Time for a Tune-Up

In just six years since its founding in 2017, Measured grew to 100+ customers, including Footlocker and Mailchimp. However, its Cross-Channel page struggled to scale, creating usability issues that increased Customer Success dependency and eroded user trust. Even so, by 2023 Measured drove notable results, including a 30x ROAS increase for Jonny Was and a 20% improvement for TechStyle OS through its “truth of source” data.

To kick off this ambitious project, I used internal tools like Tableau and customer data to detect trends and pinpoint friction in workflows. I mapped out key pain points and usability gaps, documenting these challenges alongside potential solutions to ensure each design decision addressed real needs. This process helped bridge the gap between expectations and the platform’s functionality, creating a more intuitive and efficient experience.

Walking in Their Shoes

My goal was to improve the self-serve experience, reducing the customer success team’s workload by making data more intuitive and actionable. I focused on speed, usability, and scalability while enhancing context to empower users with clearer insights. Through leading user interviews with brands like Footlocker, Dermalogica, and Patagonia, I researched common workflows and learned that various companies viewed their business through different timeframes. These insights, along with real-world observations, helped identify friction points and inefficiencies, ensuring our design decisions were driven by actual user needs rather than assumptions.

Sketching the Vision

I experimented with various layouts to strike a balance between providing the most relevant default information and allowing users the flexibility to customize their views. This was one of the biggest challenges of the project, as analysts, channel managers, and portfolio managers each had different priorities. Finding a middle ground that met diverse user needs without overwhelming the interface required careful design considerations.

Landing on a layout

I designed the dashboard layout to align with how users interact with key data, applying a progressive disclosure approach to surface the right information at the right time. The sidebar displays real-time system status events, allowing users to track ongoing activities without disrupting their workflow, while hero metrics sit at the top to provide relevant insights at a glance. In the middle, I positioned spend allocation based on historical user behavior, as data showed it was a primary area of interest for tracking budget distribution. Every decision focused on actionability and was guided by a data-driven approach, ensuring the information hierarchy supports user needs and decision-making processes.

A New Era of Insights

After months of design, iteration, and data-driven decision-making, the brand-new dashboard was successfully completed—built from the ground up and prepared for real-world user testing to validate its impact and refine the experience.

From Idea to Execution

The design process was an iterative journey, filled with exploration, testing, and refinement. While the design process is rarely a straightforward, linear path—it requires adapting to new insights, revisiting decisions, and balancing multiple user needs. At Measured, we held meetings as necessary to make sure we were all on the same page. Weekly meetings with design system specialists were necessary to make sure components added to the design system were properly integrated.

dashboard customization

I designed dashboard customization features that allowed users to tailor their view. This approach used a dedicated customization menu, which felt appropriate since customization is an intentional action, distinct from data exploration. It kept adjustments quick and non-disruptive. If I were to approach this again, I would design a more direct manipulation interaction—allowing users to click directly on a tile to hide or show it—instead of relying on a modal. However, due to technical constraints, this trade-off was necessary on the engineering side.

designing the system

I created new components with multiple properties, enabling full customization and flexibility across various use cases. I contributed to and pulled from the existing design system, refining components for consistency and scalability to ensure a cohesive user experience.

Homepage Figma file, local components (top) official mockups (bottom)

Beyond the Questions

After finalizing the design, I showcased the prototype to six representatives from current and potential clients, as well as our internal Customer Success team, to ensure it effectively met their needs. I actively conducted and participated in user validation sessions, gathering feedback and documenting key insights to further refine the experience.

Lessons Learned

Working on this product was an innovative experience, from learning how digital marketers work to building user confidence through meaningful, practical design. I found that providing context around data was key to delivering value, with success measured by a reduction in Customer Success tickets related to data interpretation. Upon launch, the product was featured in Yahoo Finance and AdExchanger, with BusinessWire offering a detailed breakdown in their analysis article.