What are the best Project Management & CRM Platforms for Designers
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For many designers, being able to take a space and transform it so that it looks and feels entirely new by adding or removing color, accentuating elements with lighting and incorporating beautiful pieces that promote comfort is easy. The challenge comes from being able to effectively manage multiple client projects simultaneously, while simultaneously being able to tackle your own business’ administrative needs.
Fortunately, there are tons of project management, scheduling and CRM tools that are perfect for helping designers like you, stay organized and on task. With all of the options available out there, it can be a bit difficult to decide which tool to use
Here are a few different project management, scheduling and CRM tools that are more popular amongst designers. They are used to assist with everything from onboarding new clients, to sending invoices and tracking orders.
Project Management Tools - These tools are great for helping to organize each of your projects by creating tasks and/or subtasks, keeping sourced items organized and being able to communicate with your clients and/or team members. All of these tools can be utilized for free, but some offer various pricing plans for more capabilities to meet your needs as your business grows.
Asana
Asana allows you to generate projects that can be broken down into tasks and subtasks. It’s also great for delegating by allowing you to assign tasks to team members and set due dates for your projects that can be marked as complete. Each task offers a space for you to add a description and comments. You can also attach documents and images that are no more than 100MB per file.
Projects in Asana can be viewed in list, board, task or calendar view and integrates with a number of other programs including Microsoft Teams, Google Apps Drive, Canva, Slack and more. Asana offers three paid pricing plans but the Basic or free version is still very capable of managing projects for smaller teams.
Trello
Like Asana, Trello makes it easy to help you organize design projects and assign tasks to team members but in a different way. It operates and functions in board view only. Think of the boards as ‘digital sticky notes’. The boards are broken down with cards
Trello allows you to be creative by enabling you to add images and establish a color-coded tagging system. This is great if you want to track sourced items. Each task could be listed as different phases in the order/tracking process and can be checked or marked as complete as the orders move from one phase to the next. Boards can be duplicated and cards can be moved from board to board to show project progression at a glance. Trello also allows you to share specific boards with others without sharing your entire project. There are free Trello board interior design templates available that can be found through a simple online search.
Like Asana, there are three paid plans for Trello but the free plan allows unlimited cards and up to ten boards per workspace for free
Monday
Monday shares similarities with the other project management tools listed here but like the others, it features several different elements that are unique to the platform. Monday operates primarily in the default table view format but you do have the option to change the view of your workflow to Gantt, Board, Timeline, Chart, etc. Like with many other project management tools, Monday allows you to invite external users and assign tasks to those individuals. This way all of the parties involved in the project (including contractors, engineers, architects, etc.) can see the project’s progress as well as their part in it.
Monday makes it easy to create categories to identify the type of task being completed. Team members can also update the status of the tasks that they are working on so that others know if the task is currently ‘Working On It’, ‘Stuck’ or if your task has been ‘Completed’. With the help of basic and more advanced reporting features, Monday enables users to create custom reports.
Monday is also free to start using and has three paid plan options that make it easy for you to continue to track projects without missing a beat as your team grows.
Airtable
Because Airtable is more of a data organizer and project management tool wrapped into one, it can serve as a one-stop shop for your to-do lists, scheduling or tracking your business or project goals. Airtable operates in a spreadsheet format where you can add files, documents, images etc., to your Fields (columns) and Records (rows). Instead of projects being broken down into tasks and subtasks (like Asana), or boards and cards (like Trello), Airtable uses workspaces and bases. Because this is a spreadsheet-based platform, you can easily import CVS files that you exported from a spreadsheet. Into Airtable. Airtable incorporates automation into your workflow, which can be useful for tracking orders or project deadlines.
It’s a robust tool that has tons of features and elements and at first glance can seem overwhelming but there are tons of free templates that can help you get started. While Airtable doesn’t have any templates specifically for interior designers, it does have quite a few that could be modified to fit your particular project need. Some examples are the project planning and management templates.
