Usability : What CRM Users expect?
Working in the CRM space is fun. And noticing / observing what users prefer in each UI is more interesting.
Some of the observations from some users are listed below. Well this is not a global rule or i am not concliding anything. But this is what observed within our short test-users base.
In the CRM world, “roles” / “designation” play an important function. If you are a sales guy, you have a different set of data to handle. If you are a support guy, you have a different set of data to handle. If you are a CEO, you have different set of reports to handle. If you are a CFO you have differnet type of data to handle.
Most of the user expectations start with the first screen they see. The first screen is expected to be some kind of collective dashboard. Within that first screen people like to see many type of data at once. Not necessary that there should be complete information about each data, but a bare minimum info is sufficient.
Pre-Sales people are concerned about Leads, Potentials etc. Sales manager is concerned about pending quotes, invoices etc. CFO is concerned about the graphs .. how much sales for today, how much sales for this week, Is there any lag in sales? etc. Generally I feel, as the designations go higher, they are concerned about the graphs.. comparing historical data. Well I may be right.. or wrong here. 
And, usually in the first page.. ie the page shown after loggin in should be able to show statistics/graphs/information list etc. Thats what people love to see. Some people who work in day scheduling prefer the calendar modules (like events, meetings, calls) etc to be seen. Some people who work in sales prefer to see, sales figures, pending payments, collections graph.. even some wish to see the live currency exchange details.
These are some points I observed.
will update more later…