Case study · HubSpot
After HubSpot acquired Clearbit, I made its data enrichment feel native to the CRM, and it shipped on schedule at INBOUND ’24 as part of Breeze Intelligence.
After acquiring Clearbit, HubSpot needed Clearbit’s enrichment inside the CRM by INBOUND ’24, under a new usage-based pricing model. Brought over unchanged, Clearbit’s concepts and terms would have felt foreign to HubSpot users.
I set the enrichment vision in 2023, then built the in-CRM experience on familiar HubSpot patterns for tracking enrichment and spending credits, with one shared vocabulary across Breeze features. Along the way, I aligned the Clearbit team and four partner organizations.
Business context: HubSpot acquired Clearbit to offer company and contact enrichment natively, as part of the Breeze AI launch at INBOUND ’24. Enrichment came with a new pricing and packaging model built on usage-based credits, which touched billing, growth and every hub that uses CRM data.
Customer problem: CRM records were often incomplete or out of date, so sales and marketing teams spent time on manual research or paid for separate enrichment tools. [Add: what customers told you in discovery, and which enrichment tools or workarounds they used.]
Design problem: Clearbit’s product had its own concepts, terms and workflows. Moved into HubSpot as they were, they would feel foreign to HubSpot users and clash with existing CRM patterns.
Evidence: [Add: findings from your feature-priority research, e.g. number of customers surveyed or interviewed, and the top-ranked enrichment needs.]
“[Customer quote about incomplete CRM data or the pain of manual research]”
Problem statement: How might we bring Clearbit’s enrichment into HubSpot so it feels native and easy to understand, despite a new pricing model and a hard launch date?
I owned: Research and discovery, the product and UX vision for Data Enrichment, and the end-to-end enrichment experience in the CRM. I ran the key design and content conversations and shared decisions across teams.
I partnered on: Pricing and packaging (usage-based billing workstreams) with Fintech and Growth; the Breeze Intelligence and Growth journey; consistency with the Buyer Intent designs; and terminology with Content Design. I also helped onboard the Clearbit team, new PMs and a Design Director, and helped hire the PM for this area.
I owned research and discovery for Data Enrichment in broad, ambiguous territory, using my research background to frame the opportunity. I ran feature-priority research to rank what customers needed most from enrichment.
Key insight: [Add: the finding that shaped the vision, e.g. users expected enrichment to happen automatically on the records they already work in.]
I wrote the Data Enrichment vision and aligned the related teams around it, including Sales and Prospecting. When the frontend engineers were about to run out of work, I quickly reshaped the plan to keep them unblocked.
I mapped Clearbit’s concepts onto ones HubSpot users already knew. I wrote a master terminology doc and a UX and content alignment doc, and contributed to the Breeze Intelligence and Growth lo-fi journey.
I designed the in-CRM experience under tight timelines and tested the patterns with beta users before INBOUND. [Add: number of beta users and what changed because of their feedback.]
How I got buy-in: I used research and competitive insights to inform decisions that affected many teams. I owned the key conversations and made sure every team understood the decisions. [Add: one specific debate and how it was settled.]
Company and contact records fill in automatically in the CRM, so users don’t need a separate tool or manual research. [Add: how users turn it on, e.g. automatic enrichment vs. on demand, by record or in bulk.]
By reusing existing HubSpot components, users could follow what was enriched and how many credits it used in a way they already understood. This came together with the new pricing model without needing new mental models.
Shared terminology and patterns kept enrichment consistent with Buyer Intent and other Breeze Intelligence features.
Enrichment launched on schedule in the CRM at INBOUND ’24, as one of HubSpot’s top-priority launches that year. Beta users confirmed the consistent patterns, and Fintech, Growth, CRM and Marketing Hub were aligned with the Clearbit team on one experience. [Add: the main adoption metric after launch, its time period, and its source, e.g. the Breeze Intelligence dashboard.]
Qualitative impact: My manager called my contribution to the Breeze Intelligence vision “invaluable” and credited me with helping the Clearbit team deliver within HubSpot.
“[Add: a quote from a beta customer or from the Clearbit team]”