Ad Manager Tool

The Ad Manager Tool, developed as part of Vox Media's SaaS initiative, is designed to empower users to create, manage, and optimize advertising campaigns across Vox Media's extensive network and partner platforms.

Role

Principal, Product Designer

Industry

Ad Tech

Duration

22 months

1. Challenge

Solve for in-house advertising management system to streamline and enhance the efficiency of its real estate agents. The existing process was manual, time-consuming, and lacked transparency, leading to several key challenges:

Inefficient campaign management – Agents spent excessive time setting up, tracking, and optimizing advertisements.
Limited performance insights – There was no centralized system to monitor campaign effectiveness, making it difficult to assess return on investment.
Lack of automation – Without AI-driven recommendations or pre-set templates, agents had to manually refine targeting and budgeting.

2. Design Strategy

Formulated a redesign strategy that prioritizes a simplified user flow, enhanced data visualization for goal tracking, and new features to foster community engagement among users. Developed a detailed design roadmap, categorizing changes into short-term fixes and long-term enhancements, to guide the redesign efforts effectively.

3. Prototype Development

Wireframing: Undertook the redesign of core app screens and user flows, addressing the audit's findings. Emphasized the creation of a more intuitive and goal-oriented user journey, reducing cognitive load and enhancing the overall user experience.
High-Fidelity Prototyping: Leveraged Adobe XD to construct detailed prototypes that brought the new design to life. These prototypes featured a refined aesthetic that aligns with the motivational needs of fitness enthusiasts, showcasing the app's enhanced functionality and interactivity.
User Interface Design: Revamped the app's visual identity, incorporating vibrant colors and dynamic elements that motivate users to engage with their fitness goals actively. Carefully selected typography and iconography that resonated with the app's target demographic, ensuring the interface is not only beautiful but also functional.

1. Challenge

Inefficient campaign management – Agents spent excessive time setting up, tracking, and optimizing advertisements.
Limited performance insights – There was no centralized system to monitor campaign effectiveness, making it difficult to assess return on investment.
Lack of automation – Without AI-driven recommendations or pre-set templates, agents had to manually refine targeting and budgeting.

2. Design Strategy

3. Prototype Development

Wireframing: Undertook the redesign of core app screens and user flows, addressing the audit's findings. Emphasized the creation of a more intuitive and goal-oriented user journey, reducing cognitive load and enhancing the overall user experience.
High-Fidelity Prototyping: Leveraged Adobe XD to construct detailed prototypes that brought the new design to life. These prototypes featured a refined aesthetic that aligns with the motivational needs of fitness enthusiasts, showcasing the app's enhanced functionality and interactivity.
User Interface Design: Revamped the app's visual identity, incorporating vibrant colors and dynamic elements that motivate users to engage with their fitness goals actively. Carefully selected typography and iconography that resonated with the app's target demographic, ensuring the interface is not only beautiful but also functional.

Stage 4. User Feedback & Refinement

Facilitated user testing with a diverse group of app users, gathering insightful feedback on the redesign. This phase was crucial in identifying unforeseen usability issues and validating the effectiveness of the new design elements. Iterative refinements were made based on this feedback, fine-tuning the app's interface to maximize user satisfaction and engagement.

Stage 5. Implementation & Launch Support

Collaborated closely with the development team to ensure a smooth transition from design to implementation. Provided ongoing support and guidance during the development phase, addressing any design-related challenges that arose. Played a key role in the app's successful relaunch, monitoring user feedback and engagement post-launch to inform future updates.

a black cellphone with a white letter on it

Impact:

📈 Increased efficiency – Agents launched campaigns in minutes, not hours.

💰 Better ROI – Automated optimizations led to higher engagement at a lower cost.

🔍 More transparency – Real-time insights empowered agents to make data-driven decisions.

The Ad Manager Tool project was an extensive and collaborative effort that reflected the dedication and synergy of the entire team. Over time, we found a great rhythm, with each team member contributing their expertise to bring the project to fruition. The collective commitment to excellence resulted in the successful launching of a high-functioning product that met and exceeded expectations.

Impact:

Other projects

Ad Builder UI/UX

The Ad Builder is the core feature of the Ad Manager Tool. It enables users to easily create ads using their assets and share them with teams for iteration and approval.

Data Viz Dashboard

Following the successful launch and implementation of Vox Media's Ad Manager, our team tackled an additional effort to enhance the user experience and provide valuable insights. We introduced an Analytics Dashboard, extending the capabilities of the Ad Manager to offer users a comprehensive tool for monitoring their ads, assessing performance, and tracking expenses.