Airtable is free to start using and offers a free plan in addition to three paid plans. All but one (the customizable) of the paid plans offer a free trial.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a project management tool that is ideal for smaller firms but can handle the demands of larger firms as well. Like Asana Trello and Monday, it offers features that enable you to tackle your to-do lists. You can also invite team members and even grant clients access to your Basecamp account so that they can track project progression for themselves. The best part is that you have complete control over what the client is allowed to see. Some other features include group chats, message boards, scheduling and there is even a file and doc storage feature. You can even create timelines and schedules for each individual project that you are working on.
As with many of the other project management tools, Basecamp allows you to assign tasks to other users and tag team members or clients in threads. You also have the ability to run reports to monitor things like, what people are tasks people are working on, what tasks are due soon and what tasks are late. There is also a feature that allows you to track the progression of a task being completed based on the percentage of the task completed.
Basecamp offers a free 30-Day trial and there is a free version that allows you to create up to three projects there is also one paid plan available for a monthly or annual rate payment option.
ClickUp
ClickUp has very quickly become a fan favorite amongst the interior design/project management community. It has some similarities to Trello, Asana and Monday, but it’s much more robust. ClickUp has an additional layer of organization called spaces. For instance, in Asana, you have Projects then Tasks followed by Subtasks. In ClickUp, you would have Spaces, then Projects, then Tasks, then Subtasks. ClickUp enables you to operate in various different views, including Board, List, Gantt, Map, Box, Calendar, Table, Mind Maps and more.
ClickUp integrates with tons of different programs including your favorite time tracking software where you can track your time or, you can use the time tracking software that comes embedded in the ClickUp platform. Additionally, ClickUp allows you to, generate a checklist, and add tables attachments and docs within a task description window.
Doc is a cool tool that works within ClickUp and is much like Google Docs. This tool is great for generating reports or meeting notes and it’s housed within the Space. ClickUp allows you to attach larger files such as PLAN or DWG files to tasks or subtasks. Comments can be made on attachments and documents and you can also tag people to documents and attachments. There are so many cool ClickUp features and tools that it can almost seem like too much. Fortunately, ClickUp offers many great tutorials, there is even a free interior design template available to use.
ClickUp has three paid plans or if you have a smaller firm, you can use the free version. It allows you up to 100MB of storage.
Milanote
Milanote is a great tool for designers to use because of the visual elements and like Trello, it operated in board view. Not only does Milanote allow for effective communication with your team, but it also enables you to create mood boards, communicate in real-time with clients and team members, and attach documents and files.
One unique thing about Milanote that makes it stand out from the other project management tools listed here is that it offers a downloadable clipper tool. This is great for extracting information from sourced objects. Tasks can be generated in Milanote using To-Do lists to help the team keep up with project progress.
Milanote offers Interior design templates to help you get started and offers a free version along with two paid plans.
Slack
Slack is much different from the other tools listed here; it focuses primarily on communication, not project management. Slack enables team members to communicate and function seamlessly despite their regional or location via the direct messenger and voice recording and video calling features. Slack integrates with many different programs and allows you to set reminders for project deadlines or send documents and files.
With Slack, you can generate different channels and invite specific team members to these channels. Only those within the channel will be able to see the correspondence that transpires between team members. This is ideal for a project that includes subcontractors.
There are three paid Slack pricing plans for Slack as well.
Scheduling Tools- These tools, unlike project management tools, help to keep your calendar organized. They sync with your calendars and make setting up meetings with clients hassle free. These tools allow people to view your availability and select an ideal appointment time. Both of these scheduling tools can be utilized for a fee and offer various pricing plans.
Calendly
Calendly is a fairly simple scheduling tool. It syncs with up to six different calendars at once such as, Google, Outlook, Office 365, and iCloud. It is user friendly and is ideal for smaller or boutique firms. Calendly’s capabilities can be enhanced by using tools like Zapier to integrate with other tools.
