After years on the shelf, attachments have received a fresh reboot, simplifying how users manage and access them directly from their record pages.

Today, we offer an attachment section that allows for users to add, remove, and share files associated with records. However, the user experience managing these files is very poor.

Users are unable to view complete file names, view associated metadata and are overwhelmed with the current organization structure.

HubSpot has over 17,000+ daily users uploading attachments to their record pages. Over 1200 customers have voiced their frustrations about the current experience using attachments.

“The attachments section on all pages (deals, companies) isn't enough to help any scaled organization. Our finance and ops team need an organized system within this attachment section.”

By making it easier for users to upload and manage attachments, we hope to increase usage and ultimately motivate customers to run more of their business in HubSpot.

“The attachments section on all pages (deals, companies) isn't enough to help any scaled organization. Our finance and ops team need an organized system within this attachment section.”

10% increase in usage

Positive CSAT

Internal and external excitement

Along with the current feedback customers provided on HubSpot’s community forum, a competitor analysis and an audit were performed on the existing attachment experience.

Since the pain points were incredibly clear, we were able to quickly identify the major features we wanted to deliver. Product and Design then worked with BE and FE Engineering to determine the technical requirements list for V1.

Variations of lo-fi mocks were created with the support of FE engineering to ensure potential solutions were possible. From a gallery style manager to a table, new concepts were brainstormed. One of the biggest challenges was trying to identify the container for attachments. Whether that may be in a side panel, in the middle column of the record page, or in a modal. Heavy understanding of HubSpot’s current patterns and paradigms was crucial to understand the best placement for the experience. With the low-fi mocks, we headed into research to see if we could answer any open questions and validate one of the concepts.

The research aims to explore user goals, validate task flows, and gather insights on attachment interactions through interviews and cognitive walkthroughs. Deliverables include user pain points, feedback on design iterations, and sentiment on future features. Surprisingly, trends formed, and there was a majority of customers who enjoyed the panel container over the others.

Customers loved the new expanded table view to be able to identify and manage attachments.

Adding a metadata like source (pdf, jpeg, etc) was seen as a very valuable identifier.

Users wanted more organization resources, but the research was inconclusive on what was needed more between folders vs tags as they served different purposes.

We launched the beta with a new attachments experience but identified that users still struggled with long file names due to the small chiclet size. To address this, we expanded the vertical height and stacked dates under the title, resulting in improved CSAT scores.

We launched the beta with a new attachments experience but identified that users still struggled with long file names due to the small chiclet size. To address this, we expanded the vertical height and stacked dates under the title, resulting in improved CSAT scores.

At the end of the day, we successfully delivered a much-needed solution for our customers. Initially, we had ambitious plans to include several bonus features, and it was disappointing to realize that we couldn’t implement all of them due to technical and resource limitations. However, the project taught us the importance of adaptability.

By pivoting and collaborating as a team, we brainstormed a realistic solution that still addressed key customer pain points.

I'm really happy with how the project turned out, not only because we delivered a valuable feature but also because we stayed true to our group mission—to make HubSpot more accessible and useful to more people.

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