Maxio: Reimagining subscription management experience within HubSpot
Role
Lead Designer
Researcher
Engineering Hand-off
Team
+ Myself
+ Product Manager
+ Engineer
Timeline
2 Months (2022)
Context
Maxio helps SaaS companies manage complex billing and revenue workflows.
To support go-to-market teams, Maxio offers a native integration with HubSpot, enabling customer data synchronization and the ability to manage quotes, deals, and subscriptions directly inside HubSpot.
Challenge
Maxio’s integration with HubSpot struggled with usability and sync issues
User feedback and product usage data made it clear:
Subscription management was too rigid and limited.
Creating a subscription required navigating several disconnected manual steps.
Syncing issues between HubSpot and Maxio disrupted core workflows.
Solution
Designed and launched a Subscription Builder embedded directly within HubSpot.
Key Enhancements:
Enabled users to configure subscriptions with preferred products, components, and coupons.
Added the flexibility of being able to choose different pricing models within each line item.
Simplified the workflow by reducing unnecessary steps between Maxio and HubSpot.
Impact
Post-launch, we saw significant improvements
arrow-trend-up
Increase in app installs and retention rate
Usability improvements led to fewer uninstalls and a rise in new app adoption.
70% decrease in support tickets
Sync and config issues dropped significantly due to built-in validation and clearer workflows.
60% faster setup time
Sales reps created subscriptions in more than half the time by removing redundant steps.
Better team alignment
A unified flow reduced back-and-forth between Sales, RevOps, and Finance.
Boosted user trust
Real-time sync feedback helped users feel confident their data was accurate.
Discovery
Where the Integration Fell Apart — and Why
Before exploring design solutions, we needed to understand the root causes of frustration with Maxio’s HubSpot integration. We examined support logs, analyzed the user journey, and conducted 8 remote user interviews with sales and RevOps professionals from SaaS companies of varying sizes.
Quantitative Insights
To support our qualitative findings, we analyzed real usage data and support metrics tied to the Maxio–HubSpot integration. The numbers highlighted both usability issues and deeper systemic friction:
36%
Users uninstalled the integration out of 142 total app installs
64%
Support tickets were related to sync issues
17 mins.
Average time to complete a full subscription setup
Quantitative Interviews
We conducted 8 remote interviews representing SalesOps, Customer Success, and Finance users to better understand day-to-day workflows and pain points.
❌
Sync issues broke trust
“I have no idea if it actually synced — I just check both platforms and hope for the best.”
💼
Redundant workflows wasted time
“It feels like I’m doing the same thing twice — once in HubSpot and again in Maxio.”
💸
Limited pricing flexibility
“I need to mix recurring and usage-based pricing, but the system just doesn’t let me.”
🚫
No visibility into errors or status
“Even when something fails, there’s no clear reason or fix. It’s frustrating.”
These insights directly informed our goals: build trust, simplify the flow, and empower users to configure subscriptions without second-guessing the system.
Competitive Analysis
To strengthen our strategic direction, we analyzed other CRM billing integrations that support subscription workflows. We focused on how competitors balance ease of use, subscription flexibility, and workflow transparency.
Platform
Integration Type
Subscription Config
Pricing Flexibility
Notes
Native Integration
Medium
Supports multiple pricing models
Requires toggling between platforms
Via Zapier / API
Low
Flat and
usage-based
Mostly relliant on custom workflows
Native Integration
Low
Inflexible; only basic line items
High number of sync issues and drop-offs
Native to Salesforce
High
Full pricing logic support
Steep learning curve
Key Opportunities
Provide in-CRM subscription creation and editing without switching platforms
Support mixed pricing models per subscription
Offer real-time sync visibility (error handling and confirmations)
Reduce reliance on Sales & RevOps teams by offering a more self-serve experience
Empathize
Inside the Workflow: What Users Really Needed
To design with intent, we stepped into the shoes of our users — uncovering their goals, frustrations, and daily realities through personas and journey mapping. This helped us align the solution with their actual needs, not just surface-level symptoms.
User Personas
To guide our design decisions, we created two key personas that represented our core users: a Sales Operations Manager focused on speed and autonomy, and a Revenue Operations Analyst focused on accuracy and control. These personas helped us stay grounded in real user goals and pain points throughout the project.
Jamie Santos
Sales Operations Manager
Goals
Close deals quickly with minimal friction
Empower sales reps to manage subscription independently
Reduce back-and-forth with Finance and RevOps
Frustrations
Has to rely on RevOps to finalize subscriptions
Repetitive data entry in both platforms
Confusion around wether data synced successfully
“I just want reps to be able to configure what they need without opening support tickets every time.”
Casey North
RevOps Analyst
Goals
Ensure data consistency across HubSpot and Maxio
Maintain control over pricing and subscriptions
Minimize sync issues and escalations
Frustrations
Sync errors create data discepancies
Time-consuming to review and fix broken deals
No visibility into sync status
“I just want to know why and when a subscription fails to sync so I don’t spend my day fixing it.”
User Journey
Before the redesign, users had to jump between HubSpot and Maxio to create a single subscription. The process involved redundant steps, manual syncing, and unclear feedback, which led to delays, errors, and frustration — especially for Sales and RevOps teams trying to move quickly.
Creating a Subscription in HubSpot
Create Contact
Create Deal
Sync with Maxio
Build Subscription
Actions
Enter customer details into form in HubSpot
Associate contacts and add line items
Manual sync deal with Maxio & refresh browser
Manually configure subscription
Pain Points
–
Line items aren’t categorized by Product, Component, or Coupon
Unreliable sync between systems
Long loading time
Flow is redundant and disjointed
Experience
😊
😐
☹️
☹️
HMW reimagine the subscription management experience within HubSpot to reduce friction and improve user retention?
Prototyping
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
We created wireframes to map out the core subscription flow directly inside HubSpot. This allowed us to do internal testing and iterate rapidly based on user and stakeholder feedback.
After feedback from the internal team, we made changes on Step 2 where we added the ability to add multiple Components and Coupons. We’ve also iterated the modal on modal behavior for setting Pricing to prevent negative impacts on its UX.
Prototyping
Final Designs
The final UI focused on clarity, flexibility, and trust. We introduced dynamic line item configuration, pricing model options, and automatic syncing — all wrapped in a clean and native HubSpot experience.
Add Multiple Line Items
Users can flexibly configure subscriptions with multiple components and coupons in one place.
Pricing Options
Support for selecting Catalog Pricing (pre-set) or Custom Pricing for any line item.
Summary Preview
Shows all line items in an invoice summary so users can review and confirm before saving the subscription.
Progress Indicator
A step-by-step progress bar helps users stay oriented and understand where they are in the setup flow.
Error Prevention
Built-in validation through tooltips to prevent missing data submission, so users can act with confidence.
Takeaways
Where Maxio Meets HubSpot — and Finally Works
This project reminded me how important it is to design for clarity and trust — especially when dealing with complex, multi-system workflows. What really made the difference was taking time to listen to users, validate early ideas, and simplify the experience where it counted most.
In the end, it wasn’t just about fixing what was broken.
It was about making the entire process feel seamless — like it just works.