Calendly allows you to generate different event types and establish rules for each individual event or group type. Some examples of these rules include establishing a pre-set minimum time in advance to prevent people from scheduling last minute meetings. Certain settings help to keep you from being overwhelmed by setting a maximum number of meetings per day and putting a buffer in place before and after scheduled meetings. Calendly offers a link that is accessible by people in the corresponding group type that enables you to access the calendar.
There are three paid pricing plans available for Calendly, but there is also a free plan that includes one calendar template integration with all calendar services.
Acuity
Accuity, like Calendly, syncs with multiple calendars simultaneously. Some of these include Google, Mailchimp and iCloud. Accuity’s features make it ideal for larger firms with busy schedules but can easily accommodate smaller firms as well. It allows for customization of its features through the use of open API supports. Accuity can be viewed like a personal assistant in that it takes care of reservations, displays available times and then schedules them on the calendar. Like Calendly, you can create rules for appointment types and there is a feature that enables you to block available schedules of the calendar by letting others know that you are busy.
Accuity has capabilities that enable you to send and receive messages. It also sends notifications to the appointment scheduler to remind them of upcoming appointments and confirm ones that were set. If you are working with clients in various time zones, you don’t have to worry about clients potentially missing appointments due to the time difference. Accuity uses the time zone of each client so that they know exactly when their appointment is.
Unlike Calendly, Accuity allows the scheduler to see your calendar and your availability. You can also share your calendar directly through your social media platforms, your email and you can even get a code to publish it directly to your website. Accuity integrates with PayPal, Stripe and Square and enables you to accept payments immediately for paid appointments.
Accuity offers three paid pricing plans but also has a free plan that offers a basic automatic programming calendar scheduler.
CRM - Or Client Relationship Management software is a very useful tool for interior designers and can be seen as a one stop shop when it comes to storing client information, onboarding new clients, invoicing and sending contractual agreements. A solid CRM can really make a difference in organizing client projects and help your business run more smoothly.
Dubsado
While Dubsado requires an involved initial setup, you have the ability to make Dubsado unique to you and your business’ specific needs. Dubsado makes it possible to include your branding and customization in their templates. You can also add file uploads and custom images when generating forms. When it comes to automations, Dubsado takes the cake. It makes accepting and tracking payments and expenses easy because it integrates with other platforms like Stripe, Square, QuickBooks etc.
One cool feature that Dubsado offers when it comes to scheduling, is that you can require that people complete a questionnaire, or pay an invoice before they are allowed to schedule time on your calendar. This rule can be set up by creating a custom workflow and identifying triggers. You will receive an email notification whenever a client has completed a form or a workflow action needs your approval.
Dubsado offers a client portal feature. Your client would be able to access their portal with a passcode and all of the important elements of their project can be viewed and accessed there.
Dubsado does offer a free trial for up to three projects. If you need to add more than four projects to the platform, you would be required to purchase a plan. The plan can be paid monthly or annually.
17Hats
17Hats is user friendly and a much more simple CRM option. This tool connects directly to your business bank account and not only imports your expenses in the bookkeeping dashboard but also could potentially eliminate the need for the use of accounting software for basic reporting.
When it comes to workflow, 17Hats offers some awesome options such as sending invoices and booking reminders automatically. In addition to tracking your time live while completing tasks, 17Hats has a time tracking feature that allows you to record hourly rates based on different services. So if you charge $80 per hour for generating floorplans and $50 per hour for e-design services, you can indicate these rates in your time tracking set up, making future invoicing so much easier.
17Hats has three pricing options to choose from. They don’t offer a free trial for the full platform, but you can access certain features for free. There is also a 30-Day money back guarantee for paid plans.
So, as you can see, there are a ton of options available to help you successfully manage all of your design projects. The key is finding what works best for you and meeting your and your client’s needs. This might take some trial and error, but fortunately, all of these programs have great features and come with a free version so that you can test them out and find the perfect fit.
Happy planning!