When Systems Don’t Speak: Designing Integration Around People

The Challenge

‍

A 30-person event set design and installation company had built a reputation for bold, imaginative work - from Halloween spectaculars to luxury Christmas displays.
Behind the scenes, though, the operation was creaking.

‍

The founder couldn’t see what was really happening across the business. Reporting was inconsistent and painfully manual, built on a patchwork of copy-paste spreadsheets. Each department had created its own way of working:

‍

• Sales lived in HubSpot.
• Design and construction used blackboards.
• Procurement tracked raw materials on ad hoc sheets.

‍

Every job required the same data to be entered two or three times across different systems.
‍

That meant triple entry, missed handovers, data conflicts, and constant firefighting.

‍

When the founder fixed one team’s process and moved on to the next, the first would quietly slide back into old habits. There was effort, but no alignment, and no shared view of the truth.

‍

The Discovery

‍

When I began reviewing the systems, I discovered pieces of a good process - just not one that connected. They had started to centralise projects in Asana, and they understood the importance of tracking each job uniquely. But the system had grown too complex to use, and each team worked in isolation.

‍

There were also gaps in management structure, no one owned the full process end-to-end. People were doing their best, but skipping steps to meet deadlines. Reporting was so painful that it simply didn’t happen. The root cause wasn’t lack of discipline, it was lack of design. The tools were running the people, not supporting them.

‍

The Solution

‍

The goal was simple: one source of truth, without forcing everyone into one tool.

‍

1. Process clarity:
   We finalised a single, clear workflow in Asana for each service type. That became the operational backbone
2. ‍System integration:
   • HubSpot remained the home for sales.
   • Asana handled production and delivery.
   • A new Google Sheet was created for the “Supermarket” team to manage materials, costs, and errors.
     I then connected everything through automation so that changes in one system were instantly reflected in the others.
3. Human-first automation:
   Each team continued using the apps they preferred. Data flowed automatically between them, so reporting became a by-product of work, not an extra admin task.
4. Embedding change:
   We trained the teams and ensured the founder used the connected systems for visibility. People quickly saw that using the tools properly made their own jobs easier.

‍

The Outcome

‍

Clarity, consistency, and control, without adding admin.

‍

• Up-to-date, accurate reporting visible in real time.
• 20+ hours saved per week per sales rep (7 in total) thanks to automation and reduced duplication.
• Significant error reduction across projects.
• Better forward planning and the ability to view profitability before projects were complete.
• Fewer meetings, calmer communication, and stronger accountability.

‍

The founder could finally see the business clearly, and the team could focus on creating extraordinary experiences instead of chasing spreadsheets.

‍

What We Learned

‍

Technology doesn’t create clarity, design does.

‍

The success of this project came from designing around people first, not tools:

‍

• Let teams stay in the systems they love.
• Automate the flow of data between them.
• Capture metrics passively as part of normal work, not through extra reporting tasks.

‍

When systems are connected around human behaviour, they become invisible and that’s when they really work.

‍

The 5Ps in Action

‍

• Profit: No more costly mistakes from dropped balls
• Person: Reduced friction and improved accountability without increasing workload.
• People: Tools finally supported collaboration instead of creating duplication.
• Process: Clear, end-to-end workflow across departments.
• Performance: Reliable data visibility and proactive decision-making.

‍

In Reflection

‍

Integration shouldn’t mean forcing everyone into one system. It’s about making sure everyone sees the same truth in a way that works naturally for them. When you build around how people actually work, not how you wish they would, alignment becomes effortless and growth feels calm again.

‍

Call to Action

‍

If your business runs on multiple tools that don’t talk to each other (and your reporting depends on copy-paste) you don’t need new systems.

‍
You need the right connections.

‍