Zoho CRM User Experience & Interaction Design Blog

This week, it is a theme update. The Nature color theme in Zoho CRM gets some face-lift similar to what the contemporary theme received. The gradients. Here is a preview attached.

Everyone knows TrueSpace 3 is free. Recently after acquired by Microsoft, Caligari announced their TrueSpace 7.6 is completely free for every one. That’s a good news for many aspiring 3D artists and modelers.

I am using TrueSpace 3 at work. Recently I was in need of an icon for a time piece. Searching the stock photo sites didn’t bring up any satisfactory  results. Then, suddenly I got the idea and tried to design a time piece in TrueSpace 3. Within 20 minutes, I got the perspective and angle and the object was ready. Wow that was cool, and the icon will be featured in Zoho CRM soon.

Here is the sample..

- Rajesh Sundaram

One of the interesting subjects to discuss would be “Color Themes”. Take any software application (web or desktop or mobile), and you can find there is room for cosmetics. Most of the software could be made “theme”-able irrespective of whether it adds value or not. For certain genre, themes are a must and for others, it is not that important. But if given, it would add some value. CRM is one such product domain which requires theme-able interface. Coz more than half of immobile CRM users spend most of their time interacting with the product. But for sales people who are on the move, it may not be necessary because they concentrate more on the information and UI response rather than the cosmetics.

Users who spend a lot of time require some eye pleasing color themes so that they don’t feel bored at the end of the hour (who prefers looking at a dull gray or senseless drab colors for the whole day?).  And for theme designers, it is one of the mandatory job to come up with a crowd-pleasing color theme.Creating a theme that is liked by most (not everyone) users is a little tough job. It requires iterations to arrive at a proper color. Some themes which is praised by many, gets bombed by some. Why does those “some” dont like the theme? There could be many reasons. But one of the reasons I guess is .. color deficiency. Because for users having color deficiency,the theme may not look good. They might perceive the real color  as a dull color leading to dis-liking of the theme. I don’t have solid data to backup this idea, but going through the feedback mails we receive, I guess color deficiency could be one factor which determines the success of a color theme.  Of course, color deficiency is not the only factor which determines the success, other factors like people’s own taste for colors & taste for designs play important roles too. Personal preference is very subjective.

Taking  all these factors into consideration, coming up with a successful color theme requires good number of iterations and patience.  If a user doesn’t like your color theme, find out why. Pick up some safe and sensible colors and build your theme.

- Rajesh Sundaram

Ever tasted Mutton Chukka so soft and tasty that makes you drool and order the same dish once again? Ever tasted a Egg-Dosai which is really good and yummy without the half-boiled smell of egg? And most importantly, the crown of Dindigul - the Dinidigul Biriyani. It packs a punch and treats ur taste buds royally. And many more to add to the list .

Venu Biriyani Restaurant in Dindigul is one such awesome restaurant that caters a complete range of authentic south indian non-veg food for everyone.  Right from morning delicacies like idli, paya, chatni, sambar, chicken kulambu, mutton kulambu, dosai, kal dosai,egg dosai.. and the highlight Chicken Biriyani in the noons followed by the mix of everything in the evenings, Venu Biriyani is a complete one-stop for non-veg fans.

Definitely a great and tasty experience.

- Rajesh Sundaram

The Elegant theme has got another update internally and here is an exclusive preview of the theme. The left side boxes gets a glassy-shade along with some leaves in the top-left corner in the background. Also the tabs have been changed to square edged tabs. This theme will be integrated into Zoho CRM service shortly.

- Rajesh Sundaram

Following the Icons and Header facelift last week, one of Zoho CRM’s color theme - “Contemporary” gets a visual update this week. Within a few weeks, we will update all color themes. Here is a screen shot of the new color theme.

- Rajesh Sundaram

We have introduced new and updated icons in Zoho CRM. Also, a portion of the user interface receives a small face-lift featuring the icons and module name. Here are some selected samples of the new icons.

- Rajesh Sundaram

Many of our users reported that Zoho CRM keeps on “loading” when they access their CRM account. Adam from CRM support found that, this issue occurs in systems that are protected by Norton Internet Security and Anti-virus. Looks like Norton AV is blocking the AJAX requests from the browsers. When the Norton AV was disabled, the users were able to access their CRM without any problems.

