Onyx — A Platform for Managing Teams, Processes, and Leads

Role: Product & UX/UI Designer. Lead designer for 2 Junior position designers

Project Type: SaaS platform with advanced customization capabilities

Duration: 3 months

Team: Lead Designer, Jounior and Jounior+ Designers, Project Manager, Customer

Context

Onyx is a universal system for managing business processes, built for teams that have outgrown traditional CRMs and task managers. The platform offers flexibility comparable to ClickUp but provides greater control over structure and customization. It’s designed to adapt to specific business needs — from lead management to internal workflows and automation.

User Research

At the start of the project, I conducted a series of in-depth user interviews to understand real pain points and expectations. Key steps included:

• A user survey with indirect questions to help participants surface unmet needs without suggesting solutions.

• Analysis of pain points in lead management: lost chats, email miscommunication, manual processing through spreadsheets.

• Exploration of user experience with CRMs and task systems: why they stopped using them, what worked, what didn’t, and what they truly needed.

Based on these insights, I developed several user personas and mapped their journeys to identify friction points and opportunities for improvement.

Key UX Decisions

1. Flexible Status Architecture

Users can create blocks of statuses grouped by action. Existing automation can be assigned to statuses, but new automation is created separately to maintain clarity. A quick-access button enables a seamless transition to the automation builder when needed.

2. Workflow Templates

We introduced a templating system that allows users to start with a predefined process structure. Templates are fully customizable — users can add, remove, or edit blocks as needed. This drastically reduces the setup time for new teams.

3. Simplified Automation Management

Automations are created in a dedicated builder, with clear filtering, search, and assignment options. These can then be easily applied to templates or statuses without overwhelming the interface.

4. Scalable Interface

The core of the system is built around fullscreen dashboards with modular layouts. Contextual menus next to inputs provide access to relevant functions, including suggestions or AI-powered assistance. The interface balances functionality with clarity and ease of use.