Case study · HubSpot
Customers kept leaving the Marketing, Sales and Service apps to find insights in Analyze tabs that each worked differently. I led the move of 17 of them onto one shared dashboards platform, across more than 11 teams I didn't manage.
By the numbers
17 of 27
Analyze tabs moved onto one shared dashboards platform
120%
YoY growth in paid-seat template use
~40%
of reporting activations now outside core reporting
COMPANY
HubSpot
MY ROLE
Product Manager
TEAMS ALIGNED
11+
STRATEGY
Contextual reporting
THE CONTEXT
Why did we do this?
Our Reporting group's strategy was contextual reporting for every hub. But the Marketing, Sales and Service apps each had their own Analyze tabs, built differently and living off the shared platform. The most common complaint: they looked like reporting but didn't act like it. Features were missing, permissions didn't carry through, and nothing could be customized.
What was I responsible for?
With no single owner, I took on the migration and drove it across more than 11 teams. Moving tabs wasn't the goal. Making each one a 10x better experience was.
01 · HOW IT CAME TOGETHER
Every tab went through the same phases, each with its own beta. Two north stars told us it was working: report consumption outside core reporting, and whether people who used a tab were more likely to take core actions in that app.
Phase 1
SAME TAB, NEW PLATFORM
→ Each Analyze tab started as a 1:1 copy of the old one, rebuilt on the dashboards platform.
→ Every new tab got its own beta. Betas didn't change much, because moving onto the platform already solved the core pain.
Where AI helped: deciding which Analyze tabs to tackle first, based on complaints and usage.
Phase 2
BETTER REPORTS ON DAY ONE
→ Once a tab was on the platform, we added new content.
→ I pushed app PMs to treat their out-of-the-box reports as product.
Where AI helped: a mini project that checked internal report and dashboard templates against our docs for compliance and best practices, and generated names and descriptions to keep things moving.
Phase 3
MAKE IT THEIRS
→ Customers could put their own dashboards into Analyze tabs.
→ This answered the biggest complaint: tabs that looked like reporting finally acted like it.
Phase 4
UE SEARCH UNDER THE HOOD
→ Where it made sense, we moved reports onto UE Search instead of Snowflake or CRM search.
02 · THE KEY DECISION
IT WASN'T
“Wait until the new tabs can do everything the old ones did.”
IT WAS
“Replace the legacy experience first, then layer on editing.”
I also pushed app PMs to treat their out-of-the-box reports as product, so customers got better reports on day one.
03 · THE TRADE-OFF
✓ In v1
17 of the 27 Analyze tabs moved onto the shared dashboards platform, with upgraded out-of-the-box reports.
→ What came next
Embedding multiple dashboards in a workspace, built into the platform so every Analyze tab got it at once. Since then, many of the remaining off-platform teams have prioritized moving on, because more customers are asking for it.
My role: I drove the change across product groups with no single owner, partnering with UE Search, Marketing Reporting, and app teams in Sales, Marketing and Service.
04 · THE OUTCOME
~40%
of reporting activations now happen outside core reporting
116K
new users of out-of-the-box templates, up 120% year over year
~50%
of new users came back the following week
Analyze tabs alone bring in roughly 15K new reporting users a month, and about a quarter are still active two months later.
05 · WHAT TO TAKE FROM IT
1
Most of the teams I needed didn't report to me. A shared customer problem got them to the table.
2
Replacing the legacy experience first got customers value sooner than waiting for full editing.
3
If people leave their workflow to find insights, bring the insights into the workflow.
Sources: My work at HubSpot.
Your turn.
I mentor career switchers from CS, support, marketing and analytics. Start with a free 30-min clarity call. We'll map your story and your next step. No sales pitch.