Salesforce.com has redesigned its Sales Cloud sales management software, making it easier for businesses to track their sales leads across mobile and PC screens.
Dubbed Lightning Experience, the redesign features a much cleaner-looking Salesforce dashboard that addresses the inconsistencies in user experience across the software’s mobile and web-based interfaces.
Dan Bognar, senior vice president of solution engineering at Salesforce Asia Pacific said while the previous Salesforce interface will resize itself based on the form factor of a device, icons and style guidelines may differ across devices.
“For example, if you log on to Salesforce on a desktop, all your tabs will be running across the top of the screen, but when you are in the Salesforce1 mobile application, those applications are on a menu bar running down on the left hand side,” he explained.
However, Bognar told Techgoondu that the redesign effort goes beyond revamping the Salesforce user interface.
Through a new Lightning Design System, he said, third-party developers will be able to build custom apps with a consistent UI on the Salesforce platform, thanks a slew of new design guidelines.
At the same time, developers can make use of an open-source framework that comes with a set of reusable code for their apps. “That means users can expect a consistent user interface regardless of the application they’re using,” Bognar said.
The Salesforce executive expects the redesign to resonate with Salesforce developers and partners who now have an easier way to build customised apps for businesses.
For one thing, systems integrators will be able to drag and drop UI components to create a user experience that’s more modern and aligned with user requirements. “They could certainly do this previously, but it was a lot more complex,” Bognar said.
Besides getting a facelift, the Sales Cloud has also been beefed up with integrated analytics capabilities, which were only available separately via the Salesforce Analytics Cloud.
In addition, sales reps will be able to drag and drop sales deals via a visual pipeline as their deals progress throughout the selling cycle. Bognar said plans are also in the pipeline to roll out the new Lightning Experience to other Salesforce cloud services, such as the Service Cloud.