We are not sure about the exact settings that has to be configured in Norton AV. We are analyzing this issue and hopefully our CRM support will come up with a solution soon.

- Rajesh Sundaram

Right now, Zoho CRM offers 3 users free to jumpstart. And upto 3 users, Zoho CRM offers only the standard feature set. Upon adding more users through paid-subscriptions, the users can avail either the Professional edition’s feature set or the Enterprise Edition’s feature set.

Here is an image which will help people to understand how a paid subscription will upgrade the features of free users (the first 3 users).

Case 1 : Jump starting with 3 free users.
This is the starter edition which is default when a new Zoho CRM account is created. By default the CRM account gets 3 free users. These 3 free users will have access to all standard features (sans the professional and enterprise edition’s feature sets)

Case 2 : Subscribing to Professional Edition
When a Zoho CRM account purchases a Professional-Edition subscription for one or more paid users, the 3 free users and the additional users will get access to professional edition’s feature-set. So for example, when someone buys a subscription for 2 additional users, they get a total of 5 users (3 free + 2 paid) all having access to professional edition’s feature set.

Case 3: Subscribing to Enterprise Edition
When a Zoho CRM account purchases a Enterprise-Edition subscription for one or more paid users, the 3 free users and the additional users will get access to Enterprise Edition’s feature-set which includes Role-based security.

Q:I subscribed to Professional Edition/ Enterprise Edition. Now if I downgrade or choose not to renew, can my 3 free users still have access to Professional/Enterprise edition feature set?
A:The free users can access only the standard feature set. If you like to access Pro/Ent features, just purchase one or more paid-subscriptions.

Q:Now, what happens if someone cancels/downgrades their paid-subscription?
A:In such cases if the number of users becomes 3, the Zoho CRM account will become 3 Users Free account, which has access only to the standard feature set. For example if a professional edition subscription expires and is not renewed, then the Zoho CRM account holder can only use 3 users in the free users mode. In this mode, the Zoho CRM account can access only the standard feature set.

Q:What happens to my data after my account is downgraded or expired?
A: The data is safe and available for access anytime. You can order a data backup anytime by following these steps. When downgrading from Enterprise edition, only the data sharing rules will be deleted after 15 days from the date of downgrade or expiry.

Q:Can I purchase paid-subscription for only one user and make all my 4 users to access advanced feature sets?
A:Yes by purchasing a paid subscription for 4th user, all 4 users will gain access to respective edition’s feature set.
- Rajesh Sundaram

1. LG India On-Call Service

My Air conditioner’s remote has gone dead. Instead of calling my third-party AMC service guys, i decided to call LG service. I filled their online form at http://in.lge.com and requested to send a service personnel on 5 may 2008 at 5.00pm evening. Around 4.30 I received a call from a Service guy asking me direction for my home. I was pleasantly surprised by the promptness. And when I reached home around 4.55 the guy was waiting outside my home.

He then checked the remote and gave me a replacement. Since the warranty has elapsed, I have to pay for the new remote. And the surprise is.. the remote controller was sold for Rs. 320/- I was expecting some hefty price tag, as it is from direct LG. But that did not happen. The spares seems to be moderately priced. When enquired about the official LG annual maintenance contract, the guy said they charge Rs.2274/- for one year. The AMC offers 3 free checkup services and covers the entire motor, compressor, blowers and all mechanical, electrical parts except the Remote and Blower’s plastic panels. Under AMC, all replaced spare parts are free-of-charge, including the compressor Gas.  That’s a good deal!

Concluding I was pleasantly surprised by the promptness and services attentiveness.

2. Lodges in  Madurai

I am searching and trying to book some 10 rooms in madurai for my wedding. But that particular day (June 23)  almost all economy hotels are booked. Most of the calls received at the reception were answered rude. Many guys dont even bothered to say “Sorry.. no rooms”. They just jumped over saying “illa saar. all full. booked”. Customer service is something that you cannot find in Madurai. But the call to Germanus proved to be good. Looks like better customer care is available only in the star hotels in every city. Hotel Germanus’s Vijay spoke to me giving me all the details and tariff structure. The rooms were readily available and they offer complimentary breakfast for the guests. But still the budget was out of my reach. So I didnt book at Germanus. But for individual stay, it sounded to be good.

Concluding, I would say economy-wallet-friendly lodges in madurai are not customer friendly. Dont expect a great service in such hotels.

- Rajesh Sundaram