Zoho CRM User Experience & Interaction Design Blog

At Zoho, I am using Truespace 3D to create some complex icons. The version I am using is - Truespace 3 which is almost 4-5 years old. But that is not the matter. v3 is  free to download and use. Recently, after acquired by Micorosoft, Truespace has announced that their latest Release 7 is completely free too. Though I have not installed it yet, I would give a shot in the near future.

When it comes to design icons, 3D software would save more time by helping to create perfect geometric objects with good  lighting and  angle. Below you can see one icon I created for a local presentation and another icon (retouched in photoshop) for “Customization” metaphor. I was able to do these two in 30 mins appx.

It requires a steep learning curve, but once mastered it is the CorelDraw of 3D. True to what it’s fans call.  I’d definitely recommend Truespace to anyone who wish to use a free 3D software!

Download Truespace : www.caligari.com

One of the recent updates in Zoho CRM is the “Change / Choose Owner” User interface. The user interface can now filter users into Active Users, Deactivated users and All users. Also the search option is now tweaked and performs better than the earlier search. Attached is the screenshot.

- Rajesh Sundaram

If there are any features that I would like to see in Firefox is - The ability to select a word and tell the browser to attach a “.com” to it and go to that site. Many articles, writeups, text in the web mention some name (brands, site names) but without proper links. I am too lazy to copy the text and search in google and then click on a search result.

This feature should also cover the texts which are not given as links. My idea is - the feature should be intelligent enough to identify if the selected word/text ends with a “.com / net / org ” and then it should add an item in the “right-click” menu as shown in the picture. This would save some precious time for busy browsers.

- Rajesh

Kebab Court - This one is located on top of Kalinga Dy-”nasty” restaurant, in the 100 ft road velachery.

A while back our team paid a visit to Kalinga and it proved to be a mediocre experience. The taste was just okay and the quantity is below average. This led to zero-satisfaction.

Yesterday I visited Kebab Court hoping that I can get some good authentic kebab experience. To my surprise I found Chinese food items in the menu. I thought KC specializes only in kebab. But this one is a MC restaurant.

The menu is exotically written, I mean the quality of writing is good. Every menu item has a short description along with a price tag that will make your heart to miss a beat. And remember, the price EXCLUDES 4% vat and 10% service charges.

The interiors are mostly contemporary with some designs that resemble a rural atmosphere. The uncomfortable 4 person tables along the glass windows are must-avoided. Occupy a table with normal chairs.

Hospitality is good and clearing for plates/cups are very prompt.

I ordered a Chicken Lollipop to check the chinese cuisine and Chicken Biryani and Chicken Shorba from the Indian cuisine. I must admit that my stars are on the downside. The one piece of Lollipop was improperly fried, the biryani is bland (must be a readymix preparation) and Shorba is not all that good.

I just wondered whether should I have opted for specialty lucknowi dishes instead of the usual ones. Anyway, the food is not good. Below average.

As I didn’t try many dishes in Kebab Court, I am unable to conclude anything on the quality and taste of the food. May be some time later, If I ever get another chance, I will post a detailed review. Summing up Kebab Court and Kalinga proved to be a costly experience offering mediocre food. Expensive dis-satisfaction.

Rating 2 / 5

Sometimes blind-shooted emails from marketing companies are useful. Two days back I received such an email to my personal ID. It was sent by a multi-brand laptop dealer in chennai. I was about to trash it, but just wanted to see the price list of the models. One of the model (a HP laptop) was tagged with Rs.27 K price tag. Since I was planning to buy a laptop for my wife, I decided to dig more. A quick search in HP’s website revealed that the laptop was priced around Rs.41 K. So I replied the dealer asking for the correct price.

Then later that evening, I received a reply saying the correct price is Rs.37K. There was no mentioning, whether if the price includes tax or not . So I asked them to send the complete laptop specification and a formal price quote. Today morning I received only the laptop speicification,sans the price quote. Boy! that was “awesome”. I wish I had not replied to that mail two days back. I lost interest in the HP laptop and this dealer. My next choice would be Fujitsu or Dell.

A good pre-sales experience ensures a guaranteed sale. If you do not execute that part well, you are sure to lose a customer, eventually lose your business too. Today, time is money. If you delay or take long time to respond, assume that your sales opportunity is slipping away.To turn a lead into sale, make sure you attend them properly. Find out what they want, offer your options that would suit their requirement, and be QUICK!!.  Throw some offers if possible,  to ensure the lead to turn into a sale. HP lost a sale because of their dealer’s in-adequate response.

Remember, good pre-sales  experience is one important factor that increases the chances of turning a lead into a sale. And a good after-sales experience is another factor to maintain a loyalty-base and return customers. Both are important for a product/brand to survive. If you screw one, you are lost.

- Dharma