A mobile-first Sales CRM built and shipped in 75 days to bridge marketing and sales for Mailchimp
As Mailchimp evolved from an email marketing tool into an all-in-one marketing platform, a critical gap emerged: sales teams had no native way to connect with the marketing insights Mailchimp already captured. Mailchimp engaged Digital Scientists to design and ship Tempo, a mobile-first Sales CRM that would bridge marketing and sales in a single platform.
Using Google Ventures Design Sprint methodology, Digital Scientists rapidly moved from ideation to a validated prototype, then shipped the iOS app to the App Store in just 75 days. A responsive desktop version followed 90 days later. The 8-person team delivered a complete CRM with contact management, deal tracking, lead scoring integrated with Mailchimp campaign data, and a white-label architecture for partner branding.
Tempo demonstrated how design sprints and agile development can compress complex product timelines without sacrificing quality — delivering a full-featured CRM that sales reps actually wanted to use, built from the ground up around Mailchimp's marketing data.
Client
Mailchimp
Industry
Marketing Technology, SaaS, CRM
Services
UX Design & Research, Product Management, Solution Architecture, Mobile App Development
Engagement
75 days (mobile) + 90 days (desktop)
Through a proven, fast-paced process based on Google Ventures Design Sprint methodology, we helped Mailchimp quickly prototype a new service strategy and reduce costly exploration time.
75
Days to Ship Mobile
90
More Days for Desktop
8
Person Team
2
Platforms (iOS + Web)
Method
As Mailchimp evolved from an email marketing tool into an all-in-one marketing platform, a critical gap emerged: sales teams had no native way to connect with the marketing insights Mailchimp already captured. Sales reps needed to know which leads were hot, which contacts had engaged with campaigns, and how to prioritize their outreach — all from a mobile-friendly interface they could use on the go.
Mailchimp engaged Digital Scientists to launch an MVP Sales CRM — a lightweight, mobile-first application that would seamlessly integrate with Mailchimp's marketing data, bridging the gap between marketing insights and sales action.
The key challenge: build a complex-level CRM that sales reps would actually want to use, ship it to the App Store in under 75 days, and then extend it to desktop within 90 more.
We followed a mobile-first process based on Google Ventures Design Sprint methodology — rapidly moving from ideation to validated prototype to shipped product.
Discovered target audience (sales reps making initial contact), key insights, and core user flows through structured sprint exercises.
Created a clickable prototype to validate the concept through user interviews. Focused on right amount of info, marketing ratings, and dynamic suggestions.
Built graybox wireframes to set the architecture, then applied Tempo branding with multiple visual design iterations before consolidating to final.
Shipped the iOS app to the App Store at 75 days. Then extended the design system to desktop with dashboards, reporting, and pipeline management.
Wireframes
Architecture first
Visual Design
Brand applied, iterated
Final Design
Polished and shipped
The mobile app was designed as the primary mode of interaction for sales reps in the field — giving them the right amount of key information with marketing ratings and interactions to make smarter sales calls.
Tasks
Deals
Leads
Contacts
Key mobile insights from user research: easy to use on the go, right amount of all key information at a glance, marketing ratings and interactions help sales reps make informed calls, and dynamic suggestions and ratings provide continuous value.
With a solid mobile experience in place, we focused on the gaps implicit with a mobile-first approach — dashboards, reporting, pipeline management, and calendar scheduling that desktop users expect.
Deals pipeline with drag-and-drop Kanban board — track deals from New through Won
Keeping organized the massive amount of tasks and meetings for sales people is a major priority — and an area lacking in competitor products. We designed an innovative expanding and contracting view that combined meetings and tasks in tandem, with the ability to drag and drop unscheduled tasks directly into the schedule.
The design evolved through three iterations: from separate task-type views, to merged meetings/tasks, to the final dual-purpose view that proved exciting to sales people during ongoing usability research.
Comprehensive visual display with multiple report categories: total sales, sales pipeline, deal activity, and team activity. Designed to give sales reps everything they need at a glance, with room for future customization.
Key metrics include total revenue, new customers, opportunity value, sales by representative, and sales performance — all filterable by time period and team.
Tempo CRM — "The sales CRM for Mailchimp" — was released to the iOS App Store, giving Mailchimp users a powerful new way to manage their sales pipeline directly integrated with their marketing data.
The mobile-first approach proved successful: sales reps could manage contacts, track deals, schedule tasks, and leverage Mailchimp's marketing insights — all from their phone. The desktop version followed with advanced features including dashboards, detailed reporting, and full pipeline management.
This project exemplified our role as Mailchimp's innovation partner: taking a concept from design sprint to shipped product in 75 days, then expanding to a full cross-platform solution within 6 months.
Let's talk about how we can take your idea from concept to App Store.