: Product designer
Year: 2025

00.1 Opening and TL;DR

A won deal is a promise. The old system made three teams keep it by hand.

I designed Quote-to-cash around one principle: every person should see what they need to do next, and the systems should do the retyping.

Below: one deal traced through the old process, what 17 interviews showed, the flows, four decision stories, a clickable prototype, and what changed in production.

Research: 17 interviews: sales, ops and engineering
Iterations: 8 prototype rounds before handoff
Users: Sales, ops and finance in 10 countries
Built with: Claude Code, Figma

01.1 One won deal, four systems

Every won deal started a relay race.

Quotes lived in one place, campaigns were rebuilt by hand, invoices lived in accounting, and the funnel only existed in the CRM. Nobody could see a deal's full progress, so every won deal started a relay race between teams.

Mon 10:14Sales celebrates. Nobody else knows yet.
Tue 16:40Ops rebuilds the campaign by hand.
Thu 11:05Finance asks. The answer is in someone's head.
Month endDays lost at month end, every month.
End of file
Scroll down to see how the deal moves now.

1 / 5

Illustrative scenario · dummy data

deal_trace.logQ-1042 · before the tool

01Deal marked won in the CRM✕ nothing else knows
02Ops rebuilds the campaign from the quote✕ retyped by hand
03Contract sent for signature separately✕ nobody owns the chase
04Finance asks if setup and contract are done✕ answer lives in someone's head
05Invoice built in accounting✕ VAT checked per market by hand
06Payment arrives✕ matched back to the deal manually

01.2 Research

Three groups, three different problems.

I interviewed the people on each side of the relay.

Group	Who	What they told me	Insight
Ops	8 team leads	Days lost at month end retyping campaign details from quotes, with errors at every step.	I1
Sales	4 country managers	Hard to see what got approved and what changed after approval.	I2
Engineering	5 developers	The CRM and accounting integrations were the hardest parts; tax rules change by country and campaign type.	I4

02.1 Flows and the object model

Objects before screens.

The hard part was state, not layout: six objects, nine quote statuses, and one rule for the ⚠. It appears only when a person must act.

Object	States	Rule
Quote	draft → internal review → sent → accepted (incomplete) → SOW pending → invoice pending → active · also: revision needed, rejected	A new version exists only after a client rejection.
Deal (CRM)	quote sent → won / lost	The CRM stays the source of truth.
Campaign	draft → complete → active	Created on acceptance. Size, amount and budget lock.
Contract (SOW)	awaiting signature → signed / declined	A manual upload works at any time.
Invoice	not generated → generated → partially paid → paid	Generated only when campaign and SOW are done.
Tax	VAT on / off	Set once per quote.

Fig 01 · Information architecture

Quote tool

Quotes table

Status filter cards
Filters: country, status, channel, client, dates
Row sidebar with quick actions
Version history

Create quote

1 Quote info
2 CSV upload Gate checked against the CRM deal
3 Campaign details (optional)
4 Artwork and offers (optional)
5 Mailing list (direct mail only)
6 Review and submit

Quote detail

Status banner
Overview
Campaign info
SOW
Invoice: 3 documents Gate both prerequisites
Activity log
Rejected · deal lost Stop

Modals

Request internal review
Confirm acceptance
Upload SOW
Unsaved changes

ScreenGate or checkStop

Notice the two gates: a CSV that disagrees with its CRM deal, and an invoice that waits for both blockers. Hover a row in the table above to light the screens that use it.

User flows

Fig 02 · A · Create a quote

Start
Quote info Client first, then contacts unlock · VAT toggle
Deal already in the CRM? Yes: link it · No: create the deal at quote sent
Create deal System · automatic
CSV upload
Matches the CRM deal? No: warning, fix the CSV · Yes: continue
Campaign details Optional
Artwork and offers Optional
Direct mail? Yes: mailing list
Review and submit Save as draft · mark as sent · request internal review · cancel

DecisionSystem

Notice the CRM check: an existing deal is linked, a missing one is created, and a CSV that disagrees never gets past upload.

Fig 08 · What one click sets off

Confirm acceptanceQ-1042 · Northwind CoffeeAccept quote

Draft campaign created✓
CRM deal marked won✓
Contract sent✓
Opens campaign info✓

Ops: nothing to retypeFinance: waits on 2 gates

Illustrative mock · dummy data

Accepting a quote sets off four things at once. Before, each was a separate job for a separate team.

02.2 The research-to-design strategy map

Every decision traces back to research.

Research evidenceCore insightDesign decision

8 ops team leads: days lost at month end retyping campaign details from quotes, with errors at every step.Interviews · 8 ops leads

I1The errors come from retyping, not from a bad form.

D1Let systems do the retyping

4 country sales managers: hard to see what got approved and what changed after approval.Interviews · 4 sales managers

I2People lose track of whose turn it is, not of the status.

D2Group by who acts, not by status

In the prototype, teams finished the contract and campaign info in different orders, and auto-signing sometimes failed.Prototype · 8 iterations

I3The two gates before an invoice are independent.

D3Turn blockers into a checklist

5 developers: the CRM and accounting integrations were the hardest parts; tax rules change by country and campaign type.Interviews · 5 developers

I4Tax is a rule set, not a form field.

D4Make tax a setting

After launch, ops edits after acceptance never reached the contract or the invoice, so documents disagreed.Rollout feedback

I5Some fields carry money and some don't.

D5Versions, not overwrites

02.3 Decision stories

Four stories, step by step.

The stories · 5 steps each

Story 1 · Title

Nine statuses became three groups

The list stopped showing the system's view.

03.1 Prototype walkthrough

Who needs to act, on one screen. Try it.

Clickable prototype · concept recreation · dummy data

Press Client accepts in CRM in the dark panel, then follow the next step on Q-1042: add the setup info, upload the signed copy, generate the invoice. Reset starts over.

9Statuses

10Countries

3Stakeholder groups

8Prototype iterations

Highlights

01A list grouped by who needs to act
02The next step and its button on every row
03Blockers shown as a checklist, finished in any order
04The invoice locked until both gates pass, and it says why

Whole project · Big idea

The tool tells each person what they need to do next.

One screen · The quote list

Grouped by who acts, so it opens on your own to-do list.

One small part · The next-step cell

What is left, and the button that moves it.

03.2 Outcome and reflection

Half the time to invoice.

Time to invoice · marketing team

Before

Baseline After

−50%

Quoting and invoicing support tickets

Before

Baseline Switch

+17% 2 months

−34%

The tool works because it asks less of people. Nobody retypes a fact, nobody works out tax, and nobody has to ask whose turn it is.

Same company

40% → 28%

Onboarding drop-off on the distributor mobile app after my redesign

−18%

Support requests and errors from distributors

20+

Integrations shipped, with 20% fewer related support tickets

Measured over roughly three months after release.

Won isn't done.Paid is.

Every won deal started a relay race.

Three groups, three different problems.

Objects before screens.

Every decision traces back to research.

Four stories, step by step.

Nine statuses became three groups

Whose move is it?

Group by who acts

Your own to-do list

"Accepted" was hiding two jobs

Different orders every time

Two blockers, any order

Nobody waits on a step

The CRM stays the source of truth

Facts typed twice

Pull, check, never retype

Time to invoice −50%

The lock that explains itself

A grey button says nothing

Say what's missing

No guessing

Who needs to act, on one screen. Try it.

Half the time to invoice.