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RelateIQ Gmail Chrome Extension

A simple yet powerful way to surface the most important information about your contacts and deals straight from your Gmail inbox

Problem:

RelateIQ users are primarily salespeople and sales managers. RelateIQ allows them to manage their sales leads and opportunities through a powerful relationship intelligence tool. However, salespeople also live inside of their email inbox. It was inefficient for users to receive emails from their deal contacts and have to switch into RelateIQ to view information about those deals.

Solution:

Our team created a Chrome extension that allows users to view RelateIQ information within Gmail. This allowed users to view and update information about their deals straight from their inbox – no browser tab switching required.

Team:

  • Interaction Designer (me)
  • Product Manager
  • Visual Designer
  • Front-End Developer

Process:

Competitive review

Reviewed other Chrome extensions that supplemented the Gmail experience with information about contacts and companies. I identified best practices and opportunities to differentiate the RelateIQ extension.

Early concept wireframing

The first iteration of the Chrome extension surfaced RelateIQ-specific information about a contact. I explored several approaches for how to surface a lot of information within a small sidebar. The hardest challenge was determining the best way of prioritizing the information that was needed in the context of an email inbox, while still making it feel like a native RelateIQ experience.

Early Chrome Extension Prototype

Early Chrome Extension Prototype

Early Chrome Extension Prototype

Early Chrome Extension Prototype

Design iteration and feedback

I worked with a Visual Designer to apply the RelateIQ visual branding to the Gmail Chrome Extension. We also worked on several approaches to include contact information, such as social profiles and closest connections, in the extension.

Chrome Extension Contact Info

Addition of Contact Information

Chrome Extension Contact Info 2

Addition of Contact Information

Which of these approaches was more effective?
The goal of this effort was to make it extremely efficient to navigate between a contact’s list information and their contact information. We also had to find a way of reducing the amount of vertical space used for navigation. While the first approach, with a pull-down drawer, was more interactive, it took up precious vertical space.

 

Final Design

This product has been frequently updated and iterated upon, as we learn about how users interact with the extension and look to add additional capabilities. Below is one of the most recent versions of the extension that surfaces list information, contact information, and follow-ups.

Chrome Extension Animation

What are some of the design optimizations that were made?
We removed the labels in the unselected tabs, in order to draw more focus to the selected tab. We also introduced a more effective global navigation at the top of the extension to navigate between the primary functions – contact information, global follow-ups, and settings.

Results

Data

The RelateIQ Gmail Chrome Extension has been installed by over 43% of RelateIQ’s customer base. The tool has allowed our users to interact with RelateIQ from their Gmail inbox, bringing increased customer engagement and feature awareness. From a business perspective, the extension has allowed RelateIQ to attract customers away from competing products whose focus is on driving engagement from Gmail.

User Quotes

“I just wanted to drop you a note to say I am in LOVE with the new features in the gmail plug in. The ability to add contacts/relationships to lists from my inbox is life changing!”

“RelateIQ continues to impress! Love this extension!!!”